By Our Representative A new Dalit civil rights network, formed in Gujarat, has taken strong exception to the “failure” of the state government to implement the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act, 2013. Called Gujarat Safai Kamdar Adhikar Andolan (GSKAA), it has said that even the “basic rules” to implement the Act, which came into force on December 6, 2013, have not been made.

By RK Misra* Narendra Modi’s utterances were honey to hungry Indian ears as he tore into the UPA government to secure a resounding mandate to rule the country. Two years at the helm and the very same words are boomeranging with a scarring tenacity. Moreso after the Uri unfrocking.

People queue up to get Jio sim By Our Representative Amidst escalating corporate war over mobile operation, the powerful Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has blamed India's three topmost telecom companies, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, for undermining healthy competition and promoting monopolistic practices by “denying” people the right to choose between existing cellular services.

By Our Representative A panel discussion in New Delhi by a network of people’s movements, trade unions and NGOs under the banner of Peoples' Forum on BRICS (acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), appeared to have gone soft on China, even as opposing “authoritarian” tendencies in three other countries – Brazil, Russia and India.

By Our Representative Gujarat's top Dalit rights organization, Navsarjan Trust, has taken strong exception to a senior Gujarat minister, Atmaram Parmar, in charge of social and justice empowerment department, seeking to “inquire into” the use of funds under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) norms, wondering whether the matter comes under him.

By Our Representative India ranks No 4 in a new rating of Right to Information (RTI), says a comparative assessment of national legal frameworks for RTI, “developed and applied” by Canada-based Centre for Law and Democracy and the Access Info Europe. The rating has been worked out to mark the International Right to Know Day, celebrated on September 28 across the globe.

Prashan Bhushan By Our Representative Senior Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan, convenor, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), has created a flutter in India's top judicial echelons by charging an Andhra Pradesh High Court judge of allegedly committing atrocities against members of the Dalit community.

Jignesh Mevani By Our Representative Well-known Gujarat Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, his colleague Hiten Makwana, who leads the safai karmacharis' (sanitation workers') 36-day-old strike in Ahmedabad, along with several of their supporters were detained at the busy Income Tax Circle in Ahmedabad after they tried to resort to Rasta Roko (road block) agitation in favour of their demands.

By Our Representative Are IPC offences in Uttar Pradesh for 2015 just about 112.1 per 100,000 persons, less than half of national crime rate of 234.2 per 100,000? Top knowledgeable sources attached with the Union home ministry believe that this should not be the case, blaming it on the way data are collected by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

By Our Representative Amidst Government of India floating the view that it may abrogate the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, the view is getting strong, especially among knowledgeable circles, that any move in that direction would not just hit India adversely internationally, but it will also have major environmental consequences in the entire Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

By Our Representative Is Government of India's Hindutva thrust behind its alleged refusal to provide asylum to 36,000 Rohingiyas, forced to flee Myanmar in the wake of the 2015 insurgency, and currently living in different parts of India – and the reason is, all of them are Muslims?

Eviction drive under police protection By Our Representative A well-known advocacy group, Delhi Action Committee (DAC), has accused Assam’s BJP government of creating “paranoia" against the minority inhabitants of "erstwhile East Bengal origin”, pointing to the police action on September 19, which led to the death of two persons during protests, Anjuma Khatun and Fakhruddin.

By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* The Government of Gujarat continues to be on the offensive. Unable to deal with growing unrests and protests on several fronts, it has decided to unleash another draconian law called the Gujarat Protection of Internal Security Act (GPISA). Apparently, a draft is now ready and the Bill is expected to be tabled in the State Assembly at the next budget session. The provisions of the forthcoming law are draconian on several counts; they negate the fundamental rights of citizens and go against the grain and spirit of the Constitution of India! The proposals include that: the Government can take action against caste groups, communities promoting ‘sectarian interests’ all offences under the new law will be non-bailable. people can be arrested merely on suspicion of being a ‘threat to internal security.’  no legal proceedings against security agencies can be initiated for action taken ‘in ‘good faith.’  both public and private establishments can be put under e...

By Our Representative In a major effort to influence international opinion ahead of the eighth BRICS summit, to be held in Goa on October 15-16, well-known Indian and foreign civil rights organizations have come together for an international convention in the state on October 13-14, accusing BRICS of working for merely promoting its own transnational corporations (TNCs), exploiting the poor.

By Our Representative A civil rights network, Working Group on Human Rights in India (WGHR), in a report submitted to the United Nations (UN) titled “Human Rights in India: An Overview”, has taken strong exception what it calls “intensified militarization” of not just Kashmir valley but also North-Eastern states and Central Indian states.

By Rajiv Shah Revati Laul , an independent journalist who is writing a book about the 2002 Gujarat riots, has made it know how she is being meticulously shadowed for the last 18 months during her investigation into the massacre that took place 14 years ago through the eyes of three men who were part of a riotous mob. Laul is known to have been  attacked by a 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre convict in January during her probe in Ahmedabad.

By Our Representative Gujarat government officials have complained that they do not have "enough freedom" to spend funds coming from the Government of India for upgrading the state's health services. Participating in an internal meeting with the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), they said, "We were given this freedom in 2005 (a year after UPA came to power). But it was taken away recently."

Pranab Mukherjee after unveiling Gandhi statue in Ghana By Our Representative As many as 1,012 persons have signed a rather controversial petition floated in the small western African country, Ghana, asking the authorities of the University of Ghana to remove the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, erected on the campus, accusing Gandhi of being a racist.

By Our Representative A former senior Indian diplomat has said that however much the ruling BJP may talk war following the worst-ever Uri terrorist attack, in which 18 jawans were killed, there is enough indication to suggest that Pakistan “will force India to the negotiating table.”

By RK Misra* If pride and prejudices are pesky, both hype and hypocrisy hurt. Gujarat and it’s ‘model’ have been the toast of the Indian season ever since it’s Chief Minister , Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014.This includes it’s liquor prohibition policy which has adherents like Bihar now where Nitish Kumar came to power after knocking the wind out of Modi’s sails!

By Our Representative US' Pew Research Centre, claiming to be “a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world”, in its latest survey has found that at the end of two years of his tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi “continues to ride a wave of public good feeling about the way things are going in India.”

By Our Representative Top Dalit rights activist Jignesh Mevani, convener of the Una Dalit Atyachar Ladat Samiti, along with his activist-colleagues and residents of Saroda village of Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad district, was detained in Ahmedabad immediately after he led a pre-announced “rasta rook” (road block) agitation, near the busy Road Transport Office (RTO) Circle in the city.

By Rajiv Sharma* In the most deplorable attack that has shaken every Indian, Pakistan sponsored terrorists killed 17 soldiers of Indian Army and injured more than 30 in Uri in Kashmir today. Modi has made a routine statement that those behind the attack will not go unpunished. Others have also condemned strongly. But the question that demands immediate answer is that how Pakistan could dare to unleash such a big attack on our Army? It is said when a country has a weak government, its security forces have to pay the price. Modi government's umpteen flip flops in foreign policy issues are in public domain by now. While dealing with Pakistan, the government began with inviting Sharif to Modi's oath taking ceremony in May 2014. In just two months, this positive gesture was followed by a self-defeating decision to abruptly call off talks with Pakistan on Hurriyat issue. But then flip flops had to continue. The government suddenly relented after a few months and agreed to talk to Pak...

By Our Representative Well-known Canada-based Fraser Institute's "Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) 2016 Annual Report" has ranked India No 112 among 159 countries and territories in its latest EFW ranking, better than two major peer countries, China (No 113) and Brazil (No 124).

By Our Representative Responding to letters of Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL) to the Chief Justice of India, Union Minister of Human Resource Development and Secretary, University Grants Commission (UGC), and contempt applications in the Supreme Court, the Universities Grants Commission (UGC) has “clarified” students who have applied or wishing to apply for scholarship/fellowship “shall not be denied benefit thereof due to non-availability of Aadhaar No./Card.”

Body of Ayyub being brought in Vatva area amidst commotion By Our Representative Is Ahmedabad all set to turn into Dadri Part2? It would seem so, if the latest incident of the Gujarat cops seeking to forcibly hand over the body of Mohd Ayyub, who was allegedly attacked by cow vigilantes on September 13 and succumbed to his injuries on September 16, is any indication.

