Counterview Desk Well-known environmental NGO Greenpeace India, which faced Government of India ire for opposing corporate houses allegedly polluting the atmosphere and “looting” natural resources, has said that “shut-up or shut-down” is the “new law of the land” in India. In a scathing commentary, Rahul Prasad, a Greenpeace communications campaigner, believes, though Greenpeace’s bank accounts were frozen in October 2018, blocking donations of thousands of environmentally conscious Indian citizens, the clampdown on the NGO would only boomerang. Already, Prasad says , the Karnataka High Court order has allowed the organization to access its funds on furnishing a bank guarantee of Rs 50 lakhs, directing the ED to expedite the investigation. Meanwhile, he adds, the Enforcement Directorate of the Government of India has begun to drag its feet over the investigations, forcing the organization “to resort to a massive downsizing and restructuring exercise due to paucity of funds.” However...

By Our Representative In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Election Commission of India (ECI), Delhi, several political activists, including Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey, have objected to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Telengana, offering Form 6 for deleted voters, which they say is “meant for new voters that has self-declaration clause under s.132 of Representative of People’s Act (RPA), invoking punishment if already has been in the voter list at least once." According to them, “We have been asking for segregated list of deleted re-registered vis-a-vis first time new voters”, yet the demand has “not been heeded”, adding, “We have been asking for restoration of unauthorized deleted voters and not for fresh registration as new voter in Form 6. But this was overlooked.” Signed by Pandey, Lubna Sarwath, who contested the Telengana assembly elections this year, Chakri S, and Guru Moorthy all belonging to the Socialist Party (India), the letter to the CE...

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The propaganda machinery of the Sangh Parivar is on full swing. One is now being forced to consume loads of information about 'Accidental Prime Minister', and both the government and BJP's social media cell are on an overdrive to promote it. Let me clarify: This is not meant to defend Dr Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi or Narendra Modi, but to point towards issues of accountability and responsibilities of elected representatives.

By Our Representative It is indeed lamentable that in this age of communication boom and the onslaught of self-centricity, people appear to have forgotten Mirza Ghalib, about whom, once well-known English novelist Graham Greene wrote that he happens to be the best poet in all languages in terms of thought content. His three-day 221st birth anniversary, “Yadgar-e-Ghalib”, was celebrated in Delhi by Ghalib Memorial Movement under the patronage of renowned Kathak dancer Uma Sharma and other eminent citizens, ending with candle light march on December 30 in Delhi.

Chadrashekhar Azad 'Ravan' By Sheshu Babu* As the New Year draws closer, there is an increase of tensions on caste and communal lines. The Naseeruddin Shah affair has not yet subsided, and another instance of repression took place in Mumbai. The dashing dalit leader Chandrasekhar Azad 'Ravan', who was invited to address a rally on December 29, wanted to use the opportunity to visit Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial in Mumbai at Chaitanya Bhoomi.

By Our Representative The National Fishworkers Forum (NFF), apex body of fisherfolks' organizations, has said that the Government of India, by giving the cabinet approval to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2018, has turned a deaf ear to the protests and objections raised by the thousands of fishing communities, concerned organisations and individuals from all around the coast and the country. "The sole purpose of the Government of India in drafting and approving the CRZ 2018 Notification has been to pave way to further sell off our coastal land and water to corporate and business houses by removing restrictions on constructions and activities detrimental to coastal natural resources", it said. Signed by Narendra R Patil, chairperson, and T Peter, general secretary, NFF statement said, "The CRZ 2011 process guaranteed not only environmental protection and livelihood security, but also was a reminder of the robust democratic processes and engagements it...

By Liaquath Mirza* So, we have veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah in the news again. No, it's not in connection with any of his movie projects or even his personal life. He is in the news because he wronged the "right" with his 'intolerant' uttering on intolerance.

By Moin Qazi* Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It’s about making life more fair for women everywhere. It’s not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It’s about baking a new pie. ― Gloria Steinem Every woman, regardless of her marital status, needs education, a good job and support with household duties Society needs to abandon culturally entrenched practices, marital or otherwise, that degrades and commodifies women. Women also need legal immunity from debts accrued by the husbands. Changing long-held beliefs, practices and laws may be difficult, but it is the only way to keep price tags off women and ensure them dignity and financial independence. Empowering women is the solution to many problems on a global level, right from poverty. Societies that take the effort to empower women show better development indices, are better governed, more stable, and are less prone to violence. On the other hand, societies that limit women’s e...

By Sandeep Pandey* A saint is one who can give some inner peace by his/her voice. This will happen only when s(he) will talk about love and harmony. Morari Bapu is one saint who has been conveying the message of love, peace, harmony, fraternity, etc. Today when a number of saffron clad figures with aggressive posture, spewing venom, fanning hatred to polarise voters are at the forefront of politics of Hindutva it is a relief to see Morari Bapu in a different mould.

