Counterview

By Our Representative
Senior Dalit rights leader Jignesh Mevani, raking up a major controversy, has wondered why non-Dalit social workers and civil society activists, who have been working among the poorer sections of society such as maldhari cattle breeders and factory workers, environmentalists and farmer rights activists have not cared to raise the issue of untouchability in Gujarat society.

By Our Representative
A new report, prepared by the advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA), New Delhi, has taken strong exception to the World Bank refusing to share its independent assessment of the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS), floated by the Andhra Pradesh government in order to build the new capital.

By Sheshu Babu*
"The backward classes have come to realise that after all education is the greatest material benefit for which they can fight....' -- Dr BR Ambedkar
Past few years have seen the rise of many 'educated' persons supporting statements of politicians who propagate irrational and/ or unscientific ideas. Whether 'pushpak vimaan' being discovered long before present planes or 'Rama setu' bridge, despite questionable scientific explanation, many academicians and scientists have been supporting and trying to 'logically' prove their correctness in every way possible.

Counterview Desk
The National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI), in a letter to the Lokpal Selection Committee, which consists of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairperson, and members, chief justice Ranjan Gogoi, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan, and eminent jurist Shri Mukul Rohatgi, has taken strong exception to alleged lack of transparency in the selection of chair and members of the Lokpal.

Counterview Desk
Amidst apprehensions that Pragya Singh Thakur -- whose BJP candidature from Bhopal was justified by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his "symbolic answer to all those who falsely labeled the rich Hindu civilization as terrorist" -- might prove costly for the saffron party, the question that is being asked is: Will the Congress be able to take advantage of the situation?

By Aditi Kundu*
Travelling in Delhi metro on a daily basis to commute from Mayur Vihar to Dwarka, I see diverse people everyday. One can hear them talk about different aspects of life, from kitchen pilitics to national politics. On the morning of May 13, I witnessed a strange incident; disturbing and amusing at the same time.

Counterview Desk
In December 2018, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was removed from the University of Ghana’s campus in response to protests from students and staff. They argued that Gandhi was a racist who denigrated black Africans. Here, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, who was the university’s Vice-Chancellor when the statue was erected, he explains why the university under him made the decision to accept the statue, a gift from the Government of India in 2016.

Counterview Desk
In a rejoinder forwarded to Counterview, the Adani Group has said that its Myanmar investment in port “does not breach Australian, US, UN or other international sanctions.” Reacting to the story headlined “Adanis tieup with Myanmar army ‘involved’ in Rohingiya genocide: Aussie rights alarm”, quoting a “Guardian” report, the rejoinder said, “Adani rejects the insinuation that Myanmar investment is unethical or will compromise human rights”.

By Kuriakose Mathew
From famines to partition violence to political killings to colonial witch-hunt to confessional riots, millions of Bengalis have died unnaturally. The famines of 1770 and 1942 killed around 1.3 crore people. Preventable diseases and poverty too have killed millions of Bengalis. One does not even know how many have died in the partition of Bengal. One also does not know how many have been killed in Mughal, Maratha, and British wars! Natural death has been a luxury in lower Gangetic plains.