By Pankti Jog* “ Ben majoor manasoni daya nathi avti sarkarne” (sister, government does not even pity for these daily labourers). A farmer from Surendranagar district of Gujarat told me on our Right to Information (RTI) helpline number, 9924085000. He continued telling me about the status of agricultural workers in the area.

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers will recollect the headlines in several newspapers today — the Hon’ble Prime Minister has directed MPs of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to declare their bank transactions to the President of the Party in a bid to lead by example to come clean on their actions ‘after’ the decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denomination. The leader of a prominent political party has demanded transparency regarding the alleged financial dealings of the top leaders of the BJP. Meanwhile the print and the electronic media have covered the travails of citizens across the country who have rushed to banks to deposit their old currency notes and exchange some for the newly printed Rs. 2000 and Rs. 500 bank notes. With the exception of the Vice President of the Indian National Congress (INC) who queued up before a bank branch in Delhi to exchange a small sum of the demonetised notes for new ones, people did not see any other political leader from any ...

When Medha Patkar found of Narmada dam's gates "closed" By Rajiv Shah Well-known social activist Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan has told Counterview that the Gujarat government cannot close down Narmada dam’s gates, as it would risk the life and property of at least 20,000 oustees of Madhya Pradesh living in 192 villages. Text of the interview: 

By Shantanu Basu* In the myth-making, politics and economics of Project Remonetisation, all cash outside the banking system have earned the dubious moniker of being ‘black’. Nowhere in sight of discussion are fundamental issues of the future control of citizens’ moneys and their security, costs of currency replacement, legality and necessity, even constitutionality and limitations. Instead Indians are beamed TV images of Chief Vitalstatistix astride his throne, carried aloft by his minions, while holding the Roman Empire (of evil) at bay. Are ‘black’ and ‘white’ moneys as distinct from Rudyard Kipling’s East and the West? Can the twain ever meet? If a housewife saves a precious Rs. 500 over a decade or more from her family’s household expenses and tucks it away in her pillow, her surrendered notes cannot be treated as ‘black’ money. Her spouse cannot be forced to preserve old bank pass books for his monthly household expenses for decades together to prove to the taxman the bona fide of...

Sagar Rabari By Our Representative Khedut Samaj Gujarat (KSG), the state's non-political farmers' organization which has successfully fought few major battles against land acquisition in special investment regions (SIRs) formed to speed up industrialization across the state, has announced that it would take out what it called “vedna yatra” (pain march) from Somnath to Gandhinagar from December 11 to January 2 to “highlight” farmers' plight.

A screenshot from De La Rue website By Our Representative In the wake of the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, a portal run by well-known human rights activist Teesta Setalvad has wondered as to why Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave away contract  supply machinery for printing notes to a British company, which it alleges was “black-listed”previously.

By Rohit Prajapati* Lifting of the moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva is a setback to environment protection and for those affected by industrial pollution in the area. It appears that the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is now merged with the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. Our struggle on ground and in the court against polluting industries & their government will continue. Mr. Anil Dave, the Union Environment Minister, accompanied with Mr. Vijay Rupani, the Chief Minister of Gujarat and industrialists announced the lifting of the moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva. Significantly, this announcement happened in the absence of pollution affected people, while their representatives Mr. Salimbhai Patel, Jayeshbhai Patel and others fighting for environment protection were being detained. The Union environment Minister guarantees two things: the appeasement of polluting industries and irreversible damage to the environment. The imposition of Moratorium d...

By Our Representative A top pro-Narendra Modi scribe has revealed it all. In a recent blog, he has said, there was no expert economic advise which drove Modi to demonetize Rs 500 and 1000 notes on November 8; in fact, he suggests, virtually giving credence to former finance minister P Chidambaram, that Modi did not consult any economist.

By Our Representative India's stainless steel industry sector, which constitutes about 4 per cent of the total steel production in the country, sees the recent tragic train accident involving the Indore-Patna Express that took about 150 lives, as a turning point, requiring urgent move over to “safer” stainless steel coaches for “passenger safety.”

Keshavjee By Our Representative Mohamed M Keshavjee’s book, “Into that Heaven of Freedom”, to be launched in Ahmedabad on Saturday, captures some of the rare historical moments of how Indians were discriminated against in South Africa around the time when Mohandas  Karamchand Gandhi, as Gujarati lawyer, arrived in the country in 1893.

