Counterview

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Whatever be the election results in Uttar Pradesh on March 10, it is extremely important to understand: that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and its leader Mayawati have the potential to rise like a Phoenix any time.

Counterview Desk  A “solidarity statement" issued by three top civil society networks, Friends of the Earth India (FoE India), Delhi Solidarity Group (DSG) and the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), has asked the Odisha chief minister to ensure that the “inhumane barbaric attack on the villagers of Dhinkia, Odisha” in order to implement a corporate project.

By Our Representative    Anna MM Vetticad, film critic and journalist, and author of “The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic”, has circulated the text of an open letter to the women's magazine “Vanitha” – which is part of Kerala’s largest media group, Malayala Manorama group -- condemning the decision to put actor Dileep on its cover despite the fact that he is “accused of being the primary conspirator in the Kerala actor rape case.”

Counterview Desk The Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s new “World Report 2022: Events of 2021”, claiming to “investigate abuses, expose facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice”, has identified India as one of the countries where “autocracy is ascendant and democracy on the decline” because of emergence of leaders with autocratic tendencies.

By Hena Zuberi* India has reached the 8th stage of genocide with the persecution of the Muslim community. Stating this, Professor Greg Stanton, who heads Genocide Watch, declared a Genocide Emergency Alert for India today at Justice For All online briefing.

Counterview Desk  Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director, People's Watch, in a memorandum shared with Tamil Nadu MPs, has said that the Government of India action against the Madurai-based advocacy group under the foreign funding law on the basis of "totally wrong facts", coming up almost after 10 years, should be "brought to a closure."

Counterview Desk  The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development ( FORUM-ASIA ), a network of 82 member organisations across 23 countries, mainly in Asia, with secretariat in Bangkok, and offices in Jakarta, Geneva and Kathmandu, commenting on the recent CBI case against Madurai-based human rights NGO People's Watch under the country's foreign funding law, has asked the Government of India to "end judicial harassment and reprisal" against the NGO.

Counterview Desk  Reacting to the registration of FIR by the CBI against the Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns (CPSC) and its initiative, People’s Watch on January 6, 2022 for alleged Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) violations for the year 2012, and raids conducted by CBI officials at their office in Madurai on January 8, 2022, India's top human rights organisation, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has called it a reflection of "increasing criminalization and denial of permissions under FCRA to civil society organisations (CSOs).

By Naba Kishor Pujari* Jamuna Podiami gets up early in the morning to finish her household chores before her modest hut turns into a school. Jamuna is a 19-years-old tribal girl from the Parajaguda village of Odisha's Malkangiri district, who completed her higher secondary examination in the middle of the pandemic in 2020, following which she got married. And since December 2020, she has been teaching 35 children from classes 1 to 6 every day.