International petition , floated by Raju Rajagopal to support the "March for an Untouchability-free India": *** A 10 ft brass coin made from used brass utensils. On one side of the coin is the image of Dr. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian constitution. Below him is etched the question, “Will the 1947 dream of an untouchability-free India be a reality in 2047?” The other side of the coin depicts Buddha. What is the purpose of this 2000 kg coin? Please Read on... As India approaches the 75th anniversary of its independence, we will soon hear a lot about the nation’s numerous accomplishments in the fields of education, health, science and technology, women’s empowerment, national defense, and so forth. Yet, Dr. Ambedkar’s dream of an untouchability-free India remains a dream. Despite numerous laws designed to end untouchability and caste violence, not a day passes when we do not hear of atrocities against Dalits, especially women, because of who they are. Martin Macwan, Co-...

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Rule of law, transparency, accountability and citizenship rights are fundamental pillars of constitutional democracy. These pillars are eroding rapidly. The democratic cultures based on equality, liberty, justice, reason, science, secularism, tolerance and mutual respect for dissenting and diverse opinions are declining across the globe. The corporatisation of electoral campaigns, market command over political parties, corporate control over political processes and policies are mortal threat to the citizenship rights and democratic polity. The capitalist assault on democratic governance is creating conditions of political, economic, social and cultural crises, and giving rise to reactionary forces. Major democracies in Europe, Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania are facing the crisis of legitimacy and citizens are losing trust over their own states and governments. The democratic governments are not representing their citizens interests but standing behind the ...

By Aashika Premkumar, Arunika A, Saranya Sarkar, Vaibhavi, Vikas*  We interviewed human rights activist Manjula Pradeep to understand intersection of gender and caste-based discrimination. Hailing from an orthodox Dalit family, Majula went on to become the Executive Director of Navsarjan Trust, a Dalit rights organization and has worked on multiple cases, especially those found at the intersection of caste and gender based discrimination and violence. One of the key reasons for her to enter this field were her personal experiences of being discriminated on the basis of her caste and being sexually abused at a young age. She chose to oppose her family by opting for the field of social work, something she believed would help her make a difference. She was well aware of the fact that the ground realities were often much severe and became interested in working closely with affected families and women. Navsarjan Trust Manjula joined Navsarjan at the age of 22, post graduation. As a part...

By Our Representative  A report, researched and authored by Dalit women activists and human rights defenders, has revealed that in Bihar, there was a 10.4% rise in incidents of rape and 87% rise in cases of assault on women with an intent to outrage their modesty in 2020. In this period, 628 rape cases were registered in the state under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The report, titled ‘Caste-Based Sexual Violence and State Impunity’, said, in spite of increased reporting of cases of sexual violence, justice is not achieved because of the complete impunity displayed by the state duty-holders, including the police and medical personnel. This not just affects the reported cases, but also the ones which remain unreported. Releasing the report at the Nav Jyoti Niketan, Kurji More, Patna, Santosh Suman Manjhi, minister of SC/ST welfare of Bihar, said, “It is our social responsibility to understand issues affecting Dalit women. We need to empower all communi...

By Harsh Thakor*  The legendary Zaheer Abbas has turned 75. Zaheer Abbas’s strokes were like a manifestation of aestheticism of cricket’s golden age.. His timing and artistry was simply god gifted. manipulating a cricket ball through the gaps with the wizardry of a magician. In my view for sheer style and elegance no batsman ever surpassed Zaheer Abbas.,who held a bat like a wand. No batsman as gloriously drove a cricket ball on other side of extra cover. It is hard to find an adjective to do full justice to the sheer poetry in Zaheer's batting whose strokes resembled the touches of a painters brush. His mere deft touches would send the best of balls scuttling to the boundary. Even when desecrating a bowling attack to pieces his strokes never lost the elements of composure or technique, like a boxer, poet and surgeon rolled into one. Technically he was master, with shades of unorthodoxy because of his great inventive capability. Few batsman were better positioned when driving as ...

