Festival
The Ability Fest at Sathyam–PVR Inox, Chennai, is a beacon of hope and inspiration. Celebrating diverse narratives, it empowers voices often unheard. This festival not only showcases talent but fosters understanding and acceptance, reminding people that ability transcends disability. Every story is triumph of human spirit. Let’s champion inclusivity and celebrate every story.
T S Karthik, Chennai

34 Indian Fishermen Detained
34 Indian fishermen were detained by the Bangladesh Navy and Mongla Police, following the seizure of two Indian fishing vessels, FB JHOR and FB MANGALCHANDI 38, on July 15, 2025, around 1:00 AM. These trawlers had sailed from Kakdwip, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal.

According to reports, the fishermen lost their navigational route during a spell of heavy rainfall and due to a malfunction in the GPS system onboard. It appears the vessels unintentionally crossed into Bangladeshi waters. Subsequently, the fishermen were detained for alleged violations under Bangladesh’s Marine Fisheries Act, 2020. The vessels were seized along with their fish stock, and the arrested fishermen are currently lodged at Mongla Port. Legal proceedings have commenced in the Court of Bagerhat, Bangladesh, under Mongla Police Station Case No. 21 dated 15.07.2025.

It is extremely disheartening that poor and marginalized Indian fishermen–primarily from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and OBC Muslim communities–are repeatedly becoming victims of maritime boundary-related detentions.

Fisherfolk from both India and Bangladesh often operate near the maritime international boundary, and cooperative arrangements should be strengthened to handle such situations amicably.

The India–Bangladesh Extradition Treaty, signed on 28 January 2013, lays a framework for bilateral cooperation in handling such incidents. The External Affairs and Home Ministries of the Government of India should immediately initiate diplomatic dialogue with their Bangladeshi counterparts for the unconditional release of these Indian nationals.
Kirity Toy,
Secretary, MASUM

Jai Hind Camp, VasantKunj! 
On 8th July morning, the Delhi government officials cut the electricity, and from then on, people have been struggling in the hot and humid weather with frequent rains flooding the lanes within the bastis. More than 5000 people, who live and earn their livelihood in this slum and nearby, have had their basic right to a dignified life snatched.

Jai Hind Camp is listed among the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) authorised Jhuggi Jhopdi Clusters, with the website still showing that 1000 families live on DDA land. The Delhi Slum & JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, approved in 2016, provides for prior notice and mandatory relocation for residents of demolished slums. The Delhi Government under RSS-BJP has bulldozed such hard-won protections recently, including in Madrasi Camp, Wazirpur and Bhumiheen Camp. Demolitions had picked up pace since the city was chosen to host the G20 Summit in 2023, and “beautification” drives include covering up jhuggijhopdi clusters or leaving thousands of Delhi’s residents homeless. The BJP has also raised the bogey of “Bangladeshi infiltrators” to justify demolishing homes of Bengali-speaking Muslims, with Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena giving impunity to police harassment in the name of citizenship verification drives conducted in areas like Jai Hind Camp in late 2024.

Jai Hind Camp is more than three decades old, and its residents perform crucial labour in the glistening malls, posh office complexes and gated housing societies in South Delhi. The majority of residents in Jai Hind Camp are engaged in paid domestic labour, ragpicking (kabadi), gig work like driving or instant deliveries, carpentry, construction, etc. They are interstate migrant workers from eastern Indian states like West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Odisha, etc. who belong to marginalised social groups like Muslims, Dalits and backwards castes. The slum has repeatedly seen incidents of arson, having been burnt to the ground by jhuggi fires in 2003, 2009 and 2014.

The ongoing struggle to stop the bulldozers in Jai Hind Camp is part of the political struggle of working people to claim their right to the city, as workers and citizens who contribute to society’s progress.
SangramiGharelu-kamgaar Union (SGU)

Killing People Waiting in line for Water
Hungry, thirsty, and desperate for some relief, Sha’da Abu Jabal, 36, and her six-year-old son Ahmad headed to a water distribution point in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, July 13. Each carried a jerrycan, hoping to return to their displacement centre with clean drinking water. The mother and young son joined a long line of people waiting their turn, when suddenly the Israeli army bombed the distribution point, killing twelve people, including eight children, and injuring more than twenty others. Most of them were women and children, due to the fact that in Gaza, survival now divides families: men go out seeking food under bullets, and women and children go out seeking water.

“We don’t know what exactly we’re supposed to face in this war. Are we up against warplanes and death? Or hunger and starvation? Or thirst and the lack of water? Israel has provided us with every possible path to death. We can no longer bear it. And if we adults can endure, how do we look at our children, watching them cry out in thirst when we can’t even give them a sip of water? What are we supposed to do to survive this war?” The Israeli military has targeted 112 sites distributing fresh water since the Israeli genocide began in 2023, resulting in massacres of hundreds of civilians, mostly children, who were trying to get drinking water. Israeli drones targeted a large water tanker that was meant to distribute water to civilians. The drone strike destroyed the vehicle and killed its driver, indicating that these attacks are directed not only at water sources themselves but also at those working to deliver water to the people.
Tareq S Hajjaj, The Voice of Gaza

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Frontier
Vol 58, No. 7, Aug 10 - 16, 2025