eJournal | “Environmental groups and movements have been at the forefront of efforts to democratize state institutions”

[…] In India, as elsewhere, colonialism is “first, foremost and always” about land. As in North America and Africa, the policing of reserve forests has often resulted in what amounts to ethnic cleansing, with Indigenous peoples being evicted from their homelands for the benefit of the tourism industry and its urban, middle-class clients. Displaced Adivasis … Read more

Women are more affected from poverty: Tackling the “feminisation of poverty” – Jharkhand

For a US student, working among tribal populations, Naxalites and wild elephants in India was unthinkable, but Ryan Ballard wants it all and is back in the country working with Magic Bus, a non governmental organisation. The 25-year-old studied anthropology and global poverty at the University of California at Berkeley, US. […] “Coming face to … Read more

A tribal martial art valued for helping actors and patients to “make connections between the body and mind”: Seraikela Chhau – West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand & Manipur

Photo Essay | Behind the maskPrachi Jawadekar Wagh, Livemint.com, 23 August 2013 Though popular in Orissa, West Bengal and Jharkhand, Chhau is yet to be embraced and acknowledged in the rest of the country | To view more photos and read the full article, click here >> […] The elaborate, stylized and often vigorous movements … Read more

Building tribal students’ self-confidence: Karate training for self-protection

The State police have awarded V. Krishnankutty, Sub-inspector of Police, Agali, Attappady, a “commendation certificate for excellent service rendered” for giving karate training to hundreds of tribal students. […] He has been giving regular karate training for more than a year to tribal girls and boys from various schools of Attappady who stay in the … Read more

Schooling vs child labour – an unfinished agenda by Harsh Mander

Millions of our children still labour today, in factories, farms, kilns, mines, homes and city waste dumps, when they should be in school or in a playground. We profoundly fail these children, collectively depriving them of education, play, rest, healthy growth and childhood. Despite democracy and glittering economic growth, it is unconscionable that we continue … Read more