By Risha Syed*   Trafficking in human beings is one of the largest organized crimes violating basic human rights. Trafficking in human beings may be for sexual exploitation as well as in many other forms including forced labour. This crime is primarily fuelled by poverty, illiteracy, lack of livelihood options, etc. India is a source, a destination as well as a transit country for trafficking. Majority of the trafficking happens within the country but there are also a large number of persons trafficked from and to neighbouring countries and to other countries, especially Middle East Asia. Internationally, India has ratified the United Nations Convention for the ‘Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others’ which declares that prostitution and the accompanying evil of the traffic in persons for the purpose of prostitution are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person and endanger the welfare of the individual, t...

By Amanisha Das, Anshit Singh, Ishit Gaba, Vaibhav Agarwal*  Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, one of most reputed and well-known Institute has been created and nurtured like a management school not a business school. Apart from changing the dynamics of business in the country, the institute has also engaged with priority sectors such as education, health, energy, and public administration. One such niche course is Transformational Social movements which largely focus on the society and its interactions with other entities including corporations and the state. The course introduces and sensitizes students on the role of social movements with an effort to understand the factors that introduce and sustain them. Through this course, we came across an ongoing housing struggle by the residents of Alif Row House, Al Uphasha Park, Alia Row House, Nehrunagar, Ahmedabad. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation came down heavily on the residents of the Alif Row House. They were accused o...

By Prem Singh*  Some Gandhians appear to be indignant about the special issue of 'Antim Jan' on Sarvakar. It is a monthly magazine published by a government organization, Gandhi Darshan and Smriti. Some journalists, intellectuals and party spokespersons/ leaders too have expressed their unhappiness over the special issue. Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi's statement has also reacted to it. 'Gandhi Darshan and Smriti' is an organization related to the life and thoughts of Gandhi. Opponents believe that this institution's special issue on Savarkar is part of the 'Hindutva' agenda of the present government. They say that by doing so the government has tried to distort Gandhi's philosophy and reduce his stature. Gandhi received recognition due to his life, his role in Indian politics, and his philosophy based on his beliefs. This was evident on the amphitheatre of India and the world. Even after he was gone, Gandhi's stature has remained unc...

A brief report on the recent hooch tragedy in Gujarat prepared by the fact finding team of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (C), Ahmedabad: *** A three member team of SUCI (C) visited the hooch tragedy affected villages of Dhandhuka and Barwala talukas on 27th July, 2022. The three members were Dr. Kanubhai Khadadiya, Jayesh Patel and Sachin Shah. The first shocking thing revealed to them was that not only Akru, Nabhoi, Chowkdi, Rojid, Chandarwa, Uchhadi, Mosadi and Aniyari, whose name surfaced in the news were affected but more than 20 other villages including Ranpari, Vaiya, Karada, Tagdi, Devagna, whose name has not surfaced are also badly affected by the tragedy. The liquor is sold in the surrounding 50 villages from the liquor shop situated between Chowkdi and Nabhoi of Barwala taluka. It clearly exposes the failure of Police and the government to nab the liquor seller. In spite of repeated representations by the Sarpanch of Rojid, no steps were taken. Presently many ...

By Bharat Dogra  There are increasing demands from many sides that the amendment of Electricity Act 2003 which the union government has been trying to push ahead for some time should not be passed in a hurry. It has been discussed that the government is likely to introduce the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 in the Monsoon Session of the Parliament. A reference point given for this is that when the Electricity Bill 2001 was ready, this was sent to the Standing Committee on Power Affairs of Parliament and there was extensive discussion with all stakeholders for nearly two years before the bill was passed in the form of Electricity Act 2003 (which is now sought to be amended). As the amendments sought to be introduced now are very controversial ones, demand for similar extensive discussions with all stakeholders is being increasingly voiced. As electricity is in the concurrent list there is need for better consultation with state governments instead of centralizing too much authori...