By Rohit Prajapati* It is unfortunate that the Environment Department of the Government of Gujarat and the Government of India, which had taken a decision long back to put moratorium on Vapi, Ankaleshwar and Vatva are now taking steps to announce lifting of the moratorium from all three. Both at the state and national level, government authorities are busy to cite the manipulated figures of the CEPI (Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index) so that if not on ground at least on paper they can show that there is substantial improvement in CEPI and thus justify their decision to lift the Moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva. This move is being discussed since the year 2010 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Gujarat’s chief minister (CM). The Government officials continue to hold number of meetings with the industrial associations of the area to be able to lift the moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva. But in spite of the severe pollution in the area the Government has n...

By Our Representative A secular coalition of British minority women, representing organizations having a decades of experience of working with marginalized sections, have rejected the country’s Home Affairs Select Committee seeking a hearing of women who have “personally used” community arbitration of Sharia Councils, saying these women are subject to the vagaries of a “discriminatory system.”

Kandhamal's Katitara village women collecting mahua By Sanghamitra Dubey* Sukanti Kanhar, president of a women's cooperative in Katitara village of Kandhamal, sounds nostalgic. She says, “When I came in this village after my marriage I used to go to forest with my mother-in-law to do cultivation in the uplands which used to grow 68 types of crops providing food sufficiency throughout the year.”

By Our Representative A senior economist of influential US economics organization, HIS Global Insight, has termed the decision to demonetize Rs 500 and 1000 notes as reflecting "a vast disconnect between the ivory tower of Modi's government in Delhi run by urban middle class bureaucrats and the reality of life for the rural poor in India".

Dr Sylvia Karpagam By Our Representative Dr Sylvia Karpagam, a well-known Karnataka-based public health doctor who works with marginalised communities, has claimed, quoting local activists, that more than 300 adivasi children have died in Malkangiri, Odisha, in the past two months due to the deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE), as against just 32 deaths claimed by the state government.

Narmada dam, with gates atop By Rajiv Shah Setting aside fears of large-scale submergence in Madhya Pradesh, top Gujarat government insiders have authoritatively stated that the crucial permission to close down the gates of the Narmada dam will surely be obtained by June 2017, ahead of the monsoon season, in order to store as much water as possible during the rainy season up to the full reservoir level, 138.64 metres.

By Sanjiv Bhatt* There’s something to be said about Narendra Modi. Though he is a photoshopped demagogue, he has been able to dumb down the minds of people who I (mistakenly) thought would be able to have a more discerning sense of what’s going on. What I see now is a shocking case of brain meltdown. These people are not the street ruffians of the VHP. They are also, at least ostensibly not, RSS brown shirts. They are professionally qualified people, with good life skills, and also reasonably honest in what they do with some sense of what constitutes ethical behaviour and practice In their respective professions. What beats me is the way in which these people have swallowed Modi’s hogwash hook, line, and sinker. They believe, like incredulous infants, that whatever Modi is doing is happening for the first time in this country. From surgical strikes to currency demonetisation, everything is descending from the grace of Narendra Modi. The fact that every such action has been done in the ...

By Our Representative Amidst Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to make a powerful political impact across India by withdrawing Rs 500 and 1000 notes, ostensibly to fight black money, one Parthesh Patel undertook an interesting Facebook poll , revealing that 54.48% social media users continue to want BJP to rule Gujarat.

By Our Representative Twenty-five Indian citizens, mainly representing civil rights organizations, on a fact-finding mission in Kashmir, have alleged in a report prepared following their visit, that doctors, treating victims of the recent violence in Kashmir Valley, are now being routinely harassed by "government intelligence.'

By Rajiv Shah Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi go ahead with demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1000 notes without allowing any expert analysis of the impact it might have on the economy? It would seem so, if a recent paper by a research team attached with a Union finance ministry outfit is any indication.

By Our Representative A civil society consultation on Sagarmala, a Government of India project conceived under former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, and modified by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to turn coastal areas into “gateways to India's prosperity”, has reached the conclusion that it would mean large-scale ecological devastation and displacement along the coastal areas.

By Our Representative The Gujarat High Court has asked the state government pleader to obtain details of the “follow up action” taken, pursuant to the directions of the Supreme Court for ending the despicable practice of manual scavenging, including manual cleaning of gutters, and reveal what it has done for implementing it in Gujarat by the next hearing scheduled for December 7, 2016.

Farmers' protest against demonetization in Surat By Our Representative The farmers of South Gujarat have taken up cudgel against the Government of India's controversial decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, saying it has led to severe cash crunch, leading to complete failure on their part to begin farming for the winder season and sell their agricultural produce, especially vegetables.

