Jignesh Mevani addressing Dalit mega rally By Our Representative Holding their their first major mega rally in Ahmedabad on Sunday, Gujarat's Dalit rights groups kept at bay major political parties, including Congress, BJP, Aam Aadmi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. The show of strength, in which thousands from Ahmedabad, Saurashtra and North Gujarat thronged to participate, was held to protest against the brutal thrashing of Dalit youths on July 11 in Una, where they were attacked by cow vigilantes.

Medha Patkar leads rally in Badwani By Our Representative A large number of Narmada dam oustees from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat thronged on the banks of river Narmada next to the Mahatma and Kasturba Gandhi Memorial in Badwani district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday to protest against the alleged injustice meted out to them the name of rehabilitation.

By Our Representative In a major admission, the Government of India has officially suggested that none of the 37,754 Madhya Pradesh families living in 192 villages, to be affected by the submergence because of the Narmada Dam in Gujarat, would be given land in lieu of land which they would lose.

JIgnesh Mevani By Rajiv Shah While agitations may have rocked Gujarat's urban and semi-urban areas against cow vigilantes in Una violently thrashing four Dalits belonging to the Rohit (chamar) sub-caste after tying them with SUV on July 11, questions are beginning to be raised about their sustainability.

By Our Representative The Gujarat government's official records, quoted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), have admitted that, in Khambhat taluka of Anand district alone, during the six years, from 2010 to 2015, as many as 27 workers suffering from the deadly silicosis or silico tuberculosis (TB) died because of their work in agate units.

By Rajiv Shah In an astounding revelation, 14 years after the horrendous communal flare-up in Gujarat, in which at least 1,000 people died and nearly one lakh got displaced, about 3,000 families still living in irregular rehabilitation colonies are facing hostility from several well-known Muslim NGOs which had initially helped them.

By Johanna Lokhande and Hozefa Ujjaini* The much-talked-about 2002 Gujarat riots have hit headlines of late for various reasons. Without getting into the complexity of what happened and how it happened and who is responsible for it, one would like to draw attention to some of the crucial aspects of a post-conflict situation. The bloodshed and destruction along with immediate impact have many other long-term implications which sometimes go unnoticed by the policy makers. The riots left a huge chunk of people homeless and displaced- the displacement was an immediate effect of the aftermath of the riots and rehabilitating them became an immediate need that had to be acted upon. When the temporary relief camps closed down after 6 months when the government stopped supplies the camps, immediate resort for shelter had to be sought- the announced compensation package at that point of time, did not account for any form of rehabilitation- families who had become homeless, who had lost their h...

By Our Representative Bezwada Wilson, national convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), who has won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2016 for “asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity” was being “chased” by the Narendra Modi government for the Padma award, one of India's highest awards.

By Our Representative With the Bill amending the Section 44 and the related rule-making provision in Section 59 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 (LL Act) passed in the Lok Sabha without any debate, India's top babudom should feel happy: Their spouses and dependent children would be exempted from making any public declaration of their assets.

By Our Representative Has the Government of India put its key projects at the disposal of rabid, allegedly saffron social media trolls, known to use abusive language at the drop of a hat as and when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is criticized? It would seem so, if what happened over the last 24 hours on Twitter is any guide.

By Rajiv Shah In a shocking revelation, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has found that the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), the state government’s powerful anti-pollution watchdog, does not consider agate industry hazardous . It regrets, “As such, GPCB is not having any data regarding omission of silica dust in agate work.”

By Our Representative Right to Education (RTE) Forum, the apex body of a large number of RTE campaign organizations, has described July 26 as the “black day for million of Indian children” following the Lok Sabha nod to Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill.

By Rajiv Shah Amidst controversy surrounding flogging of four Dalits belonging to the Rohit (chamar) community for eating the beef a dead cow continues unabated, a top blogging site has published excerpts of a 1989 paper by a senior Vienna-based sociologist, who highlights how the despicable practice in Gujarat was related with the perception that cattle scavengers “remove the impurity attached to the carcass and transfer it to themselves.”

Gujarat CM talking to an Una Dalit victim on July 20 By Rajiv Shah Dalits across Gujarat, especially in Saurashtra, may have agitated against the July 11 incident, when four youths belonging to the Rohit (chamar) sub-caste were violently beaten up with iron rods after being tied with SUV, first in village Mota Samadhiyala and then in Una town of south Saurashtra.

