Gujarat farmers denied permission for 2000 km motorbike rally, Khedut Samaj protests, writes to Election Commission

By Our Representative
In an unusual turn of events, top farmers' body, Khedut Samaj Gujarat (KSG), which had planned a 14-day motorbike rally from South Gujarat's Bhilad to North Gujarat's Amirgadh starting on November 17, has been denied permission to pass through Surat district. "We were told by that they don't have enough cops to handle the bike rally", Sagar Rabari, general secretary on the non-political farmers' organization told Counterview.
Insisting that KSG would continue with its rally, which will start at 9.00 am, come what may, Rabari said, "If they wish, they can detain us. All that they need is a police jeep to along with the motorbike rally. If they want to detain us along with our motorbikes, they would need several police vehicles. They have got staff and heavy vehicles for that!"
Rabari, while announcing the decision to take out the farmers' motorbike rally for about 2000 km, had told newspersons on Wednesday that the KSG would campaign for voting against the BJP, whose policies have been "anti-farmer." He had said, the "pro-industry" government was forcing farmers to part with their prime farm land in the name of development.
Protesting against the state administration behaving in a "high-handed" manner despite the fact that it is not under the state BJP rule but is under the Election Commission of India (ECI), Rabari said, "We demand that the ECI should immediately act and ensure that permission for our rally is given."
Meanwhile, KSG president Jayesh Patel, who proposes to lead the rally, has written a letter to chief electoral officer, ECI, Gujarat State, BB Swain, saying, "Under the pretext of election, every right is being denied in Gujarat", even as seeking his "urgent intervention".
The letter says that KSG has organised statewide motorbike rally to make farmers aware their "democratic rights" ahead of the Gujarat state assembly elections, even as educating them about "how to exercise their vote to achieve good, people friendly governance."
"As per the prevailing rule of law, we applied for permission to all concerned district/taluka officers. We wrote the same letter to the Surat district magistrate on Novembrr 15, 2017. In response the district magistrate denied permission citing a government order No 464/INST/2014/EPS dated April 10, 2017."
"We have gone through the above order and find nothing in it that restricts people to express their right to express their grievances, organize rally or public meetings for awareness", Patel said, adding, thr refusal to give permission "indicates police’s partial role and negligence to peoples’ rights."
"The only reason one can assume is, being administered by one party for long, the police machinery has become part of the misdeeds of the ruling political establishment, doesn’t want any change in government to save its interests, and is seeking to hide its misdeeds. If such is the case, how can people trust that the elections would be fair and just?"
Asking ECI to grant permission "to carry on our declared programme", Patel demanded the immediately transfer the concerned officer who has misinterpreted ECI instruction and misused the letter to deny permission. He regretting, "We sent SMS to you and the nodal police officer to intervene but there was no response, hence this letter..."
A copy of the letter has been forwarded to the Gujarat High Court chief justice.

Comments

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat* The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

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.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani* A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid* We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra* Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.

Search This Blog