Accountability

The National Human Rights Commission “continued to receive complaints from different parts of the country on a wide range of issues [including] custodial deaths, torture, fake encounters, police high-handedness, violations committed by security forces, conditions relating to prisons.” – Annual Report (2014-2015)
https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/NHRC_AR_EN_2014-2015_27022019.pdf
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=18066

Conserving the forest, medicinal plants, woods and wildlife of Bastar: Customs that reflect religious sentiments while achieving more – Chhattisgarh

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Rashmi Drolia, TNN | Jun 4, 2014, | To read the full story, click here>> RAIPUR: For tribals residing around Boma hill in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district in Bastar, it’s sin to climb or step up on this hill and doing so costs the offender Rs 500. In a unique style to conserve environment and pay respect to … Read more

The peaceful agitation by Garo and Khasi communities: Challenging displacement and resenting the use of human exhibits in the name of “biodiversity conservation” – Bangladesh

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CLEARINGHOUSE FOR REVIEWING ECOTOURISM, No. 17 To read the full article, click here >> […] The following documents outline the severe ramifications of a governmental “eco-park” programme on ethnic minority groups and their forested hill habitats in Bangladesh. The controversial scheme has become a significant national issue as civil society organizations as well as a number … Read more

Santal customs and the question of women’s rights vs. ‘punishment’: A commentary by Ruby Hembrom – West Bengal & Jharkhand

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Ruby Hembrom, Times of India, 25 January 2014 | To read the full commentary and understand its context, click here >> KOLKATA: The news of the gang rape as a punishment in Birbhum district was the most horrific piece of news about atrocities of tribals against themselves. We’ve heard of inter-tribal conflicts but here was one … Read more

Tip | Creative Commons license: How to share artistic work and knowledge with due respect for creative minds

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Creative Commons isn’t perfect, and some people have made reasonable arguments against its system. However, it still seems the most balanced, easiest to use approach generally accepted in the market, and it does leave the artist in control of deciding which rights to hold and which rights to grant. This seems far better than the … Read more

Video | Keynote “Whose environment, whose laws?” Oregon’s Public Interest Environmental Law Conference – Survival International

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Transcription from the video excerpt From 30:38 What Survival isn’t about: It’s not about keeping anybody as they are. It’s not about preserving cultures. And the reason we stress that is: because as soon as you say ‘culture’, as soon as you say ‘preserving’, people think you are talking about the past. People think culture is … Read more