This is the front page of The Indian Express published on May 7, 1984.
Some Adivasi leaders in the Raipur district of Madhya Pradesh were handcuffed, arrested and harassed for filing a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the practice of bonded labour in the area, according to a commission appointed by the court to inquire into the incident. Under pressure from vested interests, “the administration made a clumsy effort to terrorise the petitioners,” according to Krishak Mazdoor Sangh activists.
Ocean Of Conflict
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said in Bombay that in spite of our peace policy, we have to be prepared to face any eventuality and threat to peace. She said the Indian Ocean had become an arena of superpower rivalry. “It is difficult for a developing country like India to compete with the other advanced countries, yet we have to work out ways and means to achieve high levels of sophistication,” she said.
Indo-Pak Tensions
Defence Minister R Venkataraman has said that India is prepared to meet any threat on its frontiers from Pakistan, which has stockpiled sophisticated imported military equipment. He showed concern over massing of Pakistani troops on the Ladakh border. He dismissed suggestions that India’s defence expenditure was high.
Preserve Constitution
Opposition parties are set to resist; any move by the government to amend the Constitution for the purpose of protecting legislative and parliamentary privileges from judicial scrutiny. The CPI-M, the largest opposition group in both Houses of Parliament and the ruling party in two states, has made it clear that it is against any amendment to Article 32 of the Constitution.
