Senior BJP leader threatens top rights activist of legal action, objects to Netherlands NGO's support to minorities

By Our Representative
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Purshottam Rupala has threatened that he will take top human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi, founder of NGO Anhad, to the court of law for “defaming” him. In a statement posted to www.counterview.net, he has said, “Hashmi has leveled a very serious charge of forging the documents against me, which I deny. My letter to the Prime Minister was based on facts. I call upon Hashmi to retract her statement and issue an apology, immediately, failing which I will not hesitate to take a legal actions against her.”
Anhad was founded in the wake of the communal riots in Gujarat, and ever since 2003 it has been working with the victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots. Rupala had written a stinging letter to the Prime Minister in February this year, accusing her of carrying on her activities with foreign funds without following necessary legal procedure. Taking strong exception to Rupala's letter, Hashmi had said in a statement issued a few days backs that Rupala's letter to the PM was based on “forged documents to malign Anhad”.
Rupala's main objection to Hashmi and Anhad is their alleged “refusal” to declare before the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) about receipt of Euros 3580 from the Netherlands-based NGO Hivos. He says, “Hivos is the same organization where Justice Aftab Alam (retired) submitted a paper in October 2009 at London, where he criticized the Supreme Court for not addressing the cause of minorities properly and claimed that Indian laws treat Hindus and Muslims differently.”
Rupala claims, “It is the same organization which paid a huge amount to Teesta Setalvad in November 2009 and to Shabnam Hashmi also in the same financial year.” He adds, his facts are “purely based on the information available on Form FC6 for the year ending March 31, 2010 submitted by Anhad online to MHA, where the name of only one donor ie Oxfom India, is mentioned and the amount received on December 12, 2009 was shown as Rs 18,42,735.”
Rupala says,“It is proved beyond doubt that Anhad has not disclosed the name of Hivos in online submission of information in Form FC6 to the MHA and it seems that Form FC3 submitted to the MHA by Hashmi was to cover up the lapse on her part and to avoid any prosecution under the act for concealment of facts.” He adds, “I wrote to the PM on February 13, 2013 based on the information submitted by the MHA in reply to an RTI query. The original reply of MHA along with copies of Form FC 6 for the year ending March 31, 2010 and March 31, 2011 sent by MHA to the RTI activist are in my possession.”
Rupala further claims, “On perusal of FC6 forms, it is clear that the RTI section of the MHA was taken out the print of the FC6 forms on January 16, 2016 from the website of the Foreign Currency Regulation Act (FCRA) online services, and annexed along with the reply. The date and the URL are clearly printed on FC6 forms at the top and at the bottom.”
He adds, “Hence, Hashmi’s claim that there was no online filing of accounts in the year 2009-10 and the FC6 forms did not exists in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and Anhad did not file any online form for the year ending March, 31, 2010 is not only false but it is her calculated attempt to divert the attention from the real issue of her illegally using official bungalow of a Member Planning Commission and to malign and demeaning my image.”
The top BJP leader, who is known for his closeness to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, refers to THIS online link to prove his point:

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132 Gujarat citizens, including IIM-A faculty, others declare solidarity with Kashmiris

Counterview Desk
A week after it was floated, 132 activists, academics, students, artists and other concerned citizens of Gujarat, backed by 118 living in different parts of India and the world, have signed a "solidarity letter" supporting the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), who, it claims, have been silenced and held captive in their own land. The signatories include faculty members and scholars of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

Bharat Ratna nominee ‘joined hands’ with British masters to 'crush' Quit India

By Shamsul Islam*
The Quit India Movement (QIM), also known as ‘August Kranti' (August Revolution), was a nation-wide Civil Disobedience Movement for which a call was given on August 7, 1942 by the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee. It was to begin on August 9 as per Gandhi's call to 'Do or Die' in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay at the Gowalia Tank Maidan on August 8. Since then August 9 is celebrated as August Kranti Divas.

Gujarat's incomplete canals: Narmada dam filled up, yet benefits 'won't reach' farmers

By Our Representative
Even as the Gujarat government is making all out efforts to fill up the Sardar Sarovar dam on Narmada river up to the full reservoir level (FRL), a senior farmer rights leader has said the huge reservoir, as of today, remains a “mirage for the farmers of Gujarat”.
In a statement, Sagar Rabari of the Khedut Ekta Manch (KEM), has said that though the dam’s reservoir is being filled up, the canal network remains complete. Quoting latest government figures, he says, meanwhile, the command area of the dam has been reduced from 18,45,000 hectares (ha) to 17,92,000 ha.
“According to the website of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd, which was last updated on Friday, while the main canal, of 458 km long, has been completed, 144 km of ranch canals out of the proposed length of 2731 km remain incomplete.
Then, as against the targeted 4,569 km distributaries, 4,347 km have been constructed, suggesting work for 222 km is still pending. And of the 15,670 km of minor canal…

Ceramic worker dies: 20,000 workers in Thangadh, Gujarat, 'risk' deadly silicosis

By Our Representative
Even as the country was busy preparing for the Janmashtami festival on Saturday, Hareshbhai, a 46-year-old ceramic worker from suffering from the fatal lung disease silicosis, passed away. He worked in a ceramic unit in Thangadh in Surendranagar district of Gujarat from 2000 to 2016.
Hareshbhai was diagnosed with the disease by the GCS Medical College, Naroda Road, Ahmedabad in 2014. He was found to be suffering from progressive massive fibrosis. He is left behind by his wife Rekha sister and two sons Deepak (18) and Umesh (12),
The death of Hareshbhai, says Jagdish Patel of the health rights group Peoples Training and Research Centre (PTRC), suggests that silicosis, an occupational disease, can be prevented but not cured, and the Factory Act has sufficient provisions to prevent this.
According to Patel, the pottery industry in the industrial town of Thangadh has evolved for a long time and locals as well as migrant workers are employed here. There are abou…

Cess for Gujarat construction workers: Spending less than 10%; no 'direct help' to beneficiaries

By Our Representative
While the Gujarat government’s Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, set up in 2004, as of March 31, 2019, has collected a total cess of Rs 2,097.62 crore from the the builders, it has spent less than 10% -- Rs 197.17 crore. And, as on May 31, 2019, the total cess collection has reached Rs 2,583.16 crore, said a statement issued by Bandhkam Majur Sagathan general secretary Vipul Pandya.
Pointing out that just about 6.5 lakh out of 20 lakh workers have been registered under the board, Pandya said, vis-à-vis other states, Gujarat ranks No 13th in the amount spent on the welfare of the construction workers, while 11th in the amount collected.
And while the builders are obliged to pay just about 1% of the total cost of their project, the calculation of the cess is flawed: It is Rs 3,000 per square yard; accordingly, Rs 30 per square yard is collected. “Had the cess been collected on the real construction cost, it would have been at least Rs 7,000 cr…

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