Counterview

By A Representative   A women's rights group, All India Mahila Sanskritik Sangathan (AIMSS), has issued a strong condemnation of the police action taken against the parents of Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist from Uttarakhand whose 2022 murder has sparked renewed national outrage following a controversial political appointment.

By A Representative   A civil rights group, Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, has sharply criticised political leaders in Madhya Pradesh for what it describes as the continued repression of tribal communities while using them for political gain. In a statement, released under the headline "Leaders should stop baking their political bread by displacing Adivasis," the organisation alleged that from former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's two-decade tenure to the present day, the Forest Rights Act has been blatantly violated. 

By A Representative   A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the illegalities arising from requiring voters, whose names were deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, to fill Form 6 to seek re-inclusion in the voter list. The statement on the petition has been issued by Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri.

By A Representative   A nationwide mental health awareness campaign aimed at reducing stigma and encouraging open conversations about psychological well-being concluded in New Delhi on 15 October, after reaching young people across 14 states. The 56-day initiative, Beyond the Horizon: A Ride for Resilience, led by Seher Hashmi, covered more than 7,500 kilometres between Delhi and Kanyakumari and back, conducting 111 awareness sessions across 62 cities, towns and villages.

By Dev Narsinghani*  A recent Counterview article  rightly pointed out that the Indian market is flooded with packaged snacks, instant noodles, and sugary drinks, and it welcomed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) push for red front-of-pack warning labels on such items. 

By Dr. A.V. Yadappanavar*  In the heart of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar division, a quiet revolution in education is being led by Vinayak Kohli, a highly celebrated Social Science and Geography teacher at PM Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya in Kondagaon. His groundbreaking approach to pedagogy recently earned him major national recognition when he won the national award in the Geography category at the India's Best Teachers Awards 2026. 

By Bharat Dogra  The history of Bangladesh offers profound lessons about diplomacy, morality, and the catastrophic consequences of arrogant leadership. It demonstrates how principled diplomats can create possibilities for saving millions of lives—and how unprincipled leaders can destroy those possibilities.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Policymakers in higher education, the majority of university leaders, and managers—Vice Chancellors, Deans, and Heads of Departments—are neither trained to conduct research nor qualified to teach. Yet they frame policies for learning and teaching, research strategies, and norms for ranking institutions, teacher performance, and research outputs. They evaluate impacts they scarcely understand.

Counterview News   A new report released this month by human rights organization Equality Now and the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage highlights critical advancements and ongoing challenges in global legal frameworks aimed at eradicating child marriage.

By A Representative   Pension Parishad and the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) have criticised the Union government’s revision of pensions under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), describing the increase in disability pensions as inadequate and accusing the government of neglecting elderly people and widows.

By Oten Boli*  ​The Siang has always been our life, beating in time with the quiet rhythm of our mountains and the steady pulse of our community. For as long as our grandfathers can remember, our songs, our stories, and our daily prayers have flowed right along with its waters, carrying the spirit of our ancestors from the high peaks down into the valleys.

By A Representative   Power and climate policy analyst Shankar Sharma has written to Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, asking the Karnataka government to review its development priorities in light of recurring drought, water stress and ecological degradation. Sharma, who is based in Sagara in the Western Ghats, also sent a copy to the Chief Secretary with a request that it be circulated to all ministers.

By Sudhansu R Das*  India is a treasure trove of eco-friendly, sustainable economic activities that generate income and employment for millions across the country. Over centuries, Indian culture has created demand for a wide range of products — the majority of them religious artifacts, utility and decorative items made from biodegradable materials. These products do more than generate employment; they boost exports, keep the environment safe and bring people joy.

By Saurabh Thakore*  The coffee is warm. The marble beneath it is cool. By the time we settle into the morning, someone else's work is already holding our day together. The floor is clean. The entrance is attended. The lift is running. Beyond the window, buildings rise above roads carrying people towards offices, factories, hospitals and schools. For a moment, everything feels effortless. It is easy to begin the day without thinking about how it became ready, or whose hands made the room possible.

