Counterview

By Rajiv Shah   One day after Janmashtami , to be exact, on September 5, during my stay in the US, I was taken to two separate celebrations in a town on the East Coast, ostensibly to keep me engaged among NRIs . While one of them had, apart from the ritualistic puja at a temple in the name of Radhe Krishna , located around a small pond on the outskirts, dance and song performances, it was the second one that interested me the most.

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan*  For most Indians, GDP is an intimidating economic acronym buried in government reports and television debates. But GDP is ultimately about something very simple: the size and growth of the economy in which people earn, spend, invest and build their lives. That is why a viral interview featuring former Finance Secretary Subhash Garg has struck such a powerful chord. Garg challenged the government’s interpretation of India’s latest GDP numbers and raised a question that has refused to disappear: How can India's estimated GDP at current prices fall dramatically when a new GDP series is introduced?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  An old mosque has been demolished by the Saharanpur administration under the pretext of a court order that was about to be challenged in a higher court. It is extremely shocking to see how the administration has turned highly biased and quick to invoke the "rule of law" when the alleged violation or crime is committed by Muslims. It keeps a blind eye when lumpen elements from the Hindu community take the law into their own hands, violate it, and rubbish it.

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  The alleged assault of two female journalists by Delhi Police at the Saket police station on September 3, 2026, has become a talking point across the country. More importantly, it has revived a troubling question: Is there any dignity left for media professionals in India?

By Palla Trinadha Rao*  When a small tribal hamlet in Sikkim can single-handedly hold up a hydropower project worth thousands of crores, whose job is it to say no to the company — and whose job is it to say no to the hamlet? A one-page government note quietly answered that question this week: nobody's job.

By Vikas Meshram*  Amuli Devi Dinesh Garasia, forty-four, lives in the village of Amlipada under the Tanda Mangla panchayat of Sajjangarh tehsil in Banswara district. For the past four years she has been making chemical-free, entirely natural soap in her own home. Today this modest effort has become the economic backbone of her family.

Counterview News   For generations, the seasonal Anjani River has been more than a waterway for the Patharvat community of Waghlud Khurd. It has been their classroom, their workplace, their temple, and their source of life. But today, the riverbed that once rang with the sound of hammers and chisels has fallen quiet. A centuries-old stone craft is dying—not because the river has changed, but because the world around it has, says a  guest blog published in the website of the advocacy group SANDRP (South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People).

By Bharat Dogra   “We have progressed in several areas, but the real game changer has been the availability of adequate water. It was only when water scarcity ended that we could move forward in other areas.” These words from Anita, a middle‑aged woman in Shyampur village of Rajasthan’s Karauli district, were deeply meaningful to me. As I complete five decades of travelling through villages struggling with water scarcity, her statement reflects what countless women and elders have told me over the years: water is the foundation on which all other development rests.

By A Representative   Even as the Karnataka High Court continues its stay on the Rs 10,240 crore Sharavati Valley Pumped Storage Project (PSP), the state government has initiated the tendering process for preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for another 2,500 MW PSP in the Varahi River Valley — located within the Mookambika and Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuaries.