By Our Representative  More than 600 civil society activists, protesting against the Delhi Police move to file a first information report against bureaucrat-turned-human rights activist Harsh Mander and the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) founded by him for alleged financial irregularities, have said, it signifies “decline in Constitutional values and shrinking space for civil society”.

By Ashley Tellis*  I first met Devangana Kalita in a first year English Honours classroom in which I entered to teach Charles Dickens’ Hard Times in Miranda House, Delhi University, in 2008. She was one of the smartest students in the class – Devangana smiled the most and had the brightest twinkle in her eyes of the girls in the class. A middle class girl – Kalita comes from a family in upper Assam, the Kalitas along with the Brahmins dominate Assam (the Bamon-Kolita nexus as it is called) – in an elite all women’s institution known for a feminist, rebellious history. Like all institutions, it was repressive; like all all-women institutions, particularly so. But Miranda House had met its match in Devangana. She organised, protested, all within the democratic tradition resisted. The seeds of Pinjra Tod, the group Devangana was to eventually co-found, and which now finds her jailed for as absurd a reason as inciting a ‘riot’ were already sown in that first year. By the third year, ...

Counterview Desk  Even as welcoming the bail granted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to young Dalit labour rights leader Nodeep Kaur, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), taking note of continued incarceration of her colleague Shiv Kumar, also a Dalit, has demanded charges against them should be immediately dropped. Arrested in January from a Kundli border point, where they were said to be bring workers’ support to the ongoing farmers’ agitation, Ravi Kiran Jain, president, and Dr V Suresh, general secretary, PUCL, said, both were “brutally tortured.”

Civil Society statement for Harsh Mander/Centre for Equity Studies: Stop vendetta politics against civil society and persecution of citizens associated with civil society: *** One of the most disturbing trends in India in the recent years, along with the decline in Constitutional values and shrinking space for civil society, is the demonisation and persecution of activists and organisations. The active hounding of Harsh Mander, a former bureaucrat and one of the most respected names in civil society, and the institutions he is associated with like the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) is the most recent example of the vendetta politics of the government. An officer of the Indian Administrative Service, Harsh Mander quit the civil service in 2002 in the wake of the Gujarat riots and has since then been a part of significant civil society initiatives. He has served as the head of ActionAid India, co-founder of the Centre for Equity Studies, co-founder of Karwan-e-Mohabbat – an initiative t...

By BN Navalawala*  Thousands of years old, our vedic scriptures such as Vedas, Upvedas and Purans make special mention, extensively and frequently, about water as one of the five basic elements (पंच तत्त्व) vital for the living world (सजीव सृष्टि), while stating that 'जल ही जीवनम \’.Water is the most essential resource now for major economic and societal headway anywhere in the world.

By Tathagata Chatterji*  Coronavirus had badly impacted urban India, which accommodates one-third of its population and two-thirds of economic production. Metro cities, which are nerve centers of the economy and gateways to global trade, turned into pandemic epicenters. Millions of jobs were lost during the Covid-19 peak and lockdown phase, which triggered an unprecedented wave of deurbanization of migrant workers.

By Ashley Tellis*  When I first met Vivek Gomber, six years ago now, he was in his mid-thirties but as he loped toward me in a café in Bandra, near where he then lived, in his Bermudas and a tee, he might have been a US American just out of his teens. He was languidly fit and a far cry from the rotund, Uncle-like lawyer he played in Court which had at that point just been selected for the Oscars.

Counterview Desk  Asking the Government of India to “stop witch hunt” and “drop all false and motivated cases”, India’s premier human rights organisation, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has said that Disha Ravi’s case suggests how the law and order authorities are failing to respect “the fundamental right of free speech, dissent, assembly and association.”

