India, Aug. 10 -- The Muthanga verdict, delivered 23 years after a deadly clash over Adivasi land rights, exposes a stark imbalance in India's criminal justice system.

Adivasi leaders face convictions for rioting and related offences, while no police or senior officials have been criminally punished for firing that killed protesters and injured hundreds, leaving the powerful shielded by inquiries and compensation.

Twenty-three years after the Muthanga forests of Wayanad echoed with gunfire, the law has finally delivered its verdict.

But the judgment has left behind a question larger than the guilt or innocence of those who stood trial: why has the criminal justice system been so much more successful in pursuing Adivasi protesters than ...