By Jeswan Kaur*  The narrative surrounding the Wuhan virus infamously called Covid-19 is as mind boggling as the lies and ignorance surrounding it. The result – a just as confused and scared population the world over, unsure of the truths and nature of the virus and safety of the hastily produced vaccines. Making matters worse is the blatant disregard for truth and abject disregard for the safety and well-being of the people. One such horror comes in the form a consultant paediatrician Dr Musa Mohd Nordin who has refuted the fact that the Covid-19 vaccines are experimental in nature. His ”understanding” – technology used in the making of these vaccines is not a new find and has been used in the past. The Sinar in its March 3, 2022 publication quoted Dr Musa as saying: “I think people who are saying the Covid-19 vaccine is experimental only now know about vaccines whereas the mRNA technology has been known since 1990 while ‘inactivated vaccine’ has been known since 1950. “The Covid-...

By Rosamma Thomas*  “So how many of you have swum in the Meenachil?” asked Dr TV Sajeev, scientist at the Kerala Forest Research Institute, of the over 100 undergraduate students who had gathered for a talk on climate change and nature conservation at St Thomas College, Pala, Kottayam district, on Wednesday. None of the students had wet their feet in the river, which flows right behind the college.  Dr Sajeev explained that after all these years, the memories that remained with him of his time as a student were the days he went swimming in the river nearby. “I don’t recall my examinations, how much I scored,” he said. Asking students to question authority, he mentioned that the biggest and most revered figures through history were people who went against the tide – Socrates, Christ, Buddha. They were not people who conformed to society’s expectations. “If you conform, you will study, marry, produce children and die – that is the trajectory of life that society and your parents...

By Geeta Seshu* The overwhelming majority of education technology (EdTech) products endorsed by 49 governments of the world’s most populous countries and analyzed by Human Rights Watch appear to have surveilled or had the capacity to surveil children in ways that risked or infringed on their rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch released technical evidence and easy-to-view privacy profiles for 163 EdTech products recommended for children’s learning during the pandemic.  Of the 163 products reviewed, 145 (89 percent) surveilled or had the capacity to surveil children, outside school hours, and deep into their private lives. Many products were found to harvest information about children such as who they are, where they are, what they do in the classroom, who their family and friends are, and what kind of device their families could afford for them to use for online learning. This evidence underpins the May 25, 2022 report, “ How Dare They Peep into My Private...

By Samina Akhter*  In the wake of the recent eruption of communal violence in Bangladesh against Hindu minorities, a countless arguments and numerous criticisms have been brought to light. Something odd is happening – Bangladesh is being painted by elements as a violent state from which Hindus are persecuting and fleeing away, into India continuously. Hindus are being tortured in Bangladesh. Some claimed that Bangladesh has become quite a case of ethnic cleansing -- subtly but forcefully ousting Hindu minorities across the border. Some even went further claiming that Bangladesh has failed to form a state where different religious and ethnic groups can coexist based on the principle of secularism, one of the four fundamental pillars of the liberation war in 1971. To cast evidence to those criticisms, most of them point fingers to the continuous decline of Hindu minority population in Bangladesh- a case drawn to demonstrate Bangladesh as a prolific ground of persecution against Hindu...

By Harsh Thakor*  On 28th July we commemorate the 50th death anniversary of Charu Mazumdar,who was tortured to death in jail in police custody.. It ranks amongst the worst abuse of human rights of a political prisoner or leader in India or the world. Today history is repeating itself in with Custodial deaths being a routine occurrence in prisons.Charu’s assassination illustrated the neo-fascist nature of the Congress regime in West Bengal. The Civil Rights groups undertook extensive research on the fascist nature of the execution of not only Mazumdar but thousands of cadres of C.P.I. (M.L).In 1997 a judicial inquiry was initiated 25 years after the murder by son Abhijit and other comrades, but the petition was dismissed by the high court and Supreme Court. Charu Mazumdar must be credited for igniting the spark of ‘Naxalbari ‘by giving it a political shape, through, his Eight documents. He planted the seeds of the Indian Communist Movement demarcation from revisionism and Naxalbari ...