Gujarat's top non-political farmers' body to hold anti-BJP 14 day motorbike campaign starting November 17

Rahul Gandhi interacting with KSG farmers on Nov 3

By Our Representative
In a major boost to the Congress, the top non-political farmers' organization, Khedut Samaj Gujarat (KSG), has thrown its weight behind the Congress, declaring on Wednesday that it would take out 2,000 km long motorbike rally from South Gujarat's Bhilad to North Gujarat's Amirgadh via Saurashtra to campaign for the "ouster" of the BJP government in the state.
"Farmers form 52% of the electorate, and they are extremely unhappy the manner in which the state BJP rulers have treated them", Sagar Rabari, who heads the KSG, told newspersons in Ahmedabad. "Our 14-day rally will start on November 17", he said, adding, "About 100 motorbikes will move from one place to another, addressing farmers' meetings, and asking them not to vote for the BJP which has ruled the state for 22 years."
Rabari's open opposition to BJP follows a KSG-sponsored well-attended dialogue, in which hundreds of farmers directly interacted with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on November 3 in Valsad, South Gujarat.
"While Gandhi gave us time for interaction, where farmers put forward their demands, when we approached BJP president Amit Shah for a similar discussion, our KSG leaders were put under house arrest. I had to talk with the Election Commission office to ensure their release", he said.
The major demands put forward by KSG before Gandhi included abrogation of the Gujarat land acquisition law, which seeks to undermine consent and social impact assessment clauses of the 2013 land acquisition Act of the Centre, and abrogation of the Special Investment Region law, which seeks to impose town planning norms on agricultural land by imposing a 50% land acquisition in the name of infrastructure development.
"We sought firm assurance from Gandhi that he would allow farmers' right to protest by taking out rallies and dharnas, something denied to us by the BJP rulers, and he readily agreed that the basic democratic rights of the people cannot be violated in any manner", Rabari said, adding, "Other demands included 24 hour power and debt waiver".
Rabari further said, "We have concrete example on how waters from the Narmada dam meant for irrigation is being diverted to industry. The Vallabhipur branch canal of the Narmada project has a capacity of receiving 2,200 cusecs of water. However, it receives just 900 cusecs."
"Worse, of this, the farmers get only 500 cusecs of the canal waters for irrigation, while the rest is claimed to be diverted as drinking water," he said, adding, "We suspect that the water is being diverted to industry, to different state-owned industrial estates operating in the region. This should stop immediately."
KSG has been in the forefront in the struggle against special investment regions (SIRs), leading to downsizing or completely put off the decision for having SIRs.
Rabari clarified, "Our decision not to vote for the BJP does not mean that, if the Congress comes to power, we will stop fighting for farmers' cause. On the contrary, our struggle for farmers will continue."

Comments

Junk food push causing severe public health crisis of obesity, diabetes in India: Report

By Rajiv Shah A new report , “The Junk Push: Rising Consumption of Ultra-processed foods in India- Policy, Politics and Reality”, public health experts, consumers groups, lawyers, youth and patient groups, has called upon the Government of India to check the soaring consumption of High Fat Sugar or Salt (HFSS) foods or ultra-processed foods (UPF), popularly called junk food.

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam* Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Astonishing? Violating its own policy, Barclays 'refinanced' Adani Group's $8 billion bonds

By Rajiv Shah A new report released by two global NGOs, BankTrack and the Toxic Bonds Network, has claimed to have come up with “a disquieting truth”: that Barclays, a financial heavyweight with a “controversial” track record, is deeply entrenched in a “disturbing” alliance with “the Indian conglomerate and coal miner Adani Group.”

Modi govt intimidating US citizens critical of abuses in India: NY Christian group to Biden

Counterview Desk the New York Council of Churches for its release of an open letter calling on the Biden administration to “speak out forcefully” against rising Hindu extremist violence targeting Christians and other minorities in India. In the letter addressed to President Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other major elected officials, the NY Council of Churches expressed "grave concern regarding escalating anti-Christian violence" throughout India, particularly in Manipur, where predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo tribals have faced hundreds of violent attacks on their villages, churches, and homes at the hands of predominantly Hindu Meitei mobs.

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".

Link India's 'deteriorating' religious conditions with trade relations: US policymakers told

By Our Representative Commissioners on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) raised concerns about the “sophisticated, systematic persecution” of religious minorities by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a hearing on India in Washington DC.

Green revolution "not sustainable", Bt cotton a failure in India: MS Swaminathan

MS Swaminathan Counterview Desk In a recent paper in the journal “Current Science”, distinguished scientist PC Kesaven and his colleague MS Swaminathan, widely regarded as the father of the Green Revolution, have argued that Bt insecticidal cotton, widely regarded as the continuation of the Green Revolution, has been a failure in India and has not provided livelihood security for mainly resource-poor, small and marginal farmers. Sharply taking on Green Revolution, the authors say, it has not been sustainable largely because of adverse environmental and social impacts, insisting on the need to move away from the simplistic output-yield paradigm that dominates much thinking. Seeking to address the concerns about local food security and sovereignty as well as on-farm and off-farm social and ecological issues associated with the Green Revolution, they argue in favour of what they call sustainable ‘Evergreen Revolution’, based on a ‘systems approach’ and ‘ecoagriculture’. Pointing ou

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah* The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

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.

Jharkhand: Attempt to create red scare for 'brutal crackdown', increase loot of resources

Counterview Desk The civil rights group Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization in a statement on plans to crackdown on “64 democratic progressive organisations” in Jharkhand under the pretext of the need to investigate their Maoist link, has alleged that this an attempt to suppress dissent against corporate loot and create an authoritarian state.

Search This Blog