Mahasweta Devi, Bengali writer and activist, has a message for Americans. In this statement, videotaped at Mahasweta's home in Calcutta on July 8, 1998, she speaks of a victory which her Denotified and Nomadic Tribal Rights Action Group had just won in the Calcutta High Court. She explains the Habitual Offenders Act, an Indian form of "Three Strikes You're Out" law which discriminated against some twenty-five million indigenous tribal citizens. And she asks for help. The videotape is clearly amateur, but Mahasweta's presence is riveting. Notes from my interviews with her will be posted here at a later date.

A transcript of the interview is available with selected video excerpts.