By Our Representative Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Gandhinagar on Friday, the Gujarat capital, for “celebrating” his birthday, which falls on September 17, top Gujarat Dalit rights leader Jignesh Mevani, who spearheaded protests following the gruesome Una flogging incident of July 11, was "picked up" by the Gujarat police.

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers are aware that Kashmir has been in turmoil since the end of Ramzan, in July 2016. Almost every day, violent protesters have clashed with security forces across several districts in the Kashmir valley. According to media reports , the use of pump action shotguns to fire pellet cartridges has resulted in serious injuries to people, including innocent bystanders. Medical specialists have been rushed from Delhi and other cities to treat the injured. Meanwhile, the security forces are reported to have told the Jammu and Kashmir High Court that 3,000 pellet bearing cartridges and 8,650 tear gas cannisters have been used to disperse the protesters between July-August. According to recent media reports, the death toll has gone up to 80 . Ambulances carrying the injured also bore the brunt of the violence. Hundreds of security personnel are reported to have suffered serious injuries, while on duty. Meanwhile, the authorities are discussing alternative methods of d...

Minister (extreme left) with the Dalit delegation By Our Representative In a development that is likely to be further exacerbate tension between protesting Dalits and the Gujarat government, a top state minister has declared that the state will not take back the crucial first information report (FIR) against 16 Dalits, books by the Amreli police under Section 302 (murder) of a cop on duty during a July 19 rally.

By Our Representative Apparently fearing international fallout, the Government of India has rejected a right to information (RTI) plea seeking specifications, characteristics, pricing and sales data about anti-riot weapons and copies of reports that indicate the efficacy of such weapons and their impact on human beings if targeted.

By Ashok Shrimali* In an unusual move, the apex body of several tribal organizations, Adivasi Coordination Front (ACF), has demanded, in a memorandum to President Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, that he, as the constitutional head of the scheduled areas, should take urgent steps to stop what a sharp deceleration “in the numbers of scheduled tribes in the scheduled areas of India.”

Amit Shah taking meal with Dalits in UP By David Livingstone*  If with 14 ministers from Uttar Pradesh (UP) in Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) president Amit Shah thinks that the victory for his party in the forthcoming Assembly polls in the state is just a few yards away, he is bound to realise by the end of this month that he has miles to go before his dream fulfills. An internal assessment of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing Kisan Yatra done by Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) has alerted BJP leadership about the rough road they are going to face in coming months. BJP in UP is struggling with a serious leadership crisis. State party leader Keshav Prasad Maurya is neither a caste leader nor a mass leader. He is an unknown face even for the BJP cadre. In the past few months of his tenure, Maurya has not displayed any grip over the party or state related issues. Home Minister Rajnath Singh is the probable face for chief ministership ...

Score of 13 Gujarat districts out of 53 chosen for survey By Rajiv Shah A Government of India report has ranked Ahmedabad 43rd in its cleanliness survey of 53 districts it has selected for the purpose. Worse, Ahmedabad, which is desperately seeking world heritage tag from UNESCO, ranks poorer than all but one of the 13 districts chosen from Gujarat out of 53.

By Our Representative In a glaring instance of indifference, the Gujarat government has failed to execute the crucial provision of a 2013 law which requires payment of Rs 10 lakh compensation for the death of 152 manhole workers in a decade due to asphyxiation in the state.

By Jitendra Rathod* The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 came into effect across India on 6th December, 2013. Meanwhile, honorable Supreme Court of India gave landmark judgment to identify and award compensation of Rs 10 lakh to dependents in deaths of sewerage workers who died while cleaning sewerage and septic tanks since 1993 and strictly implement the provisions of the Act of 2013 on 27th March, 2014. But, central and state governments have not acted/implemented the provisions of the Act of 2013 and the landmark judgment of Supreme Court. Manual scavenging is being practiced and is increasing in cities due to lack of proper sanitation facilities. Besides, state governments are not serious to identify such deaths of manhole workers and award compensation as per the ruling of Supreme Court of India. The Act of 2013 has section no 31 regarding the functions of National Commission for Safai Karmacharis. The Act says that, “31. (1) The Na...

