J&K assembly polls, restoration democratic rights sought before block-level elections

By A Representative
A group of political and social activists led by Magsaysay Award winning scholar-activist Sandeep Pandey has passed a resolution demanding immediately restoration all communication channels in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), even as insisting, block-level elections in J&K declared by the Government of India should be preceded by assembly elections or may be held simultaneously with consultation with political parties and people.
"It is not the job of Central government to hold block-level elections. Panchayat and local governance are state subjects and indicators of democratic maturity", said the resolution, which consisted of concern on several national issues, passed following a well-attended seminar in Hyderabad.
The signatories included Justice (retd) Chandra Kumar, President, Telangana Prajala Party; Syed Inamur Rahman of the Society for Promotion of Tolerance; PJ Suri of the Janata Dal (S); Danny, convenor, Muslim Thinkers' Forum; Prof Anwar Khan, All-India Ideal Teachers' Association, and others.
The resolution said, the Centre was holding negotiations with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), agreeing for a framework agreement which calls for 'shared sovereignty' and 'peaceful coexistence between two entities namely Government of India and Nagaland', allowing Nagaland to follow its own Constitution and fly its own flag. It wonders, why this couldn't happen with political parties and people of J&K.

Sandeep Pandey

The seminar decided to begin a post-card campaign asking the Chief Justice of India and the Prime minister to restore democratic rights to the people J&K and list all restrictions. It also appealed to the Supreme Court to hear petitions on J&K on the abrogation of Article 370, removing the special status of J&K on August 5, on an urgent basis.
Also expressing concern over the brutal killing of two innocent children aged 12 and 10, when they were answering their nature calls in Bhavkhedi village in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, the resolution sought apology to the Valmiki community from the state government, insisting, the government should provide job with residence to the families of the two children, and land to their fathers.
At the same time, the resolution said, the Government of India and the Government of Madhya Pradesh should conduct audit of toilets under Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, whether if toilets have flush/waste handling facility, water facility and pit handling facility. In this case, while one Valmiki family's toilet was "dumped", while another Valmiki family didn't have toilet. It sought immediate arrest of the killers and prompt trial and judgement, even as paying "due compensation" to victims' families.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

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.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Would breaking idols, burning books annihilate caste? Recalling a 1972 Dalit protest

By Rajiv Shah A few days ago, I received an email alert from a veteran human rights leader who has fought many battles in Gujarat for the Dalit cause — both through ground-level campaigns and courtroom struggles. The alert, sent in Gujarati by Valjibhai Patel, who heads the Council for Social Justice, stated: “In 1935, Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti . In 1972, we broke the idol of Krishna , whom we regarded as the creator of the varna (caste) system.”

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

Search This Blog