By Rajiv Shah  Recently, I received an email from from a person who introduced himself as Ronny Krier, claiming to be an American cultural researcher. He said, he visits Counterview in a regular basis to read news about India, and thinks, “It's a great platform to break the information filter bubbles and hear different voice.” Then Kreir, who is on Twitter and Facebook , and calls himself “independent investigator, religion-politics researcher,” refers to a friend whom he does not name to point out how the Tibetan government in exile is failing to take care of refugees. Says Krier, “Under the pandemic, my friend, a Tibetan refugee who lived in Dharmsāla, had something to talk about the CTA (Central Tibetan Administration) in dealing with Covid-19 and current issues in the Tibetan community. I met him when I was travelling India, and recently he reached me and talked about it. He really wants to be heard by the Indian public and the global audience. However, he's still a bit c...

Quoting a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) report , “Amnesty Move To Strip Navalny Of 'Prisoner Of Conscience' Status Sparks Outcry”, a Moscow-based journalist, Fred Weir, whom I peripherally during my Moscow days (1986-93), has brought into the light problems in which such top human rights organisations like Amnesty International, find themselves in while defending what they called “prisoners of conscience. In a Facebook post , Weir, who is son-in-law of Prof Tatiana Shaumian, a veteran incisive Indologist, points to how the recently arrested Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny “is an extremely problematic hero” and Amnesty dropping him as a "prisoner of conscience" is suggests the human rights group apparent “ignorance.” He asks, “Why do so many people in the West seem to believe in a simple Russia -- Putin bad, Navalny good -- and then they bail when the picture clouds or starts to get complicated? In fact, Navalny's racism and hate speech are...

By Harsh Thakor*  History was literally made at the Barnala grain market in Punjab on February 21 in a conference staged jointly by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) or BKU (Urugrahan) and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU), protesting the three farm laws. The venue resembled an Ocean in full flow with an impact: Two lakh people thronging in the venue. The grand rally in Barnala encompassed 20.66 acres. 

Counterview Desk  India’s civil rights network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), along with more than 400 civil society groups, movements, activists, academics and concerned citizens have come together to write to the Union Environment Minister, the Union Tribal Affairs Minister and the Chief Minister, Odisha, calling upon them to immediately intervene and halt all mining activities in the already heavily polluted Kulda mines area, in the Sundargarh district.

By Simi Mehta, Ritika Gupta, Manoswini Sarkar Climate change is one of the most pressing issues that the world is collectively facing at the moment. It is contended that strengthening the global response is pertinent to combat the threat of climate change.[1] The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted in 1992 that entered into force on 21 March, 1994, primarily aims to prevent anthropogenic interference in the earth’s climate system and stabilize Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. With this aim, the Conference of Parties meets every year to assess progress and review documents by countries on their plans to combat climate change. COP and the Paris Agreement The Conference of Parties (COP) is the core decision making body of the UNFCCC. The Parties are the States that have ratified the Convention. Their task is to review its implementation by reviewing the various documents and emission inventories submitted by Parties.[2] The first COP meeting was held in B...

By Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Arjun Kumar The pandemic pushed the Indian economy to the greatest crisis that it ever had to face, leading to its collapse in the month of April/May 2020. Although the official data computed the fall at 7.7%, the economy has declined by around 29%, estimated Dr Arun Kumar, Malcolm S Adiseshiah Chair Professor, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi.

By Our Representative  Condemning recent  raids conducted by the Uttar Pradesh special task force (STF) at its Delhi state committee office in Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi, the civil rights group, Popular Front of India (PFI), has alleged that it is “part of the ongoing harassment launched against” it by the Yogi Adityanath government.

By Our Representative  Clear indications have emerged that the powerful Kashmiri diaspora organisation, Washington-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum, has shed its earlier approach of equidistance from both India and Pakistan while demanding what it calls the inalienable Kashmiri right of self-determination. The statement has been made in order to exhort the Kashmiri diaspora to stand united for demand the “inalienable” right.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to have given women right over ancestral property. This is a landmark initiative taken by the state government and must be complimented for it. According to government’s own assessment, over thirty five lakh women are going to be benefitted from this. At the time, when women’s rights groups are asking for being provided status of ‘Kisan’ in rest of India and the fact that women do not own property, particularly agricultural land, she cant get any loan even if she does more than 80% work on farming. Even the Kisan andolan have not been very supportive to this as they fear that the agricultural land would be divided which reduces its bargain power. That is why farming communities and families tend to be in the ‘joint family’ system which is often regressive for women. Most of the time, farmer leadership had been opposed to radical land reforms for the fear of land getting fragmented but the biggest fear is of women’s...

By Sandeep Pandey, Anandi Pandey, Kushagra Kumar*  In a surprise move, in the midst of farmers’ struggle, the government has celebrated the Chauri Chaura incident and glorified the families of freedom fighters involved. As part of Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement when there was violence involving setting the police station in Chauri Chaura, near Gorakhpur, on fire killing 22 policemen as a reaction to police firing on protestors in which three people were killed, Gandhiji was so disturbed by the violence that he decided to suspend the entire movement.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Delhi Metro's chief 'architect' E Sreedharan has decided to join BJP in Kerala and has said that he is 'ready' to accept the chief ministerial post if it comes to him. He said, he is determined to bring people to BJP and that it is the only party that India needs at the moment. Sreedharan has also given his 'expert opinion' on farmers’ issues and love jihad, supporting the official BJP line.

By NS Venkataraman*  With the rapid development in the field of science and technology practices, information technology and management, administrative techniques all over the world, there is a need for a high level update in knowledge amongst politicians, including ministers, both in states and the Central government, who govern the country today.

National Alliance of People’s Movement’s (NAPM’s) solidarity statement in favour of the migrant labourers of Ahmedabad demanding basic living facilities: *** The past year has exposed the dire situation of migrant workers across India, who continue to work in precarious conditions. On 15th February, 2021, almost 1000 migrant labourers, members of the labour union Majur Adhikar Manch, gathered in Ahmedabad in front of the District Collector’s office, to submit a memorandum asking for immediate action to provide them with dignified housing in the city. The workers had been denied permission to hold the rally, and many were detained by the police in an absurd use of violence by lathi charging a peaceful gathering. The protestors are seasonal and permanent migrant labourers, many of whom belong to Adivasi, NT, DNT, Dalit and OBC communities from Gujarat and from West Madhya Pradesh and South Rajasthan, who come to Ahmedabad to find work through labour-nakkas. Entire families frequently un...

By Shamsul Islam*  First time in the history of independent India, the in-charge minister of the Cultural Ministry in the current Modi government, Prahlad Singh Patel, has glorified MS Golwalkar, second supremo of the RSS and the most prominent ideologue of the RSS till date, on his birth anniversary, February 19. In a tweet he wrote : “Remembering a great thinker, scholar, and remarkable leader #MSGolwalkar on his birth anniversary. His thoughts will remain a source of inspiration & continue to guide generations.”

Counterview Desk  India’s civil rights network National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), condemning “blatant disregard” by the state and the industrial lobby for the lives of Telangana farmers, farm workers and scheduled tribes, has said almost 12,635 acres of land are likely to be acquired over 17 villages for the proposed National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ), Zaheerabad.

By MK Shaji*  The Government of Idia claims to work for all classes and peoples (Sabka Saath). Its leadership firmly believes in the merits of a full-fledged capitalist economy and makes all out efforts to facilitate maximal profit for investors, industry and businesses.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The recent raid on the newsportal “Newsclick” by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) unambiguously shows how the government 'respects' those voices that differ. The ED these days has become the new CBI and is being used as a political tool. It is deeply disturbing how these agencies have allowed themselves to be used as a political tool to harass the opponents of the ruling party.

By NS Venkataraman*  All over the world, in totalitarian countries, people are generally unhappy about the rulers, who run the country. In such countries, curtailment of individual freedom and liberty is common practice and transparency is conspicuous by absence. However, people put up with problems and stress, fearing suppression.

