Global land rights NGO lauds Republic Day tractor parade despite police 'intimidation'

Counterview Desk
In a statement, an international civil rights network, People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS), has regretted that the new year has “kicked off with intensified repression targeting the rural sector”, citing how this is happening in several countries, including India. With offices in Philippines, Zambia, Bolivia and Jordan, and supporting land rights NGOs across the world, PCSF’s is pitted against “neoliberal globalization on food and agriculture policies.”
Lauding “farmers movements” that continue to strengthen their ranks and advance their struggles despite these relentless attacks, PCFS said, India’s protesting farmers deserve this regard for the continuing success of Delhi Chalo in the face of constant police intimidation and suppression”, even as supporting “their march and tractor parade on January 26, India’s Republic Day.”

Text:

The People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty slams the escalating state attacks against farmers and indigenous peoples in many countries across the globe. We call out these governments – especially in the Philippines, Cambodia, and India – for the blatant violation of human rights to facilitate the aggressive implementation of neoliberal policies in the pretext of coping with COVID-19 pandemic.
We abhor the killings and mass arrests of rural peoples in the Philippines, which signifies the reigning inhumanity and impunity perpetrated by the Duterte regime. Filipino farmers and indigenous peoples are often treated as enemies of the state for defending their lands and communities from state-backed corporate control and plunder. The government’s heightened counter-insurgency campaign is being used as guise to forcefully evict rural communities and quell their resistance.
In the past four years of Duterte’s presidency, the Peasant Movement of the Philippines has documented 22 peasant massacres and a total peasant death toll of 313. PCFS strongly condemns the latest of these massacres that happened in December 2020 – the brutal killing of five mango farmworkers in Baras, Rizal and the nine indigenous Tumandok in Panay Island. Billions of the country’s funds are being used for such overkill operations against defenseless farmers and IPs.
Enjoying the outright support from the president, the police and military have now gained the gall to publicly issue shoot-to-kill orders even to distinguished leaders of the legitimate mass movement. We denounce this death threat against Windel Bolinget, chairperson of PCFS member organization Cordillera Peoples Alliance, who has faced relentless threats and harassment since last year.
The Coalition also decries the violent efforts to displace the farmers of Hacienda Yulo in Sitio Buntog, Calamba, Laguna amid pandemic. Since last year, their homes have been ransacked and burned down by hired goons of the Yulo-owned San Cristobal Realty Development Corporation (SCRDC) and Ayala Land Inc. Farmer-residents of the 7,100-hectare hacienda have been asserting their rights to the disputed land for decades, since 1911.
Such attacks are not just happening in the Philippines. In Cambodia, legitimate dissent is being criminalized. A community leader from Choam Kravien, Sihanoukville province and two from Sre Prang, Tbong Khmum province were arrested while more than 50 from the provinces of Tbong Khmum and Koh Kong for their active assertion of their right to land. PCFS supports the appeal for the dropping of the charges and the release of the political prisoners issued by more than 80 organizations.
PCFS lauds the farmers movements that continue to strengthen their ranks and advance their struggles despite these relentless attacks. India’s protesting farmers deserve this regard for the continuing success of Delhi Chalo in the face of constant police intimidation and suppression. Let us support their march and tractor parade on January 26, India’s Republic Day.
Likewise, we extend our solidarity to all the persevering rural peoples movements and censure the global trend of worsening state repression, wielded to back up neoliberal offensives and silence our cause. #StandWithFarmers!

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...

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.

'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).

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.

Is U.S. fast losing its financial and technological edge under Trump’s second tenure?

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra* The United States, along with its Western European allies, once promoted globalization as a democratic force that would deliver shared prosperity and balanced growth. That promise has unraveled. Globalization, instead of building an even world, has produced one defined by inequality, asymmetry of power, and new vulnerabilities. For decades, Washington successfully turned this system to its advantage. Today, however, under Trump’s second administration, America is attempting to exploit the weaknesses of others without acknowledging how exposed it has become itself.

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.”

'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.

On Teachers’ Day, remembering Mother Teresa as the teacher of compassion

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ It is Teachers’ Day once again! Significantly, the day also marks the Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (still lovingly called Mother Teresa). In 2012, the United Nations, as a fitting tribute to her, declared this day the International Day of Charity. A day pregnant with meaning—one that we must celebrate as meaningfully as possible.

Gujarat minority rights group seeks suspension of Botad police officials for brutal assault on minor

By A Representative A human rights group, the Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) Gujarat, has written to the Director General of Police (DGP), Gandhinagar, demanding the immediate suspension and criminal action against police personnel of Botad police station for allegedly brutally assaulting a minor boy from the Muslim community.

Counterview

Search This Blog