By Tings Chak   At the entrance to Xingfuli, a residential compound in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, a bulletin board displays the names, photographs, and phone numbers of the people responsible for managing the neighbourhood. Though an ordinary bulletin board at first appearance, among the building representatives and Communist Party members is an unexpected name: Kang Jiafei, a food delivery worker who is also listed as a community ‘grid worker.’

By Tings Chak  On 25 October, Brazilians will return to the polls to choose between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in an attempted coup. The first round gave Flávio 47.03 per cent of valid votes against Lula’s 45.16 per cent, revealing the enduring strength of the far right four years after its electoral defeat. The runoff takes place as Donald Trump seeks to restore US domination over Latin America, with Brazil emerging as a consequential battleground in Washington’s campaign to contain China’s growing relations with the region.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel—commonly known as the Nobel Prize in Economics—has been awarded to Prof. Robert E. Hall and Prof. Michael Woodford "for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation."

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  "Cockroach" is suddenly an in-word in India, thanks to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who used it during a Supreme Court hearing on 15 May 2026. He meant it in a particular context, but the derogatory remark provoked unprecedented backlash. It led to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a parody social media account founded by political communications strategist Abhijeet Dipke. 

Counterview News   A groundbreaking new meta-analysis published in the journal Family Medicine and Community Health has provided some of the most comprehensive evidence to date linking the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) to a wide array of chronic diseases and premature death. The study , led by Dr. Xiao Liu and colleagues from institutions including Sun Yat-sen University and Duke-NUS Medical School, analyzed data from 51 prospective cohort studies involving nearly 8.82 million adults across 51 different cohorts.

Counterview News   A randomized controlled trial published in the journal Nature Metabolism has found that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) trigger metabolic and neural responses distinct from minimally processed foods—even when the two meals are nutritionally identical. The study provides direct experimental evidence that food processing itself influences health through mechanisms beyond calories and macronutrients alone.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The Lancet Commission's report on "21st Century Global Threats to Health" identifies seventeen interconnected crises threatening life on Earth: air pollution, antimicrobial resistance, childhood malnutrition, the collapse of development and health assistance, conventional conflicts, high alcohol use, high blood pressure, income inequality, low educational attainment, the malicious use of AI, nuclear conflict, obesity, pandemics, poor mental health, smoking, and unhealthy aging.

By Vikas Meshram*  The Vagad region of Rajasthan, encompassing the districts of Banswara and Dungarpur, is a land of rich biodiversity, fertile soil, and plentiful water, deeply intertwined with the cultural identity of the Bhil community. Yet, for decades, unsustainable farming practices had silently eroded this natural wealth, shrinking crop yields and deepening the grip of poverty. 

By A Representative   Over 90 adolescent girls and boys from Kishori Sashaktikaran Kendra (KSK) gathered at Ambedkar Bhawan, Khoda (located on the border of Ghaziabad and Noida in Uttar Pradesh), to observe the International Day of the Girl Child under the theme, "End Child Marriage and Invest in Girls' Rights!" The day highlights girls' rights and the challenges they continue to face.

By A Representative   A recent safety audit has identified serious concerns about the safety of women and adolescent girls in public spaces, pointing to inadequate infrastructure and social factors that together create a persistent sense of insecurity.

By A Representative   An organisation founded under the patronage of well-known Delhi BJP leader, late Om Prakash Kohli, and claiming to espouse the cause of Dalits, the Dr. Ambedkar Society for Thoughts, Actions and Consciousness (DASTAK), has demanded a public and unconditional apology from Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over an alleged incident at the Supreme Court premises on October 12, 2026.

By Rajiv Shah   Currently on a visit to the US, I woke up the other morning to find social media flooded with posts about how the Indian state had clamped down on the so-called cockroach protests, not just in Delhi but also in Ahmedabad, long regarded as the BJP's impenetrable fortress.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  After many years, we have seen a massive mobilisation by the Congress Party and opposition leaders in Delhi. It was a Rahul Gandhi show, which has established him as the widely accepted leader of the opposition in its fight against the BJP and the RSS. There was a time when the Congress would not even use the word "RSS", but in the last few years Rahul Gandhi's persistent campaign has widened his acceptability among various communities. What the Congress earlier lacked was the trust of the urban middle classes, but a large number of them now seem to be looking to him as the future of India.

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  Can a person’s religion determine whether he is fit to protect people at a public celebration? If the allegations emerging from Hyderabad are true, the answer appears to be yes—and that should concern every Indian.

By Bharat Dogra   The Ken River is a vital lifeline for the Bundelkhand region of Central India. As an important tributary of the Yamuna, it forms part of the larger Ganga-Yamuna system. For countless villages along its banks—especially riverside communities renowned for their skill in growing vegetables and fruits—the Ken is not merely a water source. It is life itself. The river is also home to many spots of exceptional beauty and heritage.

By Lohit Sharma*  The Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), a proposed hydroelectric project on the Siang River with an estimated installed capacity of 11,000–12,500 MW, has raised significant concerns about its potential impact on the ancestral lands, cultural heritage, livelihoods, and ethnic identity of the Adi people.

By A Representative  The civil rights coalition,Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), has condemned the detention of four activists from Arunachal Pradesh under the Arunachal Pradesh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (APUAPA), 2014, for opposing pre-feasibility report studies for the proposed 11,000 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP). The organisation has demanded their immediate and unconditional release, the withdrawal of security forces from the affected areas and the scrapping of the proposed mega-dam.

By Ravi Ranjan   One of the foremost Hindi poets, Kunwar Narayan (1927–2017) wrote a poem that asks a deceptively simple question: if embrace, attraction, reproduction and beauty are spontaneous processes of life in nature, why has humanity raised so many walls of sin, virtue, stigma and legitimacy around them? "By the Grace of Love" (Pyār ke Saujanya Se) is that poem. On its surface it reads as a lyrical meditation on love. Read more closely, it becomes a searching critique of the social and religious machinery that converts natural human desire into crime, shame and prohibition.

By A Representative    As India marks 21 years of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, a new report by the civil rights to group Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has exposed a severe crisis in the functioning of Information Commissions (ICs), the final appellate authorities mandated to safeguard people's fundamental right to information.

​By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  ​We live in revealing times. When a television reporter recently confronted renowned development economist Jean Drèze and asked him who he was, social media erupted into debate. Many asked: what is so egregious about a reporter not recognizing someone? But aren't journalists expected to understand the public sphere, its key actors, and their backgrounds? Predictably, an establishment media figure rushed to frame Drèze merely as a former member of the UPA-era National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi.

By A Representative   In a strongly worded appeal addressed to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), ecologist and former UN Environmental Negotiator Dr. S. Faizi has urged the organization to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from his position as Chair of its Council of Member States for 2026. The letter, addressed to International IDEA Secretary-General Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora, also calls for the immediate establishment of an independent mechanism to monitor India’s electoral process.

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  Traditionally, women have been confined to the domestic sphere, with emphasis on their roles as wives, mothers and homemakers. But India is now witnessing a sweeping change in the role of women. Two recent large protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, one in July 2026 against the then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and another in October 2026 against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, have drawn a new picture of the role of girls and women in Indian student politics and social movements.

By Ayush Bajpai, Sandeep Pandey  On 10 October, Delhi witnessed something that has become a familiar template of this regime over the past decade. It weaponised the police and paramilitary forces to stifle dissent, prevent people from speaking out, and unleash brutal violence against them—men, women and children alike. No one is spared. Advocates are being subjected to brutality; seeing someone like Shadan Farasat being manhandled by the police is both disturbing and cruel. The goons, without any fear or remorse, are beating children and women on the streets, right in front of the Delhi Police.

