By Rajiv Shah International awards winner for Best Feature Documentary Linda Aïnouche for “Dreadlocks Story” (2014), which shows how Indians are entangled in the Jamaican society, and how Hinduism was a source of inspiration for the Rastafari movement, is all set to release her new documentary, “Marooned in the Caribbean”, which aims at documenting the awful desolating living conditions that Raizal people, the native inhabitants of San Andres Archipelago, endure. Sons of slaves, these islanders have fallen prey to what the Colombian government calls Colombianization. “It’s a process”, according to her, “which kills the Raizal culture; it’s the killing of the Raizal soul. Colombianization subjugates Afro-descendants of San Andres to an ethnocide.” Explorer, director and producer, Linda Aïnouche writes exclusively for Counterview: *** Linda Aïnouche Nobody escapes from blood and thunder in Colombia, and definitely not in the archipelago of San Andres, situated closer to ...

By Our Representative Gujarat’s well-known environmental NGO Paryavaran Mitra has asked the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) to transparently hold public consultations in the coastal areas for preparing state-level Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP). In a letter to the GPCB member-secretary, the NGO director Mahesh Pandya has said that this is necessary in accordance with the state’s Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011. Following the preparation of the draft CZMP, it would be obligatory to get it approved from the Government of India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change. Taking objection to the state government’s and GPCB’s indifference towards preparing CZMP, Pandya has said, so far, the GPCB has still not put details of public consultation on its website, nor does it has put a summary of the CZMP draft on the site. In fact, says the letter, the Gujarat Ecology Commission and the Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority has also not put up a su...

By Our Representative The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), one of India’s largest civil society networks, is all set to begin a nation-wide march, Samvidhan Samman Yatra, meant to protect the basic tenets of the country’s Constitution, starting on October 2 in Dandi, Gujarat, and ending on December 10 in Delhi.

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Central Government’s proposal to amend The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) to vary the salaries and allowances payable to and the tenure of Information Commissioners, at will, is being hotly debated across the country. Even before the Draft RTI Amendment Bill is tabled in Parliament, the nodal department for RTI- Dept. of Personnel and Training has issued an advertisement to fill up vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) under the presumption that these amendments will receive Parliamentary approval. This is why the advertisement says that the salaries and tenure of the new appointees will be as may be specified by the Government, instead of the current position which is- salary and allowances equal to that of the Election Commissioners and a tenure of five years. The Amendment Bill has not been tabled in Parliament yet, although it is on the list of legislation that the Government seeks to introduce in the Rajya Sabha. Latest reports ...

By Neeraj Nanda* A proposal by the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) to install a life-size statue of India’s Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, opposite top Australian city Melbourne’s Dandenong Station, adjacent to Little India, Foster Street shops, has been shot down in a community consultation survey, which closed on June 7, 2018.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Pakistan's election results have finally come. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i- Insaf Party (PTI) has won 115 seats in the 270 member national assembly, which means that party would need independent MNAs to come to power. The problems of PTI party are further aggravated with many candidates contesting more than one seat.

By Adv Masood Peshimam* Hatred many a time has no basis. It’s the philosophy of dislike that foments unrest, sometimes leading to dangerous consequences for the person or the group hated. Hatred is simply unassailable, and any person or group hated is not advised to convince the hater, as the hating instincts cannot be sublimated into love or intimacy. Hatred is a complex phenomenon, many a time based on false pretexts, which are created to generate hatred in order to spew venom and target the person hated or resented.

Krishna Kumari By Sheshi Babu As election results are almost declared, Pakistan is entering the new phase of governance under a new premier. Hindus comprise about 1.85% of Pakistan’s population. In fact, it has the fifth largest Hindu population in the world. Pakistan’s census separates scheduled castes from the main body of the Hindu population; thus they constitute a further 0.25% of national population. Clearly, Dalits constitute significant numbers in the population of Pakistan.

Satyendra Dubey By Our Representative Amnesty International has begun an online petition asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the passage of the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 in the Rajya Sabha. Sharply criticizing Modi for "going back" on his word of providing a "transparent and corruption-free government", Amnesty has said, the amendment "weakens the already inadequate whistle blower protections" provided by law and drastically increases the risks for whistle blowers. Passed by the Lok Sabha in May 2015, it is currently pending before the Rajya Sabha. Pointing out that the amendment would make whistleblowing "much more unsafe", it provides three instances which suggest why a strong law to protest whistleblowers is needed: In 2003, Satyendra Dubey, an employee of the National Highways Authority of India was murdered for exposing corruption in the construction of national highways. In 2005, Shanmugam Manjunath a sales o...

By Our Representative Even as "predicting" that the Congress will lead the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to victory during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, senior Congress leader known to be close to party president Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, has given clear indications that Rahul may give up his claim for Prime Ministership for the sake of opposition unity.

Counterview Desk  A civil society group has floated a memorandum taking strong exception to what it calls "disparaging anti-women, anti sex-worker and anti-transgender person remarks in Parliament" this week by Maneka Gandhi, Minister, Women and Child Development, Government of India, during the discussion on Anti-Trafficking Bill, 2018. Released by members of the Coalition on Inclusive Approach and proposed to be given to the minister, it seeks signatures from concerned citizens.

By Our Representative A court in Bhuj, district headquarters of Kutch, Gujarat, has rule in favour of the news portal, The Wire , in a high-profile criminal defamation case filed by the Adani Group. The Adani Group’s complaint was against an article by Paronjay Guha Thakurta, originally published in the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), and then republished in The Wire. Guha Thakurta, who was editor of EPW at the time, resigned after the journal’s after EPW insisted the article be taken down from its website following receipt of a legal notice from the Adani Group. While Thakurta resigned from EPW, which withdrew the article, The Wire refused to do it despite Adanis insisted upon the news portal to do it. The article was on how the Modi government had tweaked the rules governing Special EconomicZone (SEZ), where the company had invested. Click HERE to read more

The minister making the remark in the Lok Sabha Counterview Desk  Reproduced below is an angry reaction of transgender aperson over Union minister Maneka Gandhi's intervention during the debate on the anti-trafficking Bill in the Lok Sabha this week: *** Can anything/anyone be more dehumanizing?

By Our Representative Score Uttar Pradesh , the state chapter of the Right to Education (RTE) Forum, conducted a state-level meeting in Lucknow on Friday and decided to launch a campaign demanding equal rights to education to all (Sabko shiksha ek saman, mang raha Hindustan') for making education a prime agenda in coming parliamentary elections. During the discussion, activists who had come to know from outside UP to attend the meeting were surprised to know that Uttar Pradesh does not have a State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR), a monitoring body for implementation of RTE Act. RTE Forum's Ambarish Rai, noting this, said, SCPCR is "non-existent in Uttar Pradesh for more than a year. There are several cases of violations of the Act but there is no any mechanism for grievance redressal in place. It shows the lack of seriousness on the part of the state government and neglect of the fundamental right to education."

Birhor's family Rajendra Birhor By Asharfi Nand Prasad et al* On July 24, 2018, 39-year old Rajendra Birhor of Chainpur village (Gram Panchayat Nawadih, block Mandu, district Ramgarh) succumbed to poor nutrition and illness. A civil society fact-finding team, which visited the village on July 26, 2018 to investigate the death of Birhor in the village, has been told that his family not issued a ration card under the National Food Security Act.

By Our Representative The Government of India's new data protection Bill a year after it constituted a committee of experts chaired by former Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna to prepare a draft on it, may mire into controversy. Reason: It's proposed amendments to the Aadhaar Act, 2016, and the Right to Information Act, 2005, seek to empower the bureaucracy even more than what it is today.

By Rajiv Shah  A laboratory study has claimed that 32% (21 out of 65) of the food product samples were found to be genetically modified (GM)-positive, and 80% (16 out of 21) of those which tested positive were imported. It contends, these products are being sold in the Indian market, despite the law – Section 22 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 – does not allowed GM food “to be manufactured, imported or sold in India.”

By Rajiv Shah Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, Gujarat, which he propagated as the “model” for other states to follow, is facing a major challenge on the health front: If the World Health Organization (WHO) is to be believed, Gujarat’s immunization coverage of one-year olds is one of the worst among Indian states – 72.8% as against the national average of 78.8%.

Kanhiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya  By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* It is criminal on part of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration to continue in their effort to destroy the career of students such as Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and others, who have been imposed disproportionate fine and expulsion from hostel.

