A Mahasweta Devi leads a protest rally by Santal Adavesi tribespeople on the West Bengal / Jharkhand border. They were protesting the destruction of their land as a consequence of the excavation of a stone quarry. Newspaper in hand, Devi attacks the Indian mass media for portraying tribal protests as being connected with the Maoist insurgency instead of being grass roots and unconnected with the Maoists. She is one of India's best-known activists and writers. She has produced both fiction and non-fiction books dealing with the plight of India's poor and dispossessed, especially women and Adivasis (India's indigenous tribes). In addition to her writing, she has led numerous protests and actions against Indian government policies that oppress the poor..