Hundreds of members of the Dongria Kondh tribe, together with many tribal and non-tribal allies, formed a human chain at the base of their sacred Niyamgiri mountain Jan. 27 to prevent British mining giant Vedanta from bulldozing it. Reports put the number of people taking part in the protest at over 10,000. Placards carried by the protesters read "Vedanta, go back" and "Stop mining in Niyamgiri."

Thousands of protestors in India marched against British mining firm Vedanta on Jan. 18 to oppose the company's plans to mine a sacred mountain and feed its aluminium refinery. Reports suggest that up to 7,000 demonstrators marched to the gates of the refinery, destroying some of the Vedanta branded sign boards which litter the Niyamgiri area of Orissa state. The protestors included hundreds of Dongria Kondh tribespeople, other Kondh tribal groups, farmers and day laborers.

Pakistani interior minister chief Rehman Malik boasted at an Islamabad press conference that authorities have arrested more than 120 in a crackdown on groups allegedly linked to the Mumbai attacks. However, he dodged a question on whether Pakistan was conceding that the plot that killed over 180 people in the Indian metropolis was hatched on his country's soil.

The TamilNet news service reports that Red Cross and other aid and medical evacuation vehicles are being barred access to the northern pocket of Sri Lanka still held by the Tamil Tiger rebels, which has come under heavy bombardment in recent days. Sri Lankan army forces are blocking all traffic in and out of the zone, while government air-strikes continue. An unknown number of wounded civilians apparently remain trapped in the besieged pocket. (TamilNet, Jan. 7)

Hundreds of Muslim men, women and children held a silent march in Mumbai, stopping at each location which had been targeted by the armed attacks of what is becoming known in India as 26-11. For the first time, liberal groups such as Muslims for Secular Democracy, which called the march in the aftermath of the attacks, were joined by conservative organizations such as Jamiat-ul-Ulema under the common slogan "Killers of innocents are enemies of Islam." Marches were also held in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Delhi and other cities. (Times of India, Dec. 8)

Pakistan's armed forces have moved against a camp used by banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, the BBC reports. A correspondent in Muzaffarabad says he was unable to reach the camp because of the cordon, but did see about 14 army vehicles leaving the area. The camp is run by the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, widely seen as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was banned in 2002. Reports said a number of people—between three and 20—from the charity have been arrested. (BBC News, Dec. 8)

India was planning a military strike over the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan's High Commissioner to London Wajid Shamsul Hassan told the BBC, saying New Delhi intended "to teach Pakistan a lesson." The network quoted the official saying, "This is what we were told by our friends that there could possibly be a quick strike at some of the areas they suspect to be the training camps, an air raid or something of that sort." India has made no comment on Hassan's remarks. (Press TV, Dec. 7)

A group of Indian-American organizations and individuals have launched a campaign against Sonal Shah, a member of the transition team of the US president-elect Barack Obama, for her alleged links to India's Hindu fundamentalist ultra-right. Specifically, she is said to have worked in America for the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), an civic ally of the right-wing BJP opposition party that was deeply implicated in the 2002 Gujarat pogroms. The organizations are demanding that Shah to come clean on the issue. From IndiaServer, Nov. 21: