Gujarat farmer leaders form coordination committee, to 'organise' Dec 8 Bharat bandh

By Our Representative
A meeting, organised in support of farmers’ rights and in opposition to the three farm bills passed recently in Parliament in Ahmedabad, has decided to form common platform, called Gujarat Khedut Sangharsh Samiti, in order to to support the Bharat bandh call given for December 8, 2020 by the agitating farmers on Delhi borders, as organise agitations in the state.
Organised by Jayeshbhai Patel of the Gujarat Khedut Samaj and Dahyabhai Gajra of the Gujarat Kisan Sabha, those present on the occasion agreed, the bills would affect not just farmers but also small businesses and working people, even as encouraging hoarding and impacting consumers in a serious way.
The meeting decided to hold protests all over Gujarat on the December 10, organise Kisan Sansad at Satyagrah Chhavni in Gandhinagar after seeking relevant permissions on December 11, send farmers to Delhi to join the protesting farmers starting with December 12, and publish a leaflet in the name of the Gujarat Khedut Sangharsh Samiti to inform farmers about the implications of the bills.
The organizations which took part in the meeting included the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Samiti, the Gujarat Kisan Congress (Saurashtra), Annadaata Hitrakshak Samiti (Gandhinagar), Gujarat Kisan Sabha, Dharti Putra Kisan Trust (Mehsana), Lokshaasan (Jamnagar), Ekta Grameen Praja Vichar Manch, Marketing Yard Ekta Vyapari Sangathan (Rajkot), Gujarat Khedut Samaj, Rashtriya Kisan Morcha, Gujarat Khedut Sangharsh Samiti (Sanand), and civil rights organization Anhad.
Human rights advocate Anand Yagnik was present on the occasion.

Gujarat minorities group 'endorses' Bharat bandh

Meanwhile, Gujarat’s civil rights organization, Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), expressing its “complete solidarity with ongoing farmers’ nation-wide protests”, has “endorsed” the Bharat bandh on December 8. In a statement, Mujahid Nafees, MCC convener, said, “The call has come after several rounds of failed negotiations between the protesting farmers in Delhi and the Government of India over the three Farm Acts and the Electricity Bill.”
Stating that these law together “are bound to corporatize farming and makes lives of millions of farmers, especially small and marginal farmers, increasingly precarious”, Nafees said, “MCC calls upon all sections of our society to stand with the historic struggle of farmers and participate actively in the Bharat bandh.”
He added, “MCC commits itself to intensify the struggle, along with other organizations, until the core demands of the farmers to repeal the three Acts and the Electricity Bill and legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price for all crops are not met.”

Comments

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra* The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

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".

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

Victim of communal violence, Christians in Manipur want Church leadership to speak up

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour codes which are patently against the rights of workers; the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Annual Report on 1 May stating that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen in 2022”; the continued protest by the Indian women wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the expulsion of the chief of the Indian Wrestlers Federation on very serious allegations; the Elections in Karnataka on 10 May (with communalism and corruption as the mainstay); the release of the fake, derogative and insensitive film ‘The Kerala Story’; the release of World Free Press Index on 3 May which places India

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.

Delhi HC rules in favour of retired Air Force officer 'overcharged' for Covid treatment

By Rosamma Thomas* In a decision of May 22, 2023, the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of petitioner Group Captain Suresh Khanna who was under treatment at CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, between April 28 and May 5, 2021, for a period of eight days, for Covid-19 pneumonia. The petitioner had to pay Rs 3,55,286 as treatment costs, but the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) only reimbursed him for Rs 1,83,748, on the basis of government-approved rates.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

India joining US sponsored trade pillar to hurt Indian farmers, 'promote' GM seeds, food

Counterview Desk As many as 32 civil society organisations (CSOs), in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and India joining the trade pillar, have said that its provisions will allow the US to ensure a more favourable regulatory regime “for enhancing its exports of genetically modified (GM) seeds and GM food”, underlining, it will “significantly hurt the livelihoods of Indian farmers.”

Modi govt 'wholly untrustworthy' on Covid data, censored criticism on pandemic: Lancet

By Rajiv Shah* One of the world’s most prestigious health journals, brought out from England, has sharply criticised the Narendra Modi government for being “wholly untrustworthy on Covid-19 health data”, stating, the “official government figures place deaths at more than 530 000, while WHO excess death estimates for 2020 and 2021 are near 4·7 million.”

Search This Blog