Counterview

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  After many years, we have seen a massive mobilisation by the Congress Party and opposition leaders in Delhi. It was a Rahul Gandhi show, which has established him as the widely accepted leader of the opposition in its fight against the BJP and the RSS. There was a time when the Congress would not even use the word "RSS", but in the last few years Rahul Gandhi's persistent campaign has widened his acceptability among various communities. What the Congress earlier lacked was the trust of the urban middle classes, but a large number of them now seem to be looking to him as the future of India.

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  Can a person’s religion determine whether he is fit to protect people at a public celebration? If the allegations emerging from Hyderabad are true, the answer appears to be yes—and that should concern every Indian.

By Bharat Dogra   The Ken River is a vital lifeline for the Bundelkhand region of Central India. As an important tributary of the Yamuna, it forms part of the larger Ganga-Yamuna system. For countless villages along its banks—especially riverside communities renowned for their skill in growing vegetables and fruits—the Ken is not merely a water source. It is life itself. The river is also home to many spots of exceptional beauty and heritage.

By Lohit Sharma*  The Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), a proposed hydroelectric project on the Siang River with an estimated installed capacity of 11,000–12,500 MW, has raised significant concerns about its potential impact on the ancestral lands, cultural heritage, livelihoods, and ethnic identity of the Adi people.

By A Representative  The civil rights coalition,Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), has condemned the detention of four activists from Arunachal Pradesh under the Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (APUAPA), 2014, for opposing pre-feasibility report studies for the proposed 11,000 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP). The organisation has demanded their immediate and unconditional release, the withdrawal of security forces from the affected areas and the scrapping of the proposed mega-dam.

By Ravi Ranjan   One of the foremost Hindi poets, Kunwar Narayan (1927–2017) wrote a poem that asks a deceptively simple question: if embrace, attraction, reproduction and beauty are spontaneous processes of life in nature, why has humanity raised so many walls of sin, virtue, stigma and legitimacy around them? "By the Grace of Love" (Pyār ke Saujanya Se) is that poem. On its surface it reads as a lyrical meditation on love. Read more closely, it becomes a searching critique of the social and religious machinery that converts natural human desire into crime, shame and prohibition.

By A Representative    As India marks 21 years of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, a new report by the civil rights to group Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has exposed a severe crisis in the functioning of Information Commissions (ICs), the final appellate authorities mandated to safeguard people's fundamental right to information.

​By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  ​We live in revealing times. When a television reporter recently confronted renowned development economist Jean Drèze and asked him who he was, social media erupted into debate. Many asked: what is so egregious about a reporter not recognizing someone? But aren't journalists expected to understand the public sphere, its key actors, and their backgrounds? Predictably, an establishment media figure rushed to frame Drèze merely as a former member of the UPA-era National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi.

By A Representative   In a strongly worded appeal addressed to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), ecologist and former UN Environmental Negotiator Dr. S. Faizi has urged the organization to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from his position as Chair of its Council of Member States for 2026. The letter, addressed to International IDEA Secretary-General Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora, also calls for the immediate establishment of an independent mechanism to monitor India’s electoral process.