In the last 32 years six parliaments have come and gone, five prime ministers have changed, promises were made and assurances given. But the assault on people’s democratic rights has continued. The ordinary masses of India, toiling day in and day out with no security of food, employment and shelter, are threatened with insecurity of life when they attempt to protest. In rural India, the unquestioned rule of autocratic gentry continues unabated. Whenever people attempt to organize themselves, they are ousted from their land, beaten up and in some cases, even killed. During the last 32 years, whenever the State intervened – whether in Nehru’s Telengana, Indira Gandhi’s West Bengal or Janata’s Bihar – it did so only on the side of the gentry. In the face of continuous onslaught from the state, the position of the other better organized groups like workers and students is no better. The minorities continue to live under economic, social and cultural subjugation. In reality, whenever the people try to assert their democratic rights, they are assaulted. Such assaults are more ruthless in the case of those who choose to disagree with the establishment. These political opponents are assaulted by the hoodlums, tortured by the police, detained by the state without trial and even killed. The following account, mostly based on government reports, bring out the essential continuity of the assault.