By Our Representative Disturbed by the news on “compromise” of the Congress with the ruling BJP at the Centre on the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) Bill, 2016, rights-based organisations working on the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 across the country have prepared a petition for Rahul Gandhi's Office to review the party's decision.

By Rajiv Shah A high-profile report prepared by the Boston Consulting Group, US, has suggested that India may have progressed well in the economic indicator (which consists of income, economic stability and employment), and investment (instructure, health and education), but its progress in sustainability (income equality, civil society, governance and environment) remains below world average.

By Pankti Jog* The Government of India, after failing amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act, 2013 through ordinances, appears all set to achieve its aim by asking states to adopt a Model Act, and make laws for land leasing which facilitate land privatization, even as benefiting corporates.

By Our Representative Providing a strong view in favour of having a common civil code, top UK-based NGO, Oxfam's India branch has praised through a policy brief the Hindu personal law in its present form, saying it “allows women the right to own land and independently manage its affairs.”

By Our Representative The Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which claims to have played a vital role in the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 in the country, has urged major opposition political parties in Rajya Sabha to halt passing of Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) Bill, 2016 in the Rajya Sabha.

By Our Representative A recent study has said that India may face a loss of gross domestic product (GDP) as a result of climate change to the tune of 4.3 per cent by the year 2030. This loss, it believes, would be essentially the result from the climate change making the “hottest days hotter”, affecting overall productivity.

By Our Representative With strong indications that nearly 1,000 Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP)-affected are being re-evicted by the Gujarat government, nearly 100 women and men have been on a 24-hour relay fast in front of the office of the Resettlement Office of Kevadia Colony, set up for building the Narmada dam.

By Our Representative The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Sangh Parivar “cultural” arm, may have triggered a major controversy by declaring that the “Hindu religion has a well-established system of disposing of cows and other animals who die a natural death”, and this has been a part of the Hindu "tradition.”

Protest in Ahmedabad against Una incident By Our Representative Amidst Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel ordering CBI probe into the assault on four Dalit youths with iron rods after tying them with SUV in order to punish them for seeking to skin a dead cow in a village near Una town of Saurashtra region, it has come to light that it was the local cops who had “tipped” the attackers.

By Our Representative A Yale University, US, report has ranked India 141st among 180 countries worldwide in Environmental Performance Index (EPI), worse than all the “competing” BRICS countries. The report ranks Brazil 46th, Russia 32nd, China 109th, and South Africa 81st.

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed* Some ten years ago, while I had started to hear Zakir Naik, my first impression was that he is an Islamic researcher, having command over his other religions’ scriptures, with an amazing memory bank backed by skilled oratory. However, when time progressed and he started disparaging and belittling other religions and their gods and goddesses, I could gauge through his nefarious design of spreading the Wahabi-Salafi brand of exclusivist and dogmatic Islam under which extremism and bigotry are allowed. The way, Zakir is propagating his petro dollar funded religion with Islamic supremacy and belittling other religions, this is not Islam at all as in Islam, the biggest sin is hurting the other person’s feelings. Naik’s trend is similar to that of the ISIS. Now that Naik is in the quagmire of an international controversy and banned in the UK, Canada, Indonesia and Malaysia, I could connect to the fact that this quandary was not very far. Though it took almost ten years ...

By Our Representative Tremors of the magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter scale in Gujarat, from Surat to Bhavnagar, has once again initiated the debate on whether the Narmada dam is safe. While official sources immediately spread that the dam is strongly built to face tremors, critics have said, the presence of a large dam does not ensure the safety of the surrounding areas and the people residing there.

Ashok Chowdhury By Our Representative The three-day national convention on land rights ended in Ahmedabad with nearly 500 activists, gathered from 15 states, “pledging” to expose illusions around Gujarat “model of development” amidst a top Gandhian tribal social worker from South Gujarat objecting the use of term “Modi's Gujarat” at the meet.

By Our Representative A senior CPI-M leader, in Ahmedabad to attend the three-day national convention on land rights, has admitted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been “successful” in hoodwinking Indian people, adding, “A propaganda master, people still remain under his strong influence.”

