Murder and Reform in Bihar

Two from Bihar, India’s poorest state, where the newspapers talk of a turnaround and the people keep watch for ruling party thugs. A Final Interview with Brahmeshwar Nath Singh, for the New York Times, looks at a high-caste militia leader, implicated in the murders of nearly 300 landless peasants. Brahmeshwar Singh was assassinated a few days after I spoke with him last summer. The Dark Side of India’s Mr. Clean, for Al Jazeera, explores the political realities that bind a genuine reformist politician to local despots and gangsters.