Chhattisgarh Adivasis protest Govt of India move  Counterview Desk  The Union Ministry of Coal’s notification to acquire more than 700 hectares of forest and Adivasi land in the Hadeo Aranya region of Chhattisgarh for under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition & Development) Act, 1957, is a “blatant attempt to bypass public consultation provisions under multiple Central laws including, the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), a civil rights network, has said.

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  This year the World Day of Social Justice (February 20) is being observed in extremely trying times all over the world. The first signs and cases of the pandemic had already gripped parts of the world in December 2019; but it was not until after the middle of February 2020 did the seriousness of situation actually set in.

Counterview Desk  Three well-known civil rights organisations, National Alliance of People's Movements, Coalition for Environmental Justice in India and People's Union for Civil Liberties have said that that government should “stop stifling democracy”, and instead enter into dialogue with the youth to “secure India’s future.”

S By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The Bahurupiyas are one of the most marginalised communities in India. They are engaged in life performances and depend on the patronage of the powerful in the villages. In the olden times, the Rajas and Maharajas patronised them as they would massage their ego. They act on impersonation but it is not to dupe any one but to perform. One day he becomes a Salim or Jahapana Akbar while other day he could be a majnoo or a Seth or a priest. I would call them ‘theatre artists’. Every day, they are on a new role and earn through begging. If you watch them or listen to them, you will realise how they created various performances to keep their patrons happy. This is their traditional occupation. In Rajasthan the contemtuous term used for them was Bhand, which is an untouchable caste, though most of them would deny that they ever face untouchability or caste discrimination in the villages yet it is a reality that their art is nothing but to keep their ‘patrons’ happy, T...

Disha Ravi By Our Representative  The All-India Catholic Union (AICU) has said that it is deeply disturbed and worried at hounding of young activists, insisting, “civil society is vital for healthy nation.” The 101-year-old organisation, in a statement, said it is particularly worried “at the hounding of young climate change and environment activists in the country.”

Counterview Desk Four tribal rights organisations, Adivasi Ekta Parishad, Jay Adivasi Yuva Shakti, Adivasi Chhatra Sangathan and Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) -- referring to the attack on Madhya Pradesh adivasi women in Badwani, including a pregnant woman and young girls in the name of religion on December 31 -- have regretted that despite one-and-a-half months have passed, no arrests of the perpetrators have taken place.

Counterview Desk  Activists Vimal Bhai, Dinesh Panwar and Bharat Chauhan of the Uttarakhand civil rights organisation Matu Jansangthan, who were in Tapovan and Raini villages to assess the impact of the Dhouli Ganga disaster that took place on February 7, have said that things went worse because of the “disregard of security arrangements and criminal negligence by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) dam.”

By Sandip Singha, et al*  About 1,300 workers of the Jateswar Division of Birpara Tea Garden have begun a struggle to prevent the illegal and unjust takeover of their garden by Merico Agro Industries Ltd. They have read from the newspapers that a meeting has been organised by the West Bengal Labour Department between trade union leaders and the management of Merico Agro Industries Ltd. 

By Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Ritika Gupta The Indian economy was quite sluggish even before the pandemic made the unfortunate appearance. Inefficient policies and structural issues took a toll on the economy, further exasperated by the pandemic. Now that we are emerging from the shadows of the ill-planned lockdowns and inefficient bailout packages, the growth rates have still not returned to a healthy pace. We are also faced with new challenges of ensuring universal vaccination and the emergence of new variants of COVID-19. Given all these uncertainties, there is a need to focus on what the government can do, what the budget has done, and what it ought to have done, remarked Dr Arun Kumar, Malcolm S. Adiseshiah Chair Professor, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. Dr Kumar was speaking at a Panel discussion held on 08 February 2021, on the topic, ‘ Pandemic & Union Budget 2021: Implementation and the way forward ’ he chaired. This pertinent deliberation was organized by IMPRI – ...