By Our Representative There is flutter among environmentalists across India over the recent arrest of Piyush Sethia of Salem Citizen's Forum (SCF). While Leo F Saldanha of  Environment Support Group and Sanjeev Kumar of Delhi Forum have written to chief minister J Jayalalithaa to his immediate release, the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) has called the arrest arbitrary.

By Our Representative Amidst “ fear ” in the upstream of the Narmada dam about massive submergence once its 30 gates, already installed, are closed, a top knowledgeable source close to the development has revealed that two states – Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh – have "given consent for closing down the gates." Only Maharashtra hasn't have yet given its nod.

By Our Representative A three-day national convention on land rights began on Saturday at Ahmedabad's Gujarat Vidyapeeth, a university founded by Mahatma Gandhi, with its top speakers, politicians and activists, raising pitch in favour of “uniting” forces of different ideological persuasions in order to take the battle against “indiscriminate” land acquisition to Indian states and corporate "loot".

By Our Representative A three-day national convention in “defence” of democracy, and to protect land, water, forest and livelihood” from alleged corporate “loot” will held on July 16-18 at Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad, a university founded by Mahatma Gandhi, amidst aborted Maharashtra home department " efforts " to identify well-known civil society bodies organizing it as Naxalite.

By Our Representative A top Chicago-based real top consultancy firm has praised the Narendra Modi government for improving India’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) ranking to the 36th position this year from the 40th in 2014 on the basis of the “proactive measures” to increase transparency in the real estate sector through an Act, which it wants to scuttle.

By Markandey Katju* I am a strong supporter of a uniform civil code. All modern countries have a common law for all citizens, and India must modernize if it is to progress. It is stupid to say that if sharia is abolished Islam will be abolished. It is also stupid to say that Sharia was made by God. Sharia grew out of the feudal, backward social customs in Saudi Arabia in the 7th and 8th centuries. It is totally outdated today. The old ( non statutory ) Hindu Law was abolished in 1955 and 1956 by Parliamentary statutes, e.g. the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, etc despite the strong protest of orthodox Hindu swamis and saints ( e.g. Karpatriji, Prabhudatt Brahmachari, etc ) who said that this will abolish the Hindu religion as Hindu Law emanated from the Vedas. However, that never happened. Hindus are still going to temples, doing puja, and observing their rituals, etc. So abolishing the oudated, feudal sharia will certainly not abolish Islam. Has abolition of ...

By Manu Joseph* This is the origin of the perception that on the night of February 27, 2002, Narendra Modi held a “midnight meeting” during which he told his top officials to lay off when rioting began… In May, 2002, a few weeks after the burning of the train in Godhra, I was in the office of a human rights activist. There, by chance, I got to know that Haren Pandya, a minister in Modi’s cabinet, had deposed before a people’s tribunal, which included retired judges. The minister had said that about twelve hours after the burning of the train, Modi held a meeting in his house. Some of the most senior bureaucrats and cops in the state were present at the meeting. Modi asked them, according to Pandya, to let Hindus vent their anger. I went to meet Pandya and told him that I have stumbled on this sketchy story, did he have anything to say. He did not want the news of his deposition to be made public, so we had an arrangement. He would give me all the details of his deposition, more than wh...

By Our Representative One of India's foremost historians, Prof Irfan Habib, has insisted India's most important left party, CPI-M, should work for forging an alliance with the Congress. In a letter to CPI-M's top body, politburo, Habib charges the CPI-M leadership of being soft to the "semi-fascist" BJP.

An advertisement issued on April 6, 2016 by an Ahmedabad-based NGO, Human Development and Resource Centre (HDRC), recently turned into a full-blown controversy in Gujarat two and a half months later, because it called for giving preference to a non-reservation category person for the post of cleaner. It led to violent attacks (click HERE to read) on HDRC’s building, situated within the St Xavier’s College campus. The attackers, owing allegiance to saffron ideology, especially objected to naming caste/religious denominations as examples from whom the sweeper would be preferred. Tens of activists have come forward to support the HDRC and issued the following note: We the undersigned concerned individual citizens would like to make our position/ stand public regarding a recent Human Development and Research Center (HDRC) advertisement to recruit sweepers for their office, stating that preference would be given to applicants from general category, who do not fall under reserved categori...

