Compensation for rape: insult to injury
The West Bengal government on September 6 cleared the decks for compensation packages to women who were raped or molested, igniting a fresh controversy in the state. Women over the age of 18 would receive Rs 20,000, those under 18 would receive Rs 30,000 and in case of death, the next of kin would receive…
The Serpent’s Tale
The Wife He cannot even kill a rat. The red of her scarf is exactly of the same hue as the lalupate flowers in full bloom in the courtyard of the Kathmandu District Court. The reds of the flowers and that of her painted lips are the only hints of colour in the grim surroundings…
Guinea pigs: story of unethical drug trials in India
With its lakes and hillocks, Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh in central India, is rather beautiful at this time of the year. The monsoon clouds over Upper Lake, or Bhoj Taal –Asia’s largest man-made lake – have not only brought relief from the scorching summer heat but also worked magic to the city’s…
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The story of women’s trafficking in north Bengal
‘Agents’ act as trouble brews ANURADHA SHARMA LAKHOTIA Lean Season Mainu Munda in her kitchen. Picture by Biplab Basak From today, we carry a three-part story on the rise in women trafficking in north Bengal, which has coincided with a dip in the tea industry’s fortunes. The first part focuses on the closed and sick…
The day Bangladesh was born
Dhaka has a festive air about it. The sports-loving nation is hosting the cricket World Cup for the first time and nationalism is at the fore, uniting people otherwise divided on issues more than one. The Bangladeshi flag is aflutter from every corner of the city. The flags rekindle Qayyum Khan’s memories of the night…
TB clinic turns home for criminals and snakes
Siliguri, April 14: A centre to treat tuberculosis patients from 9 am to 2 pm, a den for drug addicts and criminals after that. Stifled by three acres of wilderness and parthenium bushes, the rundown single-storied structure of the chest clinic of Siliguri subdivisional hospital on Sevoke Road today looks more like a haunted house…
Young at heart and ready for battle
Hatighisa (Naxalbari), April 9: Sixty-year-old Lumbhi Munda puckers her forehead when you tell her you want an interview with her. The shy smile, which causes the face to wrinkle up, seemed incoherent with the image of a woman who was a firebrand leader of the seventies Naxalite movement. One hour into the conversation, the words…
Portrait of an artist
One Tuesday last February I spent the evening watching Sahabuddin Ahmed paint in his makeshift roof-top workshop at Ganges Art Gallery. Even for a philistine like me, it’s quite a delight to watch the painter at his work. It’s amazing, the transformation of an empty canvas into a crucible of art. And, Sahabuddin is a…
