Opposition, land rights network come together, demand scrapping of Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project

By A Representative
In an unusual development, India’s land rights network Bhumi Adhikar Andolan (BAA) and 12 opposition parties, including Indian National Congress (INC), Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal (Secular), and Left parties (CPI, CPI-M), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have demanded scrapping of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project project, even as appreciating the suspension of the loans to the project by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as a “small step of success”.
In a statement issued in the wake of the Jan Manch organized in Delhi, BAA warned, “If the government does not withdraw this project, BAA will fiercely oppose it. It will also keep building resistance against all anti-people development projects which require forcible land acquisitions and the loot of natural resources.” It asked all political parties to include “scrapping of the project to be included in the manifestos of all opposition parties.”
The statement said, “The bullet train project is yet another instance of the current government’s skewed and biased idea of development. The project will potentially wreak havoc on farmers and communities across Gujarat and Maharashtra and will lead to irreversible damage to the environment and also pushing thousands of people to displacement and utter poverty.”
It continued, “The entire project is extremely devastating in terms of finances and will drown the country in debt in the coming years. Clearly, the way the project is planned, stands to serve the capitalists’ interest. It aids the devastating industrial corridors and is designed to be inaccessible to the common public.”
It added, “Currently the country is facing international flak for not being able to provide basic amenities like food, education, health and sanitation. Instead of focusing on the basic needs that will aid in the holistic development of the people and the communities, the government continues to sell people’s resources for the benefit of the corporate mafia in the country.”
In his opening remarks, Hannan Mollah, national convener, BAA, criticised the government’s decision to dilute the clauses of peoples’ consent, social impact assessment and others in the Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act 2013 for a project which is “basically anti-people”. He added, “This was possible only by the central government bringing in ordinance to topple down the existing Act. The need of the hour is a political movement that will finally be pro-people.”
Ulka Mahajan of the Sarvahara Jan Andolan, expressing anguish over the the project, said, “Political and economic decisions that are made in Delhi are extremely ignorant of the ground realities of the rest of the country. In the name of infrastructure development, the government is attracting foreign investment. But the question remains, at the cost of whom are these projects being initiated?”
INC’s Ashok Tanwar in his message, said that the policies and projects of the Modi government are “anti-poor, anti-farmer and anti-worker in nature”, adding, “The government is specifically facilitating few rich corporate conglomerates. The need of the hour is to invest in the Indian Railways which actually caters to the larger public unlike the bullet train. Congress has pledged its full support to BAA and the farmers till the bullet train project is scrapped.”
DP Tripathi of NCP stated that the bullet train project is a ploy to assassinate the farmers of Maharashtra and Gujarat. He added, “The priority of the government should be to address the primary needs and demands of the people and current government has no focus which is people centric.”
Somnath Bharti of AAP spoke of the current government’s “misguided priorities”, saying, “We should prioritise improvement of people’s health, education and basic amenities. The bullet train project doesn’t benefit the common people, it only aids the already rich and thriving.”
Shri. D. Raja of CPI said that the government lacks vision. Instead of strengthening the existing infrastructure of the railways to make it affordable and accessible to common people, it has put forward a project which has “no rationale”.
Naval Kishore of RJD said, “ The history of the current government is one which does not respect the constitution. They have always cheated the people of the country, like they are doing now through policies like goods and services tax (GST) and processes like demonetisation.”
Javed Ali of Samajwadi Party said the bullet train project has not been envisioned in the development paradigm which is people-oriented. “When the fundamental infrastructure is not yet in place, a project like this for a small distance is unjustified and is a distortion of people centred development”, he added.
KK Ragesh of CPI-M said, “In a country where more than 2 crore children are out of schools and there is dearth of health facilities, the priority of this government is misplaced. The bullet train project is just an ornamental one which is illogical, especially when the government does not allocate resources in the social sectors.”

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Saffron Kingdom – a cinematic counter-narrative to The Kashmir Files

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* “Saffron Kingdom” is a film produced in the United States by members of the Kashmiri diaspora, positioned as a response to the 2022 release “The Kashmir Files.” While the latter focused on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and framed Kashmiri Muslims as perpetrators of violence, “Saffron Kingdom” seeks to present an alternate perspective—highlighting the experiences of Kashmiri Muslims facing alleged abuses by Indian security forces.

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).

From lazy to lost? The myths and realities behind generational panic about youth

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak Older generations in many societies often describe the young with labels such as “lazy, unproductive, lost, anxious, depoliticised, unpatriotic or wayward.” Others see them as “social media, mobile phone and porn addicts.” Such judgments arise from a generational anxiety rooted in fears of losing control and from distorted perceptions about youth, especially in the context of economic crises, conflicts, and wars in which many young lives are lost.

Counterview

Search This Blog