Boost to Arvind Kejriwal? Top civil rights group NAPM, led by Medha Parkar, announces support to AAP

By A Representative
In a major boost to the Aam Admi Party (AAP), the National Alliance for People's Movements (NAPM), which is the apex body of tens of civil rights organizations of India, has decided to extend support to AAP. In a statement issued in Mumbai, NAPM, which is led by top social activist Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NAPM), said, “A number of attempts by small and large parties and fora to create an alternative to the mainstream politics, creating space for those at margins by the power holders, have played a role in the past. Once again and with a difference, the concern of the masses has led to the formation of AAP, reflecting a need for changing the political cultures and system.”
While still not merging into AAP, about which NAPM would take a final call on January 16-17, the powerful civil rights group said, “The mainstream parties in power have just not been insensitive to people's demand but have also been insulting the people's power, role and violating rights. Corruption – as misuse and misappropriation of monetary and natural resources – is hitting not only the micro level livelihoods and downtrodden but the macro economy of the nation. Politicians are engaged in loot and don't care for the large majority of common people. They resort to caste-religion and other bases to gain vote bank and distribute notes, freebies, liquor to regain and retain political power.”
Among the major issues NAPM found in common with AAP are:
· Decentralisation of power and governance to grant primacy to people and the lowest smallest unit of democracy – gram and bastis.
· Rooting out corruption from bottom to top though not only legal but social political processes.
· Due place and scope for alternative economic and technological solutions rooted in the land of India and Bharat.
· Rising above caste, religion, gender based divisions and discriminations while retaining positive discriminatory measures such as reservations.
· Resolutions of conflicts between the state and people, may those be farmers, dalits, adivasis or urban poor; through due democratic processes and on the basis of the constitutional values and principles.
· Solutions to inequality, injustice, corruption and water, energy crises.
· Working for an alternative political culture for the political class.
Praising “AAP leader Arvind Kejariwal and the team of youngsters, with Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Prof Anand Kumar, Prof Ajit Jha and other experienced intellectual activists” for taking lead and making dent into the electoral politics”, NAPM said, “Their achievements through innovative strategies, principles of transparency and accountability in realm of governance have raised hope for everyone today.” It added, “We consider the attempt of AAP as a movement and appreciate the endeavour to fill in the political vacuum.”
NAPM, interestingly, did not name Kumar Vishwas, who has declared himself as AAP candidate from Amethi against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Observers also say, AAP, which is seeking to make a dent in Gujarat, may be wary of NAPM, whose leader Medha Patkar till very recently was considered -- unofficially of course -- as "anti-Gujarat" for her opposition to the Narmada dam. NAPM, it is said, would want AAP to clarify what is the latter's stand on the Narmada dam, which Gujarat leaders across political spectrum, have considered a panacea for the state's water woes.
NAPM pointed out that the decision to support AAP was taken through “dialogue to deliberations within movements in states taking note of diverse opinions with a common ground.” Among those who were part of the “dialogue” were Narmada Bachao Andolan, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan (Maharashtra), Jan Sangharsh Vahini (Delhi), lok Shakti Abhiyan (Orissa), Kosi Baadh Prabhavit Sangharsh Samiti and Jan Jaagran Shakti Sangathan (Bihar), and Unorganised Sector Workers Federation (South India).
At the same time, it stressed, “We are yet to discuss some aspects – ideological to strategical – with AAP leadership and ensure a mechanism to establish a relation of the party with the people's movements. Many of us are part of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), a non-party political platform, which will continue to retain its independent identity and provide input to programmes and policies and also lead struggles on people's issues as done always.” Even then, it saw in AAP “a movement that will bring in complementarity and hence we confide in its leadership to evolve such process and spaces within for long term struggle to clean politics and bring in an alternative politics and political culture”.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

UP tribal woman human rights defender Sokalo released on bail

By A Representative After almost five months in jail, Adivasi human rights defender and forest worker Sokalo Gond has been finally released on bail.Despite being granted bail on October 4, technical and procedural issues kept Sokalo behind bars until November 1. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), which are backing Sokalo, called it a "major victory." Sokalo's release follows the earlier releases of Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond in September. "All three forest workers and human rights defenders were illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006)", said a CJP statement.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

Search This Blog