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers will remember the incident of extra-judicial killing of 3 persons in Machil in the State of Jammu and Kashmir on 30 April, 2010 by army personnel. The Indian Army instituted a court of inquiry in June 2010. Based on the findings of this process, the Indian Army constituted a General Court Martial in 2013 to try the accused. Later, the Court Martial handed life imprisonment to the six accused one of whom was of Colonel rank. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed that all records relating to these proceedings be disclosed. In another alleged incident of extra-judicial killing that occurred in 2000 five persons are reported to have been killed in Pathribal, also in Jammu and Kashmir. Media reports indicated that the Court of Inquiry instituted by the Army did not find any evidence against its personnel to proceed further. The Indian Army argued before the CIC that a Court of Inquiry was never held regarding this incident. In January 2015, I file...

Prabhakar Sinha By Our Representative The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), India’s premier human rights organization, has asked President Pranab Mukherjee to cancel the proposed appointment of Avinash Rai Khanna, a BJP vice-president, as a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), insisting, he “not ineligible” for the post, telling him, NHRC's function is to protect and promote human rights. 

By Rajiv Shah A high-profile report prepared to mark the World Pneumonia Day (November 12) by a well-known US-based institute has revealed that, over the last year, there is an increase, albeit marginal, in the number of under-five deaths among children because of pneumonia and diarrhea.

Castellanos By Our Representative Faced with currency crunch following the Modi government's demonetization move, top New Delhi-based diplomats are learned to have conveyed it to the Government of India to urgently remove the limits on withdrawal from diplomatic bank accounts.

By Our Representative A influential international business news giant, based in New York, avidly followed by the corporate world across the world, has said that India’s “sudden” decision to demonetize 500- and 1,000-rupee notes on November 8, initially seemed a “masterstroke”, is proving to be a “grave miscalculation.”

By Our Representative Widely considered in Gujarat as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's one-time confidante, Yatin Oza, a senior Gujarat High Court advocate, has claimed, on the basis of “evidence” he has gathered, that Modi had leaked his decision to demonetize Rs 500 and 1000 notes to a top industrialist of Ahmedabad.

By Our Representative Despite assurance (click HERE ) by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi that the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 would be implemented in Himachal Pradesh, a state governed by his party, latest incidents suggest that the state government is going ahead withwith fresh eviction notices to forest dwellers, allegedly in violation of FRA.

By Our Representative A new research report, “Cyber Violence Against Women In India”, has said that online abuse is a serious issue in India, claiming to affect more than half of the country's women using online platforms. It regrets, however, “Women and other targets lack support and understanding to respond effectively.” The report is based on a survey of 500 women and separate interviews with 10 of them.

By Our Representative Fresh evidence is claimed to have surfaced on links between Nathuram Godse, the man responsible for murdering Mahatma Gandhi, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), this time from the from the London archives of India Office Library & Records.

By Our Representative A high-profile civil society fact-finding team (FFT), set up by the Delhi Solidarity Group, has said in a report that more than a month after the gruesome death of four persons in police firing at Badkagaon, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, villagers are under “constant trauma and fear”, with cops threatening them to “cause further killings if they do not part with their land.”

By Our Representative One of India’s topmost rating agencies, Credit Analysis and Research (CARE) Ltd, has predicted that the total cost of the Narendra Modi government move to demonetize Rs 500 and 1000 notes would go up to Rs 40,000 crore, wondering whether the pain it is causing to the common people worth it.

By Fr. Cedric Prakash sj* It is not always that one has the opportunity to gaze at a Supermoon. One was warned not to miss this spectacle – the first one after 68 years, and apparently the next one will be only in 2034.An amazing phenomenon indeed- to see the moon so close, so bright, so radiant. One can only give thanks to the Creator of this Universe, to praise Him and to thank Him at this moment- for the many graces and blessings which he showers down upon us constantly. At the same time, we need to question ourselves on the way we destroy his creation; the way we allow hate and violence to govern our lives- not bothered at all, about the generations to come after us! “Those who have loved are those who have found God”, says Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, whose birth anniversary we celebrate today. His followers do all they can to serve others in tangible ways. Several Sikhs who live in Lebanon, have come together to open a welcome centre for Syrian refugees coming into Lebanon...

People waiting to exchange hard-earned income in Ahmedabad By Rajiv Shah Motilal Oswal , one of India’s topmost financial services firms, has predicted that the economic growth of the economy is likely to slow down in the second half of 2017, and is unlikely to improve in the next one year because of demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. In a sector update, it says , “Overall, while economic growth in the second half of 2017 could be lower than expected, fundamentals of the economy should improve from the second half of 2018.”

By Our Representative In a bizarre incident in Madhya Pradesh's Nisarpur village of Kukshi block in Dhar district, Kanhaiya Prajapati, one of the thousands of poor farmers displaced by the high-profile Narmada dam in Gujarat, was “picked up” early in the morning 5:00 am last week by the local police for allegedly signing up a fake registry for “receiving” cash instead of land as part of the resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) package of the state government.

By Our Representative The Chhattisgarh police's controversial move to file FIR charging Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi University and Prof Archana Prasad of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, of murder of a tribal in Bastar is all set to become a major human rights concern across India.

By Our Representative In an interesting development against the backdrop of increasing military and diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan, over 40 civil rights organizations and individuals held what they called “a citizens’ joint action against was mongering” on November 9 afternoon. Expressing “deep concern” about what they considered was “the toxic climate of war-mongering that has dawned on India and Pakistan after the Uri attack”, the programme sought broad people’s support to “pause and think about the consequences for India and South Asia, of such militarism, war and hate-mongering.”

By Our Representative A top Hindutva ideologue settled in the US has advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national security adviser Ajit Doval to replace the present ambassador to the US, Arun Kumar Singh, with a top military personnel in order to deal with president-elect Donald Trump.

By Our Representative In a strong reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing that the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 would no longer be legal tender, former finance minister P Chidambaram has said that the introduction of “new series of notes” of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denomination is estimated to cost Rs 15,000-20,000 crore", wondering if the economic gains of demonetization would be "at least equal to that amount.”

By Our Representative People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), India’s premier human rights organization, has threatened to approach the Supreme Court against the appointment of BJP vice president Avinash Rai Khanna as a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), for a post that was “kept vacant” for the last two years.

By Our Representative The Right to Food Campaign (RFC), which is the apex body of tens of NGOs working on livelihood issues, has said that so far seven persons have died and 80 injured because of the “continued violence” and “repeated firing” by Jharkhand police on local people’s opposition to displacement in the villages of Gola, Badkagaon and the town of Khunti.

By Hemantkumar Shah* The decision to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from currency is a macho decision by the government which will have no positive impact on Indian economy. (1) In 1978, a similar decision was taken by the Morarji Desai government. But the black money volume increased. It did not reduce. A same result will be there this time, too. (2) In 1978, hardly 10% of people were using these notes. At present, almost all people use these notes. So they will be harassed for exchange. (3) Poor people will be exploited, as they mostly don't have bank accounts. Private people will get undue benefits from exchanges. (4) Recently more than Rs 60,000 crore black money was unearthed under the income tax (IT) scheme. No positive impact has been seen in the short run. Nothing will happen in the long run. (5) As a result of this decision, perhaps another Rs. 50,000 crore will be destroyed by people. It will hardly have any positive impact on income, employment, prices and investme...

By Our Representative In a joint statement, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, two of the topmost human rights NGOs with global presence, have strongly reacted to the Government of India’s reported refusal to renew foreign funding licenses of 25 NGOs “without valid reasons.”

By Our Representative Amidst British Prime Minister Theresa May’s on-going India visit, Britain’s well-known human rights organization, Anti-Slavery International (ASI), has apprehended that “the world trade deal Britain signs with India would open it up as a major market for slavery-tainted goods India.”

Little Kanu with Mahatma Gandhi By Darshan Desai Amidst reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the “lead” in paying tribute to Kanu Ramdas Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and a former NASA scientist, who breathed his last in a private hospital in Surat on Monday evening, facts have come to light suggesting Modi's promise to “help” Gandhi never materialized.

By Our Representative Top international NGO Greenpeace has said that there is a need for an urgent nation-wide, systemic solution for pollution crisis response, and the Delhi government's announcement of “emergency measures” to help citizens cope with the public health crisis of hazardous air pollution levels lack a national perspective.

By Our Representative In a strongly-worded statement addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to visit Japan on November 11-12, Japanese women from Fukushima have asked him to “come and see Fukushima before signing India-Japan Nuclear Agreement.” Issued by Fukushima Women Against Nukes, the statement comes amidst news that the two countries have “completed the internal procedures for the much-awaited agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.”

By Fr. Cedric Prakash sj* The way Fatima, the mother of Najeeb Ahmed (#najeebahmed) the missing JNU student was treated on November 6, 2016 evening by the Delhi Police was just appalling. She was at a rally peacefully protesting with several others about the mysterious disappearance of her son. They were demanding that the Police and the Central Government need to do much more to trace Najeeb. The rally was disbanded by the police. There is enough of evidence (viral on social media) to show how Fatima was dragged, manhandled and detained by the police. Several other protestors (including students) were also detained. This is not the first incident happening this past week. Some opposition political leaders who were protesting the death of a retired soldier were also arrested and were made to stop their protests. The son of the soldier who had gone to meet these leaders was beaten up by the police. The popular TV Channel NDTV, will be taken off the air on November 9th for 24 hours becau...