By Our Representative Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) women activists on Friday succeeded in putting a stop to tree cutting spree, going on in a village near Indore city in Madhya Pradesh. This followed a complaint they lodged with the forest official about chopping of trees in village Nandgaon. The official called for contractor, who was involved in indiscriminate tree cutting in this village of Narmada valley over the last 15 days. The contractor would bring with him three tree cutting diesel machines and other equipment and 12 labourers from Dewas district, chopping off, among others, 50 to 100 years old trees. "He must have transported more than 80 quintals of wood out of the village in the last 15 days", an NBA source said, adding, "Thousands of quintals of wood have been cut in other villages of the valley. Green cover of the Narmada valley has been hit badly." The NBA source added, "Following NBA activists' complaint, the contractor first agreed to co...

Counterview Desk India's top civil society network, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), in a statement signed by senior social activists* led by Medha Patkar, have demanded thst Parliament must "urgently review" two legislations on transgender person's rights and anti-trafficking.

By Mohan Guruswamy* The suicide of an indebted farmer has now become a nauseating stage drama by politicians and journalists of all hues. They see votes, viewerships and readerships in farmer suicides. Few of them seem to understand the reality that has overtaken farming in India. Though almost 60% of the population is still dependent on it, agriculture’s share of the Gross Domestic Product has declined to just 13% and is falling fast. Very simply, it means that farming only ensures greater relative poverty.

By Moin Qazi* Men and women should own the world as a mutual possession. -- Pearl S Buck Gender inequality is not only a pressing moral and social issue but also a critical economic challenge. McKinsey Global Institute report finds that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality. India continues to fare badly in gender parity and that is bad news because leaving half the population behind would.

By Mridhu Tandon In a significant decision, the Uttarakhand High Court on December 21, 2018 has dismissed the writ petition filed by Divya Pharmacy founded by Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishnan, challenging the demand of the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board (UBB) imposing fees under the provisions of the Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing (FEBS).

Counterview Desk Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS), a well-known women's rights organization, has taken strong exception to nine schools and two panchayat bhawans in Khunti, Murhu, Arki, Badgaon villages of Khunti and Chaibasa districts of Jharkhand being "continuously occupied by security forces since June 2018."

By Sheshu Babu* Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893 - September 9, 1976) has been criticized for his policies, particularly by western media and writers. However, there is also the view that his philosophy contains human values, too, which are valuable to people. One of the most cited quotation by Mao in this context is his speech at Peking in 1957, where he said, “Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting progress in the arts and the science and a flourishing socialist culture in the land" ( www.phrases.org.uk ).

By Our Representative Hundreds of activists on Wednesday protested outside the Central Information Commission (CIC) Bhawan in Munirka, New Delhi, against the non-appointment of information commissioners against the failure of the Government of India to fill up eight vacant posts of information commissioners, including that of the Chief Information Commissioner, out of the total strenght of 11. The previous Chief Information Commissioner, RK Mathur, retired on November 24, 2018 and since then the CIC is without a chief.

By Our Representative Hyderabad-based NGO Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA) has begun a new project #CHECKIT to address and counter fake news in order to sensitize and educate people to delink the perceived legitimacy of all printed word and broadcasted messages, and also to verify veracity before accepting and forwarding messages to others, especially on social media. Partnered with faith groups, educational institutions, newspapers, TV channels and organizations working with communities to leverage their outreach to thousands of people on a regular basis to propagate about the phenomenon and dangers of fake news, the project seeks to encourage people to speak and publicize decoded statements, photos, videos etc., and share them to expose fake news. #CHECKIT’s one-day training programme was inaugurated by K Srinivas Reddy, editor, “Telangana Today”, and Sister BK Anjali from Brahma Kumaris. While highlighting the present scenario in India, Srinivas explained how media is ...

Nita Mahadev By Our Representative Thanks to active intervention of the Gujarat Lok Samiti, a Gandhian civil rights organization, and its leaders Nita Mahadev and Mudita Vidrohi, a salt factory situated in Jarvala village in Patdi taluka of Surendranagar district, Gujarat, allegedly causing immense harm to environment, land and water has been closed. Running for many years, a statement by Mahadev says, the factory caused the people of the village immense problems, with serious consequences to farming and land and water pollution. People of the village tried to find a solution to this in different ways, but to no avail. Three months ago, the statement adds, the villagers contacted the Gujarat Lok Samiti. Mahadev and Vidrohi tried to understand the situation by doing an on-the-spot inquiry. They found the situation very serious.Citing various studied, including Supreme Court verdicts, people, with the help of the civil rights organization, began negotiating with the Gujarat Pollution Con...

By Raqif Makhdoomi* The conflict in Kashmir has reached a point where any new prospect offered to people makes many of them confused. The reason is that they have witnessed many ups and downs since the beginning that it has become hard for them to trust in any new idea. They have been subjected to so many changes -- be they elections or anti-India direction. If elections got them betrayal, anti-India thrust led to the spillage of blood of innocents.

Rohit Prajapati, other environmentalists spot discharge of untreated waste water Counterview Desk Gujarat's senior environmentalists, Rohit Prajapati and Krishnakant of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Vadodara, in a letter addressed to the Union environment and forests secretary, with copies to senior office bearers of the Central Pollution Control Board and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, the Gujarat chief secretary, and other Government of India and Gujarat government officials, have demanded that a chemical emergency should be declared in the industrial cluster of Vadodara district.

