By Shamsul Islam*  In a significant development a delegation of five Muslim intellectuals namely former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi; former senior bureaucrat Najeeb Jung; former AMU vice-chancellor and Lt Gen (retd) Zameer U Shah; politician-cum-journalist Shahid Siddiqui (presently with RLD); and businessman Saeed Shervani [Samajvadi Party] met RSS Supremo Mohan Bhagwat at RSS Delhi headquarters. The meeting was kept secret for reasons known to the participants and was held in August. According to the Muslim intellectuals the meeting held in “a very cordial” atmosphere continued for 75 minutes whereas time allotted was 30 minutes! In a post-meeting justification of the parleys Quraishi stated that their main concern was “the insecurity being increasingly felt by the Muslim community in the wake of recurring incidents of lynching of innocents, calls by Hindutva hotheads for genocide and the marginalisation of the community in almost every sphere”. This delegation consi...

Marking the International Day for Access to Information, J&K RTI Foundation discussed weakness of RTI Act in J&K. A note: *** On the occasion of International Day for Universal Access to Information, J&K RTI Foundation held an event on Zoom wherein top RTI Activists across the country participated actively and passed a resolution to knock doors of Lieutenant Governor’s Administration for awareness and implementation of the RTI Act in Jammu and Kashmir. The event was held in consonance with the UNESCO General Conference declaration in 2015 recognizing the significance of access to information and proclamation of 28 September of every year as International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI). This year’s theme for the day was “Artificial Intelligence, e-Governance and Access to Information"; but J&K RTI Foundation deliberately discussed the sub-themes “Importance of Right to Information Law, Obstacles in Filing RTI Applications, Government’s Responsibilit...

Counterview Desk  India’s premier human rights group, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), condemning the mass raids and arrests of the People’s Front of India (PFI) leadership and cadres, following the recent ban on PFI, has said that the whole idea behind night busloads of armed CRPF men “suddenly” setting up blockades in Muslim dominated residential localities of Jamia Nagar in Delhi, equipped with “weaponry and securith gear”, was “to intimidate and terrorize the entire Muslim community.” Citing the types of FIRs being filed against PFI, PUCL said, the effort was to accuse youth of “running an anti-India WhatsApp group”, with police claiming to find documents “claiming that India would become an Islamic nation by 2047.” However, the PUCL statement signed by V Suresh, general secretary, noted, “The fact finding conducted by the Bihar state PUCL branch found that prima facie no arms training, terror activities or radicalising youth. Text: The PUCL is deeply concerned about...

Child leaders from India address world leaders at United Nations. A India4Children note: *** Kajal Kumari from remote village in Koderma district of Jharkhand and Kinsu Kumar from Virat Nagar, Rajasthan appeal to world leaders “to invest more in education to create better opportunities for children and help in eliminating child exploitation and child labour” at the United Nations in New York. Both the child leaders spoke at United Nations “Transforming Education Summit”. The Summit is a key initiative of UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres. On the sidelines of the Summit they also highlighted the importance of education at the 4th “Laureates and Leaders for Children” Summit. “Laureates and Leaders for Children” is a brain-child of Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi as a first of its kind platform bringing together Nobel Laureates and Global Leaders to build a sense of urgency, collective responsibility and a strong moral voice to galvanize political will for making this world pe...

By Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd*  In recent weeks, there has been a demand for the new Parliament building being constructed on the revamped Central Vista in New Delhi to be named after the architect of the Constitution and anti-caste leader BR Ambedkar. On September 14, the Telangana Assembly passed a resolution urging the Centre to name the new Parliament building after Ambedkar. The Bharatiya Janata Party was absent during the debate about the resolution. The next day, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi-led government declared that the new secretariat in the centre of Hyderabad would be named after Ambedkar. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao added that he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to name the new Parliament building in Delhi “Ambedkar Parliament”. The demand is finding resonance among civil society groups too and has led to social media discussions as well as public mobilisation.  But two questions arise: Should a Parliament that makes laws for a nati...