By Sheshu Babu*  When terrorists attack, the media splashes news quickly and continue to discuss at length. The politicians try to use the news for boosting their political career. But deaths due to cleaning drainage holes or potholes on roads are rarely discussed by either media or politicians.

By Our Representative A new campaign, Baatein Aman Ki, is proposed to be organised comprising of 5 Women Yatras covering all Indian states between September 22 and October13, culmination in Delhi. They will start from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, and Delhi. While the routes are being finalised, the one starting from Delhi will cover central India and come back to Delhi. The aim of the five, Yatras, Baatein Aman Ki, consisting of 25 women per yatra, is to take the message of love, harmony, peace, non-violence across the nation. "In times of hate we spread the message of love and sisterhood", a message sent by NGO Anhad's Shabnam Hashmi said, adding, "We invite women groups, people's movements, funding organisations, individual women, artists, film makers, social media experts to join the campaign."

Gujarat activists protest against lynching incidents on July 23 By Our Representative A meeting of concerned citizens of Gujarat met on July 19 in Ahmedabad under the auspices of Movement for Secular Democracy (MSD), chaired by eminent journalist, activist and convenor of MSD Prakashbhai N. Shah, condemning the recent attack on Swami Agnivesh and rise in ‘mobocracy’ in the country was passed. It expressed shock over the fact that, on one side, the Supreme Court, is warning the Central Government over mobocracy, on the other, a ‘saffron’ mob attacks Swami Agnivesh in Jharkhand! It asked civil society to stay vigilant. Copy of the resolution was sent to the President of India.

By Rajiv Shah  Has the Indian industry begun to come off its shell, beginning to see that something is fundamentally wrong, detrimental to its interests, with policies adopted by the Government of India (GoI)? It would see so, if the latest move by the Association of Power Producers (APP), is any indication.

By Jagdish Patel*  The Gujarat High Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Vadodara, challenging the order of the ESI Court, Vadodara to pay disablement benefit as compensation to nine silicosis victims, all of whom are adivasis from Gujarat.

By Our Representative Thousands of representatives from over 200 farmer organisations under the banner of the All-India Kisan Sangharsh Samanvay passed what has been called the "no-confidence motion" against the current Indian government outside the Parliament. Those who addressed the rally included Yogendra Yadav, Medha Patkar, Darshanpal, Jagmohan Singh, Atul Kumar Anjan, Ashish Mittal, Kavita Kuruganti, Dr. Sunilam and Member of Parliament Raju Shetty. The no-confidence motion Recently, Government of India declared a Minimum Support Price (MSP), which is merely 10-20% more than input costs as against the 1.5 times price set by Swaminathan Committee. "This MSP too is only declared for Kharif crops", it said, even as demanding to stop land grab, which it said, "has reached an all time high in the name of big projects like Industrial Corridors, Dams, smart cities etc." 

By Sheshu Babu* 'I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection' -- Sigmund Freud Condemning rapes and harassment of women has become a routine with increase of these cases over the years. Among the ten countries reporting incidents of rape, nations like America, Canada, Sweden and UK appear in the list (wonderlist.com, Ejaz Khan). About 36% of women globally have been reported experience either physical or sexual intimate violence.

By Moin Qazi* Despite what is being purveyed in the media, banks are keen on venturing into the hinterlands to set up accounts. Getting people on board is a different story. It is true that both government-owned and private sector banks are not getting compensation of any kind for promoting the financial inclusion agenda. In fact, banks are suffering an additional cost burden of 250 rupees to 500 rupees per account annually and can’t expect profits from them for at least two years a majority of bank accounts that were opened over the last few years for the poor are dormant due to inactivity and insufficient fund. Indeed, the current crisis in the Indian banking sector has led to calls for privatisation of public sector banks (PSB). However, the private sector is no paragon of great virtue. Moreover, the faithful advocates of privatization are ill-informed of the real issues. The huge crowds that throng PSBs and put up with various inconveniences indicate the enormous faith that the pub...

By Rajiv Shah A recent paper, published in a top London-based research journal, BMP Open , has said that the out of pocket (OOP) expenditure on healthcare in general and medicines in particular, over the last two decades, has gone up from 4.49% to 6.77% in India, leading to “financial catastrophe” of 18% of the country’s households.

Congress leader Kunwarji Bavaliya being welcomed in BJP By RK Misra* If you can’t beat them, deplete them. After over 20 years of uninterrupted rule in its model state, Gujarat, the BJP is still foraging for rival’s crumbs to fill its overloaded basket. And so it was that on July 14, it inducted Mahendrasinh Vaghela, former Congress legislator and son of the eternal rebel, Shankersinh Vaghela into their party.

Swami Agnivesh  By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* On 17 July renowned social activist and Arya Samaj leader Swami Agnivesh was brutally beaten up and verbally abused in Jharkhand by a violent mob apparently having allegiance with the ruling BJP. Fortunately, they did not succeed in murdering the seventy-nine year old Swami.  However, a couple of day earlier, thirty-two year old Mohammed Azam, a techie from Hyderabad, who worked with Accenture, was not so lucky. 

By Mitra Ranjan* The Right to Education (RTE) Forum has strongly condemned the passing of ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Second Amendment) Bill, 2017 in Lok Sabha. It has scrapped the ‘no detention’ provision. Ambarish Rai, National Convener, RTE Forum, has said, "No detention withdrawn by the Government of India in parliament will punish millions of children despite systemic failures and non-implementation of RTE Act.”

Protest in Jaipur against proposed amendments to the RTI Act By Anjali Bharadwaj, Nikhil Dey, Venkatesh Nayak* The text of the Right to Information (RTI) Amendment Bill is finally available, one day before Parliament’s monsoon session will commence. The secrecy around the amendments has prevented any meaningful debate or public engagement with the proposed changes. It is a matter of grave concern that the government does not value the opinion of millions of people and information seekers whose fundamental right to information will be impacted through this amendment.

A SEWA-supported fish marketing cooperative By Rajiv Shah Nearly 13 years after the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat reportedly tried to pressure the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) for his political ends, India's premier organization, headquartered in Ahmedabad, and working with poor women in the informal sector, thinks that even today political-bureaucratic pressure remains high, mainly due to its wide support among women.

A Narmada dam oustee gets a damaged house. Photo source: NBA By Our Representative Giving a call to activists across India to join its campaign to “save” Narmada river, starting at Badwani along the Narmada river on July 31 and ending on August 2 at Manibeli, the anti-dam Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has alleged that the campaign is in response to the February 8, 2017 Supreme Court judgment, which, over the last one year, has “created panic” and “outcry” across the valley. The Supreme Court judgment – even as ordering Rs 60 lakh and Rs 15 lakh compensation to two different categories of Narmada dam oustees of Madhya Pradesh (MP) – asked the state government to begin vacating all oustee families from the submergence area starting July 31, 2017.

Current costs per unit compare with this time last year: % responses By Our Representative An Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) survey has found that nearly one-fourth of Indian manufacturing firms have reported “significant increase (by 6.1% to 10%) in costs”, while around three-fifth of firms reported that “increase in costs has been more than 3% during the last one year”.

Counterview Desk  In sharp defence of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Jharkhand, Dr Abraham Mathai, former vice chairman of the National Minorities Commission (NMC), has said that it is being "falsely accused of child trafficking", as alleged by the state police. Even as the Roman Catholic Church has come out in its support following the arrest of a nun and an employee, saying that nun is "innocent", and her confession was extracted under pressure, Dr Mathai insists that "no criminal intention is made out, hence the FIR appears motivated."

Jayant Sinha, Giriraj Singh By Adv Masood Peshimam* Felicitation or feting of mob-killing persons under one pretext or the other, or criminal participation of individuals in communal violence, is not acceptable. Cases of lynching as a result of fake news have recently grown dramatically, sharpening communal polarisation, especially after Narendra Modi came to power. The weak justice delivery system has further aggravated the situation. This is happening because of blatant misuse of power.

By Gautam Thaker* The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India's draft enactment for forming Higher Education Commission (HEC) by scrapping the University Grants Commission (UGC) is meant to concentrate on educational matters in the hands of MHRD by placing all financial matters under the direct control of the Ministry. This means that MHRD will decide whether or not to give grant, or how much grant to give to an institution. This will result in direct intervention by MHRC.