Repromulgated land acquisition ordinance: Protests break out across India, copies burnt in villages, states, Delhi

By Our Representative
Reports are coming in from across India of protests breaking out against the repromulgated Land Acquisition Ordinance, 2015 with the participation of people’s movements, trade unions, farmers and labour organisations, which have come together under the banner Bhoomi Adhikaar Andolan. Copies of the ordinance were burnt in several villages, blocks, district and state headquarters. The National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), which is monitoring the protests, has said they have taken place at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, as also elsewhere.
The places of protest include Sonbhadra, Lakhimpur Kheri, Chitrakoot, Jaunpur, Saharanpur, Gonda, Lucknow and Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh); in Rewa, Chhindwara, Panna, Yawal, Gwalior and Singrauli(Madhya Pradesh); Bhusawal, Jalgaon, Yawal, Chopra, Avalner, Faizpur, Nandurban, Taloda, Akkalkua (Maharashtra); and at Tapi, Songarh, Sagbara, Nijjar, and Dediyapada (Gujarat). They also happened at several places in West Bengal, Tripura, Bhubaneswar and Jaipur. Explaining the protests, NAPM says, “The Modi Government has once again proven that it is indeed anti-farmer-labourer and pro-corporates by promulgating the land ordinance 2015 on the eve of April 3.”
At each of the protests, copies of the ordinance were burnt.
Pointing out that the Modi government is “turning a complete blind eye to the nation-wide fierce opposition to the ordinance”, it says, “Neither did the government hold any dialogue with people’s movements and affected farmers/ labourers groups nor did it pay any attention to the political parties that have opposed this draconian ordinance.”
“With the single-minded agenda of kneeling before the corporates while crores of our citizens are exploited, displaced, disposed and deprived, this government has shown that it simply does not care for the poor and toiling people, for our land, agriculture and nature”, the NAPM says.
“The 2015 ordinance has once again removed important clauses of seeking consent for private projects and from land owners for public-private partnership (PPP) projects. It has also removed the much required Social Impact Assessment, mandated by the 2013 Act, showing its lack of seriousness to understand the impact of development projects on the lives of the people and affected groups”, NAPM says.
“Rather than addressing the needs of poor and widespread landlessness, the Modi government is using the mandate for taking the country forward to circumvent all parliamentary procedures and is hell bent on misusing its powers only to ensure private profits, putting the lives of millions of citizens at risk, in the name of development”, it points out.
Asserting that people's movements, workers unions, farmer organizations and concerned citizens of this country “will not allow this government to take this undemocratic and anti-people move and will intensify our opposition in every nook and corner of the country”, NAPM says, “We want to remind Modi that it is not merely about the perception, but about lives, livelihoods of our people and agriculture and nature of this country.”
Demanding nothing short of “withdrawal of the ordinance and for land rights” will be acceptable, NAPM says, protests will “continue in every nook and corner of the country and state-level conventions, padayatras, rail roko, rasta roko and muman chains in states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu in the upcoming weeks.”
Among those who actively organized the protests included the All India Kisan Sabha, the National Alliance of People’s Movement, the All India Union for Forest Working People, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, INSAF, All India Agricultural Workers’ Union, Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union, All India Krishak Khet Mazdoor Sanghatan, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, Ghar Banao Ghar Bachao Andolan, Kanjhwal Bhumi Bachao Andolan, Socialist Centre, Mahan Sangharsh Samiti, others.

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Girl child education: 20 major states 'score' better than Gujarat, says GoI report

By Rajiv Shah
A Government of India report, released last month, has suggested that “model” Gujarat has failed to make any progress vis-à-vis other states in ensuring that girls continue to remain enrolled after they leave primary schools. The report finds that, in the age group 14-17, Gujarat’s 71% girls are enrolled at the secondary and higher secondary level, which is worse than 20 out of 22 major states for which data have been made available.