By Our Representative As many as 70 children of Sonshi village and other neighbouring villages in Goa have allegedly “stuck” in their homes and are “unable to go to school”, as mining companies after the mining operations came to a standstill following a Supreme Court order. No transport is available to these children to go to school, as roads are “inaccessible due to mining dumps placed near Soshi and other villages. The issue came up for discussion at a district level consultation on Children in Mining Area, Illegal Mining, District Mineral Fund (DMF) and Future Generation Fund, organized by civil rights organizations Samata, mines minerals and people (mm&P) and Setu at Honda Panchayat, Sattari, Goa on December 22, 2018. Participants said, mining children are nobody’s children and are falling through the cracks, as they are mostly ignored by all the concerned child welfare departments, government authorities, unaware of the mining children’s inclusion in the respective department...

By PS Krishnan* A national centrally-funded programme of universal agricultural land distribution to all rural scheduled caste (SC) or Dalit families, and also all rural scheduled (ST) or Adivasi and non-SC-non-ST landless agricultural labour families – and along with them, to all rural landless and poor agricultural labour families – would fulfill the promise of “land to the tiller” of the pre-Independence nationalist movement for Independence.

Counterview Desk In an open letter to the chairman and members of the Atomic energy Commission (AEC) on the issue of Kaiga nuclear power plant (NPP) expansion plan in Karnataka, Shankar Sharma, well-known power policy analyst, has argued that that in case of expansion, the site will face “exponential increase in radiation emission risks”, underlining, “Nuclear safety experts identify such a scenario as enhanced risk for NPPs with multiple reactors and shared technical facilities." Sharma says the questions that also be asked whether Karnataka should lose more than 54 hectares of thick forests and about 152,304 cubic meters of fresh water per day from Kali river for a meager benefit of 400 MW from the Kaiga NPP, for which “there are many benign alternative options available for the state at much lower overall costs to the state.” Text of the letter: This has reference to the public hearing under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Rule 2006 of Ministry of Environme...

Counterview Desk Even as demanding Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's resignation for acting as "a high priest of the agenda of bigotry and majoritarian supremacy" following the murder of inspector Subodh Singh in Bulandshahr on December 3, allegedly instigated and engineered by cow vigilantes, 82 retired civil servants in a statement have said, the state's bureaucracy under the Chief Secretary and the top police administration should abide by their "constitutional duty to fearlessly implement the rule of law rather than the perverse dictates of their political masters."

By Our Representative Greenpeace India said it has decided to reduce its "core strength" to 20-25 people following the Enforcement Directorate’s freezing of its accounts. In a statement, Diya Deb, its Campaign Director, said, “We do not understand the reason for this continuous and relentless harassment against the organisation. This is not an attack on just Greenpeace India, but on the choices of thousands of Indians, who are supporting the fight against climate change." Greenpeace India’s bank accounts were frozen following a raid by the Enforcement Directorate at the organisation’s Bangalore office on October 5, 2018. On November 5, the Karnataka High Court ordered the ED to expedite the investigation against Greenpeace India and allowed the organisation to access its accounts on furnishing a bank guarantee of Rs 50 lakh. "With this kind of arrangement, the organisation’s funds stand to run dry and requires the organisation to cut-down on its operations and staff...

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* What Naseeruddin Shah said the other day was the reflection of the fear humanists and secularists have in all those societies which are today polarising on religious identities. It is easier to get around that and cry. The cinema in India has remained a vehicle for the Brahmanical hegemony over culture till date, with its leading lights behaving spinelessly before the power-that-be, even as getting benefits from it.

By Qurban Ali Fifty years ago 44 Dalits, mostly women and children belonging to the agricultural families, were charred to death by landlords. This massacre took place on the Christmas night of 1968, an inconspicuous hamlet Keezhvenmani (also known as Kilvenmani), now in the Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu.

Counterview Desk In a letter Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, senior activists and politicians have insisted that the Kerala government should not agree to "inhuman displacement and buid-operate-transfer (BOT) Toll system", imposed by the Government of India and the National Highway Authority of India, for widening the current National Highway (NH) 66.

By Our Representative A Roundtable Meeting with Parliamentarians and political parties, organised by the Right to Education Forum (RTE Forum), along with the Campaign against Child Labour (CACL) and Alliance for the Right to Early Childhood Development, saw participants demand a “Mahagathbandhan” among political parties on education. Held at the Constitution Club of India, the meeting put forward the demands listed in the RTE Education Manifesto, collaboratively developed by these three networks, for their inclusion into the probable election manifestos of various political parties for the forthcoming general elections in 2019. Speaking on the occasion, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Madhusudan Mistry said, “It’s imperative to pay more attention towards education. For this, a firm and honest political will is required." Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ravi Prakash Verma observed, “This government is deliberately diluting the provisions of RTE Act and Child Labour (Prevention) Act, thus co...