By Sudhansu R Das  Trade and culture once flourished in the ancient city Cuttack. Built on the delta of the two mighty rivers, the Mahanadi and the Kathajodi, the city has vast economic potential to create inclusive employment opportunities. Cuttack was a river port from where huge Boitas (traditional ships) sailed off to the Indian Ocean nations. The skilled artisans of Cuttack used to make silver filigree, horn craft, ivory craft, wood craft, clay idols and gold ornaments etc for export. Today the city has fallen from grace; the artisans have lost their skill and artistry; a large number of educated youth leave the city for jobs outside; the business has shrunk due to lack of demand; online marketing of products by big investors adversely affects the sale of small shops. All these factors contribute to growing unemployment and poverty in the city. In order to reweave the city’s economic fabric the government should improve its road condition. The city roads erode people’s hard ...

By Prem Singh*  In a TV channel debate, a BJP spokesperson and anchor shared and served a lie that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's daughter in her letter to the Prime Minister has alleged that the Congress kept devaluing Netaji to further Gandhi's non-violence; because Netaji had taken the path of liberating the country through violence mode by forming the Azad Hind Fauj (INA). They also praised the Bombay Royal Naval Mutiny of 1946 to confirm that the country got its independence through a violent route. I stated that I have read the letter of Netaji's daughter, and there is no such allegation in it. But a lie told in the intoxication of power is bound to be blatant. Netaji's daughter Anita Bose Pfaff, even in the past, has already requested some earlier prime ministers of the country to bring back the mortal remains of her father from Japan to India. In none of the letters she has spoken about devaluation of her father’s role in the freedom movement on the basis of Gandh...

By Harsh Thakor  On September 25th,we celebrated the 100 th birth anniversary of justice O.Chinnappa Reddy. His life is an illustration of relentless service to the cause of social justice. He is most relevant today when our judicial system has been completely defaced or fabric torn apart with the penetration of Hindutva fascism. At every juncture of his life he braved all odds to shimmer the spark of secularism, scientific spirit and revolutionary democracy. Justice Chiinappa Reddy was a unique jurist, with deep passion for championing social justice, human dignity and bettering conditions of victims of unjust social structures. At the very core he exposed how the judicial system was an integral part of an autocratic social order since 1947 and barely played a role as a representative of the working class or peasantry. His judicial announcements were a manifestation of humanism and illustrated his relentless quest to achieve radical humanism and social revolution. His work encompa...

By Rosamma Thomas*  Admission for the Bachelor of Education degree in Odisha was scheduled to be held on 22 and 23 September 2022. However, a brief note from the additional secretary to the higher education department of the state government on September 21, 2022 announced that this process had been put off, “due to some unavoidable circumstances”. The BEd degree was made compulsory for recruitment as a teacher after the Right to Free and Compulsory Education was enacted in 2009. In the years since this rule was implemented, however, teacher training colleges offering this qualifying degree for recruitment as teachers have sprung up across the country, many operating with scant regard for norms set by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). One course offered in Odisha – Bachelor in Hindi Education (BHEd) – is not governed by any norms at all, it appears. NCTE is the statutory body of the Union government that oversees standards, procedures and processes in the Indian ed...

Kamal Uddin Mazumder*  Myanmar has blamed the Arakan Army and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army or ARSA for the mortar attack on the border. At the same time, they claimed that the base of these organizations is in Bangladesh. According to media reports, Myanmar Foreign Ministry Director General U Jau Phyu Win summoned Bangladeshi Ambassador Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury on Monday and explained his position regarding the mortar attack inside the border of Bangladesh. Win called the ambassador of Bangladesh and blamed the Arakan Army and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) for the mortar attack on the border. At the same time, he accused Arakan Army and Arsa of having 'bases' inside Bangladesh and demanded to take quick steps to investigate and remove them. Although Dhaka has followed the diplomatic path since the beginning to find a solution to the shootings and casualties on the border, Myanmar on Tuesday blamed the Arakan Army and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army or ...