By Our Representative Gujarat’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for the year 2014-15 has been “officially” released – it has been calculated to be 7.70 per cent at constant prices, taking 2011-12 as the base year. The figures, released by the Government of India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), show, it is the lowest growth over the last three years.

By Pratik Sinha* Perceptions matter a lot. Before 2014 elections, a question was constantly asked on social media by many people as to what Congress did for 60 years, a question originally floated by BJP. Though the question itself is ridiculous, but since it went unanswered for the most part, it became part of the psyche of many - Congress did nothing for 60 years. Social Media has been around for well over 10 years. Congress President Sonia Gandhi doesn't have any social media accounts while Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi made one only in 2014. Most senior Congress leaders, with the exception of Shashi Tharoor, joined social media just a few months before the elections. Even the main Twitter account of India's 'oldest political party' had far less number of followers than the Aam Aadmi Party Twitter account which had been in politics only for 3 years at that point of time. Even if Congress wished to communicate, it did not have the means to reach the huge middle...

Vajpayee in Srinagar in 2003 By Our Representative Prominent human rights activists, academics and advocates are among 100-odd signatories to a statement telling Prime Minister Narendra Modi to see how his BJP predecessor Atal Behari Vajpayee showed extraordinary “statesmanship” in 2003 when he went to Srinagar during a “particularly dark time” holding out a “hand of friendship” to Pakistan for a dialogue on Kashmir “within the paradigm of humanity.”

By Our Representative In a second incident of gruesome atrocity against Dalits in Gujarat's Saurashtra region in a week's time, four Dalit youths were beaten up and dragged for almost a kilometre, allegedly because they “possessed” cow beef. The incident took place in Una town of Gir Somnath district.

By Our Representative Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “emphasis” on skill development in an effort to infuse talent among the youth, the latest “ Human Capital Report 2016 ”, prepared by the World Economic Forum (WEF), one of the most prestigious non-government bodies promoting global industry participation, has found that India has slipped from the 78th position in 2013 to a poor 105th position.

By Adv Masood Peshiman* Bangladesh politics is embroiled in the deadly tussle between the two ladies, the Prime Minister Hasina Wajid and Khalida Zia, the opposition leader. In the teeth of the brewing crisis the Prime Minister Hasina Wajid is pushing up the incessant agenda of stifling the opposition, including the Islamists which has given rise to the volatile atmosphere in the neighbouring country. In that volatile situation there are escalating attacks on bloggers, Hindus and non-Muslim minorities.

By Our Representative India's top anti-dam organization, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has alleged that, despite continued deficit of rainfall this monsoon, the Gujarat government has been providing “huge quantities” of Narmada water, meant for irrigation, to some of the top industrial houses and the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) region.

By Our Representative A right to information (RTI) plea has revealed that of the 118 projects which had sought environmental clearance from the the Committee for CRZ and Miscellaneous Projects of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and and Climate Change (MoEFCC), just four were challenged in the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

By Our Representative In an incident which human rights activists of Odisha have characterized as “fake encounter”, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Kandhamal district of Odisha have allegedly shot dead six persons, including a child. They were all poor Adivasi and Dalit labourers. Four others were seriously injured. The firing took place in Malapanga forest under Tumudibandha police limits.

A sugar factory in Bardoli By Our Representative Historic Bardoli, where Sardar Patel launched the famous Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928 as part of the civil disobedience movement, turning him into a top leader of the independence movement, is in the throes of a major controversy. Here, the Gujarat government has decided to implement the town planning At on 149 sq km area to further “urbanize” the small township.

By Gagan Sethi and Sanjana Biswas*  Swacchh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) was launched on 2nd October, 2014 on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Rajghat, New Delhi, before subsequently proceeding to a Valmiki Basti, where Mahatma Gandhi had once stayed and initiated a ‘cleanliness drive’. Launched as a cleanliness drive, the campaign is a re-launch of the ‘Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan’ but with more concrete goals. The campaign aims to obtain 100 percent eradication of open defecation by 2019 with ‘eradication of Manual Scavenging, modern and Scientific Municipal Solid Waste Management’as it’s other objectives. Even though it is a cleanness drive it has remained restricted to activities such as sweeping and construction of new toilets and curiously doesn’t include environmental health and pollution in its premise or in its site of action. Even though significant efforts have been taken in terms of air pollution the actions have remained ...