Fishermen 'protect' ecosystem, yet have no right over water bodies: NAPM meet told

By A Representative
India's top civil engineer rights network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), which held its 12th national convention on completion of its 25 years in Puri, Odisha, with the participation of over 1,000 people's representatives, saw Lakhan Musafir of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Gujarat, taking strong exception to the world's tallest Statue of Unity, saying, it has led to tribals losing their agricultural land and fodder for their cattle.
Started with a human chain in a show of strength of the people’s movements at Puri's famous sea beach, Musafir further told the meet, "Loss of land has forced us to become bonded labourers. Instead of addressing this crisis, the state government is forcefully evicting us from our lands because they want to construct some colony there."
"On the other hand", he added, "There is humongous corruption in the Sardar Sarovar dam project in Gujarat as you will not find any details of the earning and expenditure of the project available for public scrutiny. We are slapped with false charges whenever we protest against this corruption”.
Participating in the session on ‘Political Economy of Fascist State: Our Resources, Our Constitution, Our Struggles’, Kailash Meena from Rajasthan apprised participants of the struggle to protect air, water and natural resources in the Aravalli region of the state, pointing towards the role of women in this, while Aloka Kujur from Jharkhand said, for the past several years, there has been a struggle against the corporate plunder in the state, stressing on the need for change in strategy to fight repression.
Kujur said, now the government no longer uses guns and batons to crush a people’s movements. It crushes people’s movements by abusing the Constitution. In the ongoing Pathalgadhi movement in Jharkhand, about 3,000 people have been charged with treason.Contemporary Jharkhand has become a synonym for mob lynchings. About 21 cases have been reported so far.
Satyam Mahar of the Niyamgiri Sangharsh Samiti, Odisha, said that the Niyamgiri movement has been going on peacefully. The Supreme Court in an order had insisted that mining should be stopped in the region. But ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014, false cases are being registered on many activists who are associated with the movement.
Mahar added, many people have been picked up from road and put in jail for a long time without any information provided to their families. Whenever there is an event for the movement, the administration does not allow such programmes to be held, instead it puts the organizers of the event in jail by accusing them of being Maoists.

Manshi Asher from Himachal Pradesh said that communities living in the Himalayan region have been suffering from landslides. In these areas the forest is spread on a very large scale and people's lives are depend on forests. Along with this, rivers are also an important resource here. But today all these resources are being looted.
Asher added, the British took away forests from us by saying that we do not know forest management. Today, about 30 percent of the forested area consists of pine forests that catch fire. The same British system continues. Today, the government is displacing forest dwellers by calling them encroachers.
Pradip Chatterjee from West Bengal, who is fighting for the rights of small fishermen, said that there are about six million of them in this country, yet unfortunately the country does not yet have a policy for them. Fishermen do not pollute water bodies. They protect the water ecosystem, as their livelihood is dependent on catching and selling fish.
Yet, he regretted, these fishermen have no rights over water bodies. Farmers own land but fishermen do not have their own water. Currently, many water bodies are being used for big projects, tourism and river linking projects. Many water bodies are being destroyed by the Union government by implementing industrial projects.
Kiran Vissa, who represents Rayathu Swaraj Vedike, Telangana, said that the farm sector is in a big crisis. The biggest challenge is to save the land for farming. For this, we have to wage a strong fight against displacement. Along with land, seed is also an important part of agricultural resources. At present in India due to the corporatization of agriculture many indigenous varieties of seeds are in a position of extinction.

Comments

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey* Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.

Farewell to Saleem Samad: A life devoted to fearless journalism

By Nava Thakuria* Heartbreaking news arrived from Dhaka as the vibrant city lost one of its most active and committed citizens with the passing of journalist, author and progressive Bangladeshi national Saleem Samad. A gentleman who always had issues to discuss with anyone, anywhere and at any time, he passed away on 22 February 2026 while undergoing cancer treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He was 74.

From ancient wisdom to modern nationhood: The Indian story

By Syed Osman Sher South of the Himalayas lies a triangular stretch of land, spreading about 2,000 miles in each direction—a world of rare magic. It has fired the imagination of wanderers, settlers, raiders, traders, conquerors, and colonizers. They entered this country bringing with them new ethnicities, cultures, customs, religions, and languages.

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

By Rajiv Shah A recent book, " Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India ", authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes , seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians , which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure -- even force -- vulnerable sections into Christianity.

Sergei Vasilyevich Gerasimov, the artist who survived Stalin's cultural purges

By Harsh Thakor* Sergei Vasilyevich Gerasimov (September 14, 1885 – April 20, 1964) was a Soviet artist, professor, academician, and teacher. His work was posthumously awarded the Lenin Prize, the highest artistic honour of the USSR. His paintings traced the development of socialist realism in the visual arts while retaining qualities drawn from impressionism. Gerasimov reconciled a lyrical approach to nature with the demands of Soviet socialist ideology.

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan* The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.

Development at what cost? The budget's blind spot for the environment

By Raj Kumar Sinha* The historical ills in the relationship between capital and the environment have now manifested in areas commonly referred to as the "environmental crisis." This includes global warming, the destruction of the ozone layer, the devastation of tropical forests, mass mortality of fish, species extinction, loss of biodiversity, poison seeping into the atmosphere and food, desertification, shrinking water supplies, lack of clean water, and radioactive pollution.

Public money, private profits: Crop insurance scheme as goldmine for corporates

By Vikas Meshram The farmer in India is not merely a food provider; he is the soul of the nation. For centuries, enduring natural calamities and bearing debt generation after generation while remaining loyal to the soil, this community now finds itself trapped in a different kind of crisis. In February 2016, the Modi government launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) with the stated objective of freeing farmers from the shackles of debt. It was an ambitious attempt to provide a strong safety net to cultivators repeatedly devastated by excessive rainfall, drought, and hailstorms.

Search This Blog