Savarkar in Ahmedabad "declared support" to two-nation theory in 1937, followed by Jinnah three years later

By Our Representative
One of the top freedom fighters whom BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi revere the most, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, was also a great supporter of the two nation theory for India, one for Hindus another for Muslims, claims a new expose on the man who is also known to be the original proponent of the concept of Hindutva.

Congress 'promises' cancellation of Adani power project: Jharkhand elections

Counterview Desk
Pointing out that people's issues take a backseat in Jharkhand's 2019 assembly elections, the state's civil rights organization, the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a coalition of activists and people’s organisations, has said that political parties have largely ignored in their electoral manifestos the need to implement the fifth schedule of the Constitution in a predominantly tribal district.

Hindutva founders 'borrowed' Nazi, fascist idea of one flag, one leader, one ideology

By Shamsul Islam*
With the unleashing of the reign of terror by the RSS/BJP rulers against working-class, peasant organizations, women organizations, student movements, intellectuals, writers, poets and progressive social/political activists, India also witnessed a series of resistance programmes organized by the pro-people cultural organizations in different parts of the country. My address in some of these programmes is reproduced here...
*** Before sharing my views on the tasks of artists-writers-intellectuals in the times of fascism, let me briefly define fascism and how it is different from totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is political concept, a dictatorship of an individual, family or group which prohibits opposition in any form, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life. It is also described as authoritarianism.
Whereas fascism, while retaining all these repressive characteristics, also believes in god-ordained superiority of race, cultur…

Ex-World Bank chief economist doubts spurt in India's ease of doing business rank

By Rajiv Shah
This is in continuation of my previous blog where I had quoted from a commentary which top economist Prof Kaushik Basu had written in the New York Times (NYT) a little less than a month ago, on November 6, to be exact. He recalled this article through a tweet on November 29, soon after it was made known that India's growth rate had slumped (officially!) to 4.5%.

With RSS around, does India need foreign enemy to undo its democratic-secular fabric?

By Shamsul Islam*
Many well-meaning liberal and secular political analysts are highly perturbed by sectarian policy decisions of RSS/BJP rulers led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, especially after starting his second inning. They are vocal in red-flagging lynching incidents, policies of the Modi government on Kashmir, the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the demand for 'Bharat Ratna' to Savarkar who submitted 6-7 mercy petitions to the British masters (getting remission of 40 years out of 50 years' sentence), and the murder of constitutional norms in Goa, Karnataka and now in Maharashtra.

Post-Balakot, danger that events might spiral out of control is 'greater, not less'

By Tapan Bose*
The fear of war in South Asia is increasing. Tensions are escalating between India and Pakistan after the Indian defence minister's announcement in August this year that India may revoke its current commitment to only use nuclear weapons in retaliation for a nuclear attack, known as ‘no first use’. According to some experts who are watching the situation the risk of a conflict between the two countries has never been greater since they both tested nuclear weapons in 1998.

Ships recycling Bill 'allows' India to be turned into a landfill for foreign hazardous waste

Counterview Desk
In a letter to M Venkaiah Naidu, chairman, Rajya Sabha, senior activist Gopal Krishna of the Toxics Watch Alliance has said that the Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019 should be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change to "safeguard country’s maritime environment from harmful and hazardous wastes and materials".

Hindutva founders, not Congress, were actual 'proponents' of two-nation theory

By Shamsul Islam*
No other organization, in the present world, can beat Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in double-speak. In fact, what George Orwell termed as "doublespeak" would be an understatement in the case of RSS. The latest proof of this nasty case was provided by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, de facto Prime Minister and senior RSS leader in the Lok Sabha (akin to the House of Commons in England) on December 9, 2019.

Worrying signs in BJP: Modi, Shah begin 'cold-shouldering' Gujarat CM, party chief

By RK Misra*
The political developments in neighbouring Maharashtra where a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government assumed office has had a trickle down effect in Gujarat with both the ruling BJP and the Congress opposition going into revamp mode.

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