By Shubhangi Rai, Megha Gupta, Fawzia Tarannum, Mansee Bal Bhargava Looking into the last century, water resources management have come a long way from the living with water in the villages to the nimbyism and capitalism in the cities to coming full cycle with room for water in the villages. With the climate change induced water crisis, the focus on conservation and management of water resources if furthered in both national and local agenda. The Water management 2021 report by NITI Aayog acknowledges that water and sustainability are of immense importance for the sustenance of life on earth. Water is intricately linked to the health, food security and livelihood. With business as usual, India’s water availability will only be enough to meet 50% of its total demand and 40% of the population in India will have no access to drinking water and sanitation by 2030 . Its Composite Water Management Index 2021 states that ‘India is suffering from the worst water crisis in its history and mil...

By Our Representative  Making two separate complaints to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman, a senior civil rights leader has said that the security forces stationed near the Bangladesh border in West Bengal have "harassed, insulted and tortured" Muslim women Serina Bibi and Rabiya Bibi. In the first case, Kirity Roy said, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel attached with the Bithari Border Out Post, 112 Battalion, the woman, Serina Bibi, was touched inappropriately, detained unnecessarily in the name of searching, forcibly removing all her clothes, and making her complete naked and assaulting her physically. Roy is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), and national convenor, Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI). Serina Bibi is a house wife and belongs to a poor marginalized Muslim community, residing at the bordering village of Hakimpur (Uttarpara) under Swarupnagar Block and Police Station in the district of North...

Counterview Desk In a complaint to the chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), West Bengal-based civil rights leader Kirity Roy, secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), and national convenor, Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), has taken strong exception to the detention of Bangladeshi women in West Bengal and accusing and treating them as criminals under Foreigners Act, 1946. Giving specific examples, Roy regretted, the authorities least concerned to "enquire into whether the persons including women and children crossed the border from Bangladesh to India were the victims of human trafficking." He added, "Our fact finding reveals that the arrested Bangladeshi women entered India for the purpose of working in India as they are terribly poverty-stricken people with no jobs in Bangladesh." Text : I am writing this complaint regarding detention of Bangladeshi women in West Bengal and accusing and treating them as crim...

By Sandeep Pandey*  The judgement of Supreme Court releasing AG Perarivalan, convicted in the case of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, has been widely hailed as upholding the human rights of prisoners. Yet, Yasin Malik, Kashmiri separatist leader, has been given two life terms and there is hardly any debate on him.  At the same time Government of India is engaged in a dialogue with leaders of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) trying to find a political solution to Naga problem. Nagaland had attracted Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act much before it was used in Jammu and Kashmir, both on account of being disturbed areas. Yasin Malik, the leader of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was a militant till 1994, after which he decided to give up violence and espoused Gandhian philosophy. Along with Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, Shabir Shah, Yasin Malik comprised the most credible Kashmiri separatist leadership, who cert...

By Harasankar Adhikari Rabindranath Tagore (1908) said, "Patriotism can’t be our final spiritual shelter. "I will not buy glass for a diamond, and I will never let patriotism triumph over humanity as long as I live." Tagore’s view stands in sharp contrast to what we are witnessing today, when patriotism means religious differences between the majority (Hindu) and minority (Muslim). Our secular nation is gradually disobeying its secular nature and it is being patronised by political leaders and their narrow politics. India’s unique character of ‘unity in diversity’ is trying to be saffronised. Hindu extremism (Hindutvavadis) generates a culture of religious intolerance. Democratic India is based upon the ideology of equality of all. This nation is based upon different foundations than most of those which went before it. Its legitimacy lies in its being able to satisfy its various component communities that their interests will be safeguarded by the Indian state...

Ulfa-I leader Paresh Barua By Nava Thakuria*   Latest killing of armed members belonging to the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent) or Ulfa-I in their hideouts somewhere along the Myanmar-China border and the subsequent media coverage “glorifying” the brutal acts of separatist Ulfa-I leaders appear to have annoyed several sections in the northeast. There was live streaming of militant leaders by many satellite news channels, which many interpreted as justifying the murder of Assamese youths in camps. Based on this interpretation, there is now a strong demand to restrict the media outlets which allegedly propagate the culture of violence in the name of freedom movement. The Assam Public Works (APW), which calls itself anti-militancy organization, has criticised the news channels which interviewed top Ulfa-I leader Paresh Barua, giving him the opportunity to explain why they killed at least two cadres in recent days. Addressing media in Guwahati, APW president ...