  By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers will remember recent media reports of the Government of India’s submission to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India that the National Human Rights Commission cannot probe human rights violations committed by the armed forces in States where the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA) are applicable. The Apex Court is currently hearing a matter relating to 1,528 cases of alleged extra-judicial killings for which the armed forces operating in Manipur have been blamed In July 2016, the Apex Court had ruled that AFSPA cannot be used as an excuse to violate people’s constitutionally guaranteed human rights. It also said that wherever extra-judicial killings or enforced disappearances have occurred, people have the right to know the truth. Several citizens and civil society actors have time and again raised concerns about the serious allegations of the abuse of the powers of the armed forces to arrest and detain suspects without promptly handing them over...

By Our Representative Bonn-based prestigious United National (UN) University’s new “World Risk Report 2016” United Nations University has suggested that while India may not be as exposed to natural disasters compared to most of the 171 countries it has analyzed, it ranks poorly in preparedness of societies cope with acute disasters and in taking preventive measures to face natural hazards.

Cultural programme at Vastrapur lake By Pankti Jog* About 170 sanitation workers (safai sarmachari) of the huge New West Zone of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), on strike for nearly three weeks, demanding fair wages and permanent status, were detained on Sunday for participating in a cultural programme organized by the Gujarat Jan Andolan (GJA).

Anandiben Patel at Surat BJP meet By Darshan Desai The shocker that the Gujarat BJP received in presence of party president Amit Shah in Surat on Thursday night, when its first attempt to grapple with the agitating Patidars came a cropper, has led to a worried Prime Minister Narendra Modi urgently summon ousted Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel to Delhi.

Modi in Jamnagar to inaugurate SAUNI project on August 30 By RK Misra* Indian politics oscillates between extending poles and impending polls .The first entails constantly shifting markers for political expediency and the second triggers a flurry of activity designed to entice as elections near. Thus the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his home state on August 30, 2016 makes for interesting political interpretation.

By Our Representative In a sharp bid to bring in international pressure, the National Alliance of Peoples' Movements (NAPM), the apex body of tens of grassroots organizations across India, has organized a high-profile seminar to “examine” whether big dams are obsolete. The well-known world body campaigning against big dams, Beyond Copenhagen Collective, will be sponsoring it.

All figures in % of GDP By Rajiv Shah A new study by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), “World Cities Report 2016: Urbanization and Development – Emerging Futures” has regretted extremely low levels of “aggregate municipal expenditures in India”, which happen to be of the worst in the world.

By Rajiv Shah In a significant report, the latest "World Wealth Report" (WWR) 2016 has revealed that the rate of growth of the high net worth individuals (HNWIs) of India has grown by just 1.1 per cent, from 198,000 to 200,000, as against 26.3 per cent, as reported in the "Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2015".

By Our Representative Observing a major discrepancy, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report has said that India may have seen rapid growth in education attainment among girls, but this is "not seen a commensurate increase in decent work or changes in gendered social norms."

By Our Representative In a major setback to the Gujarat government, the state information commission, official watchdog of the right to information (RTI) Act, has ordered immediate release of the one-person inquiry report on the September 22-23, 2012 Thangarh police firing of Saurashtra region.

By Our Representative In a strongly-worded statement, Ahmedabad’s Parwaaz Sangathan’s Bebaak Collective – an autonomous organization which works for encouraging reading, learning and sharing processes among Muslim women over the last three years in Gujarat and other states – has said that triple talaq is “gender discriminatory and epitomizes patriarchal values, and therefore must be abolished.”

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

By Our Representative Amidst Union home minister Rajnath Singh along with a group of senior leaders belonging to opposition parties reaching Srinagar for “healing touch”, the Kashmir Scholars' Action Group (KSAG) has asked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to work for “internationally mediated political solution” to the Kashmir problem.

By Our Representative Well-known Dalit rights activist from Uttar Pradesh (UP), Ram Kumar, convener, Dynamic Action Group, an advocacy group representing 60 Dalit rights organizations in the state, was in Gujarat to participate in the first Dalit rights rally in Rajkot on August 31. One who knows most of the top politicians of UP personally, but is not attached to any political party, Kumar talked to Counterview on Dalit mood in UP:

Protesting  women workers being taken to Police Stadium By Mujahid Nafees The Gujarat Police cracked down on 400-odd protesting workers, participating in the nationwide all-India strike, in Ahmedabad, first barricading them from all sides, and then detaining and taking them to the sprawling Police Stadium, so that they could not take out a rally on Ashram Road.