By Bharat Dogra*  The future of food production must center around small and mid-sized farms, including family farms and small processing units, working toward ecologically responsible agriculture that provides healthy food. Yet, small farmers are being pushed out as billionaires and large corporations take control of vast tracts of land. 

By Our Representative  Kirity Roy, Secretary of Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has brought to the attention of the Director General and Inspector General of Police in West Bengal a troubling situation involving  Saddam Hossain, the son of Chabed Ali Miyan from Cooch Behar district. Hossain, who has lived a law-abiding life for the past nine years after leaving behind illegal activities in 2015, is reportedly facing harassment and extortion from local police officials. 

By Anand Mazgaonkar  The NDA won the elections on 23rd November, 2024. But, as of 3rd December Maharashtra doesn’t yet have a Government or Chief Minister. Perhaps it is easier to form a Government if you don’t have majority, split has to be engineered in other parties, elected members have to sheperded to resorts etc. Forming a Government, selecting a Chief Minister is probably difficult if you have a majority of your own! 

Counterview Text “Don’t Buy into Occupation” (DBIO)—a coalition of 28 European and Palestinian organizations, including BankTrack—has released its 2024 report , exposing the extensive involvement of over 800 European financial institutions in companies aiding and abetting the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. A BankTrack report: ***

By Bharat Dogra  In these times can you imagine a village in which almost no child goes to school regularly? Bodhepurva village, which suffers from extreme poverty and neglect, is one such village. One reason is that this village of Uttar Pradesh borders Madhya Pradesh in such a way that one has to cross parts of Madhya Pradesh to enter this and people in the village depend more on parts of Madhya Pradesh to meet their needs.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The Labour Party and its leader, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, are highly unpopular, much like the previous PM,  Rishi Sunak, and his Conservative Party. The latest YouGov poll result, released on October 8, 2024, reveals that more than six out of ten people in Britain dislike Starmer as Prime Minister, with 63% holding a negative opinion of him.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  As the West Asian crisis continues to unfold, one fact stands out starkly: over the past year, particularly following the outbreak of the Ukraine War, Western media outlets that pride themselves on being liberal and democratic have come under scrutiny. Prominent organizations like the BBC and CNN have faced significant backlash for their coverage of both the Ukraine conflict and the Palestinian situation.

By Bharat Dogra  It has been seen time and again that when women get a more significant role in development initiatives and when they have more say in deciding priorities, then development initiatives are strengthened in significant ways. Women have higher commitment to sustainability and to meeting the most basic needs of their families and decide their priorities on this basis.

By Harsh Thakor  On December 2, the Maoist movement marks the 25th anniversary of the deaths of three central committee members of the erstwhile CPI(ML) People’s War Group: Nalla Adi Reddy (Shyam), Y. Santosh Reddy (Murali), and Seelam Naresh (Mahesh). The three leaders were reportedly apprehended in Bangalore, taken to Hyderabad, and killed, with their bodies found in the Karimnagar Forest.

By Ram Puniyani*  The RSS-BJP and their affiliates consistently exploit opportunities to deepen the demonization of religious minorities. Although legal provisions exist to penalize hate speech, such incidents often go unpunished. Over the past decade, with a communal party in power, this trend has dangerously escalated, fostering negative perceptions about religious minorities. These attitudes, reflected in community WhatsApp groups and social interactions, have normalized hatred against minorities across significant sections of society. This intensifying hate rhetoric undermines the principles of fraternity and communal harmony, which are foundational to the Indian Constitution. Newer dog whistles have evolved into overt calls for action. These narratives build on existing misconceptions and deepen societal divisions. Misperceptions such as portraying Mughal rulers as foreign oppressors who destroyed temples and forcibly converted Hindus are now amplified by slogans like “Hum Do ...

Counterview Desk Letter to the Prime Minister about "a matter of the utmost concern affecting our country's social fabric": *** We are a group of independent citizens who over the past few years have made efforts to improve the deteriorating communal relations in the country. It is abundantly clear that over the last decade relations between communities, particularly Hindus and Muslims, and to an extent Christians are extremely strained leaving these latter two communities in extreme anxiety and insecurity.

Counterview Desk   Submission by environmentalists Parineeta Dandekar and Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), to the Chairperson and Members of the Expert Appraisal Committee, River Valley Projects, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, against 1500 MW Warasgaon Warangi Pumped Storage Project by Adani Green Energy:  ***