Why very few death sentences in states where "draconian" Armed Forces Special Powers Act is in force: Report

Counterview Desk
A just-released report has said that the states which have a long history of conflict between government forces and militant groups have "fewer incidence" of death sentences being awarded. It says, Jammu & Kashmir and Manipur, where the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Acts (AFSPA) is in force, the number of death sentences awarded are "much fewer compared to states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh."
It further states, "Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland where AFSPA has been extended repeatedly, have not witnessed a single instance of death sentence being handed down to anybody." In fact, between 1998 and 2013, the period of the study, in Jammu & Kashmir, all death sentences (22) were commuted, while in Manipur there were three death sentences, of which one was commuted.

The report, however, gives no reason, but the suggestion is obvious: Several human rights organizations have alleged for long that in states where AFSPA is in force, encounter killings in the name of fighting terrorism have been common. In fact, it is being "used" in lieu of capital punishment.
The report, “Award of Death Sentences and Commutations to Life Imprisonment", has been published on basis of prison data published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for the years 1998-2013.It was prepared by Venkatesh Nayak, Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Delhi, ahead of the Round Table on Death Penalty, organized by the Law Commission of India in Delhi on July 11.
Refusing to go into merits or demerits of death sentence, the report nevertheless says, "India is in a minority group of countries on the planet that retain capital punishment on their statute books."

During the period of the study, the report finds, in all 2,052 individuals were awarded capital punishment by courts in India.

Of these, courts awarded the death sentence to 1,677 individuals during the first 13 years of the 21st century, the report states, adding, on an average more than 128 persons were sentenced to death per year.
The most number of death sentences handed down in any given year was 2007 when courts across India punished 186 individuals, the report says, adding, the least number of death sentences were awarded in 1998 (55 individuals).

Uttar Pradesh, with 506 individuals awarded the death sentences, topped all the states in death sentence, accounting for almost a quarter (24.65%) of the total. With 178 individuals,Bihar stands 2nd in the list of States/UTs where the most number of death sentences were awarded by courts during the period 1998-2013.

In Madhya Pradesh 162 individuals received the death sentence placing it 3rd on the list of States/UTs. In 2013, Madhya Pradesh topped the list of States/UTs where the most number of death sentences (22) were awarded, the report says.
While Maharashtra takes 4th place with 160 cases, Tamil Nadu is at the 5th place with 147 cases. In Karnataka, no death sentences were handed down between 1998-2003. All 107 death sentences were handed down during the years 2008 (22), 2010 (19), 2005 and 2007 (14 each), 2006 (13), 2012 (8), 2004 (7) and 2009 (5). In 2013 alone, 4 individuals received the capital punishment in Karnataka.
"Similarly", the report says, "No death sentences were awarded in Gujarat during the period 1998-2000. All 62 death sentences were awarded during the years 2004 (19), 2011 (14), 2005 and 2009 (8 each), 2003 (5) and 2001 and 2012 (3 each). In 2013, 2 individuals received the death sentence in this State."

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World Bank clarifies: Its 26th rank to India not for universal access to power but for ease of doing business

By Our Representative
In a major embarrassment to the Government of India, the World Bank has reportedly clarified that it has not ranked India 26th out of 130 countries for providing power to its population. The top international banker’s clarification comes following Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s claim that India has “improved to 26 position from 99” in access to electricity in just one year.

"Misleading" satellite images being shared on Balakot surgical strike on Jaish camp

By Dr Vinay Kate*
With every passing day more questions are being raised about the surgical strike India did in Balakot as a response to Pulwama attacks. So far the Indian media has claimed mass casulaty of 300+ terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammad in this surgical strike, but there is hardly any report from foreign media about the same.

Extreme repression, corporate loot, cultural genocide "characterise" India's tribal belt

Counterview Desk
As Lok Sabha polls approach, there is considerable ferment in one section of the population -- India's Adivasis, forming about 8.6 per cent of India's population. Things became particularly critical following the February 14, 2019 Supreme Court order, allegedly seeking to evict lakhs of tribals from their forest lands.

Industry in India "barely growing", export growth 0%, whither moral anchors?

Counterview Desk
In a sharp critique of the Modi government, the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), one of world renowned economist Prof Kaushik Basu, who is Professor of Economics and Carl Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University, has told students at the IIM-A’s 54th Annual Convocation on March 16, 2019 that they have a “special responsibility” on their shoulders, “the responsibility to reject narrow sectarianism, uphold scientific thinking, openness to new ideas, and freedom of speech.”

Gujarat model? Industrial effluents "invade" borewells, discharge coloured water in farms

By Rajiv Shah
In a major embarrassment for Gujarat model, of the 21 samples taken by officials of the state government's environmental watchdog Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in two villages of Vadodara district and analyzed by its laboratory in Gandhinagar, the state capital, to find out pollution level in groundwater, 16 were assessed as highly contaminated – these were, in fact, found to be discharging reddish, brownish, reddish, or yellowish water.

Refugees as criminals? US govt report blames Amit Shah for calling Bangladeshis termites

Counterview Desk
The chapter “Freedom of Movement” of the US State Department’s “India 2018 Human Rights Report”, released recently, has criticized BJP chief Amit Shah for terming alleged Bangladeshis who may be in Assam as “termites”, because their names were struck down from the list of National Register of Citizens, under preparation in the state.
Pointing out that four million residents were excluded from Assam’s final draft list, leading to “uncertainty over the status of these individuals, many of whose families had lived in the state for several generations”, the report regrets, the Indian law does not even contain the term “refugee,” treating refugees like Rohingiyas as “any other foreigners.”
“Undocumented physical presence in the country is a criminal offense. Persons without documentation were vulnerable to forced returns and abuse”, the report says.
Text of the Freedom of Movement chapter: The law provides for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, a…

Mental health: India's 95% patients "deprived" of medical care, treatment gap 70%

By Moin Qazi*
Among the many challenges India faces, the most underappreciated is the ongoing mental health crisis. Mental illness is actually India’s ticking bomb. An estimated 56 million Indians suffer from depression, and 38 million from anxiety disorders. For those who suffer from mental illness, life can seem like a terrible prison from which there is no hope of escape; they are left forlorn and abandoned, stigmatized, shunned and misunderstood.

Congress would win just 9 of 26 Lok Sabha seats: Gujarat Assembly segment-wise analysis

By Rajiv Shah
Even as the Congress plans its first working committee meet in Gujarat on February 28 after an almost 58 year gap, there is reason to wonder what is in store for India’s grand old party in a state which has been long been a BJP bastion – in fact ever since mid-1990s. Ahead of the then assembly polls in late 2012, talking with me, a senior Gujarat Congress leader, currently Rajya Sabha MP, frankly said he saw no reason why Congress would win.

"Pro-corporate" Supreme Court order on FRA would further marginalize Adivasis

By VS Roy David, JP Raju*
For millions of Adivasis and other traditional forest dwellers February 13, 2019 will go down in history as the day of apocalypse. This is like the proverbial Black Friday where millions of most marginalized people of India were ordered by malicious anti-people draconian Supreme Court order depriving them the life and livelihood by evicting them from their habitats.

Financial inclusion? Not micro-loans; India's poor "need" investment in health, education

By Moin Qazi*
India has grown into a global powerhouse. Its economy is soaring but the picture on the ground is still quite arid. The green shoots that you see are only a patch of its landscape. Most Indians are hapless victims of inequity. India is one country where intense poverty abounds in the shadow of immense wealth.

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