By Harsh Thakor*  Tarimela Nagi Reddy  (1917-1976)  is considered one of the most outstanding personalities in the history the communist movement in India. His teachings are important for those seeking to understand what are said to be deviations in Indian Communist camp: rightist and left-adventurist. Few communists have exhibited his mastery in analysing the semi-feudal and semi-colonial nature of the Indian state and it's neo-fascist variety. As leader of the Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries Nagi combated the left adventurist trend of Charu Mazumdar in 1968. Critical of the “revisionist” line of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), he simultaneously asserted the need for an agrarian revolution, formulating a critical document on the “left adventurist” trend. Among his contributions, the struggle for 1,000 acres of Banjara lands in Anathapur in 1970s in 28 villages, which were in the hands of landlords for 30 years, stands out. The r...

By Bharat Dogra* May 28 was the 92nd death anniversary of Bhagwati Charan Vohra who sacrificed his life in 1930 at the age of only 25 while making preparations for rescuing Bhagat Singh from jail. As he was preparing for his own martyrdom in jail, Bhagat Singh paid very rich tributes to the great sacrifices of Bhagwati Charan Vohra in the course of his numerous activities relating to the freedom movement. Bhagwati came from a very rich family, in fact he was perhaps the wealthiest among his many comrades in the revolutionary movement as a result of his family background. Yet right from his teen years he did not show any interest in enjoying this wealth and instead was always inclined towards the freedom movement. At the age of only 16 he was an enthusiastic participant in the non-cooperation movement started by Mahatma Gandhi. Due to the wide prevalence of child marriage in those times, even before this he was married to Durga at the insiste...

By Katrina vanden Heuvel*  As Russia’s illegal and brutal assault enters its fourth month, the impact on Europe, the Global South and the world is already profound. We are witnessing the emergence of a new political/military world order.  Climate action is being sidelined as reliance on fossil fuels increases; food scarcity and other resource demands are pushing prices upward and causing widespread global hunger; and the worldwide refugee crisis — with more international refugees and internally displaced people than at any time since the end of World War II — poses a massive challenge. Furthermore, the more protracted the war in Ukraine, the greater the risk of a nuclear accident or incident. And with the Biden administration’s strategy to “weaken” Russia with the scale of weapons shipments, including anti-ship missiles, and revelations of U.S. intelligence assistance to Ukraine, it is clear that the United States and NATO are in a proxy war with Russia. Shouldn’t the ramifi...

By Katrina vanden Heuvel*  What are the United States’ goals in the Ukraine war? Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently announced that the United States wants “Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.” The U.S. commitment toward that end has been substantial. Congress passed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act by near-unanimous vote, invoking the “arsenal of democracy” we provided to Britain during World War II. President Biden is seeking $33 billion in additional aid.  When the defense ministers of some 40 countries gathered at Ramstein Air Base in Germany last month, the focus was not a peace settlement but outright Ukrainian victory or at least the “permanent weakening” of Russia’s military power. But as the violence continues, the war fever rises, and we had better be clear about our objectives. A commitment to a long, grinding proxy war with Russia would have severe consequences not only for the...

Leela Devi, Monica By Bharat Dogra*  At a time of increasing concern over climate change, contributions of several women, farmers and innovators have given reason for increasing hope in mitigation as well as adaptation work in villages of India. When Leela Devi was married in Tilonia village (Ajmer district of Rajasthan), she had not heard of solar energy. But making use of the existence of solar centre of the Barefoot College (BC) near her new home, she learnt adequate skills within a year to set up rural solar units and assemble solar lanterns. Later as India’s External Affairs Ministry teamed up with BC to start an international program for training women in rural solar energy systems, Leela teamed up with other friends from BC to form a team of trainers. A training programme has been designed for training women as barefoot solar engineers. When I visited the Tilonia campus (before the training program was temporarily discontinued due to COVID) , a group of women (several of the...