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  The burning question on every Indian's lips is what the future holds for the Cockroach Janata Party's (CJP) agitation in Delhi and elsewhere. At the moment, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. The protest may lead to regime change in Delhi, or it may fizzle out for reasons that are obvious and need not be enumerated. For now, the protest is not going to die. Stopping it and detaining people will only prolong it, and chaos and uncertainty are clearly written on the wall.

By Harsh Thakor*  Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy, who taught comparative politics and the Indian Constitution at the School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, died on October 11. He was 75. A political scientist and public intellectual, he was known for his work on international relations, peace and conflict resolution, human rights and democratic values, and for his solidarity with students.

By Harsh Thakor*  The intellectual world has lost a towering figure whose work reshaped how we understand capitalism . Anwar Shaikh , who passed away on October 6 at 80 in New York after a prolonged illness, was among the most influential Marxist economists of the past half-century. His contributions transcended the boundaries of conventional economic thought, offering a framework that bridged classical political economy with rigorous empirical analysis. For over four decades, Shaikh stood at the forefront of efforts to develop a coherent alternative to mainstream economics —one grounded in the realities of competition, conflict, and crisis rather than abstract models divorced from actual capitalist dynamics.

By Sandeep Pandey, Niya Tapo  The Arunachal Pradesh government had been claiming that the majority of people in the Siang Valley were in favour of the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) survey being carried out to determine the viability of a proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, envisaging a large dam on the Siang River with a capacity of 11,000–12,500 MW. However, a visit by Chief Minister Pema Khandu to Yingkiong, the district headquarters of Upper Siang, towards the end of September provoked people to burn several government vehicles, set fire to a Central Armed Police Forces camp comprising CRPF, ITBP, SSB, RAF and IRBM personnel, vandalise the house of MLA Alo Libang in Yingkiong, and prevent Deputy CM Chowna Mein, Cabinet Ministers Ojing Tasing and Nyato Dukam, and Advisor Ninong Ering from attending the CM’s meeting with government officials and community representatives. 

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Liberal commentators, journalists, and insular intellectuals from various fields often claim that there is a fundamental difference between Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi, the two BJP Prime Ministers of India. It would be disingenuous to claim that there are no differences between the two individuals. In biological terms, cloning through the duplication of a genotype (genetic code) is possible, but environmental differences can still produce variations in phenotype, including physical traits and lifespan.

By Dr. P.K. Gupta*  When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to a historic majority in May 2014, ending a decade of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), it was widely heralded as a definitive verdict on corruption and policy paralysis. Yet, to view the 2014 election merely as a referendum on governance is to miss the profound tectonic shift that had occurred beneath India’s democratic surface. The road to 2014 was not paved solely by administrative failures; it was constructed through a revolutionary alchemy of 24/7 media spectacles, moral crusades, and the weaponization of religious identity. It marked the moment when Indian politics transitioned from the slow machinery of coalition management to the high-voltage arena of emotional persuasion.

By A Representative   The Press Club of India (PCI) has issued a scathing statement condemning the Delhi Police for the "arbitrary detention, harassment and seizure of equipment" of journalists covering protests in the capital on Saturday. The protests, which saw a massive police crackdown, were demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan  If the Achhe Din promised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government have not arrived in your life, you may at least find one encouraging development: a growing number of Indians are seeking news beyond the familiar television studios that once dominated public debate.

By A Representative   The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has condemned the police crackdown on protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging mass detentions, assaults on demonstrators and restrictions on internet and public transport services in Delhi and several other states. In a statement, PUCL demanded the immediate release of those still detained, withdrawal of FIRs against peaceful protesters and a time-bound judicial inquiry into the alleged police excesses. The demonstrations on October 10 and 11 were organised by student groups, Left parties and other organisations demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and withdrawal of the SIR exercise. “Citizens asking questions about the integrity of the voters’ list were met not with answers, but with lathis, police vans and detention camps,” the organisation said. The statement was issued by PUCL president Kavita Srivastava and national genera...

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The recent democratic upheaval in India has laid bare the widening gap between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) developmental promises and the ground realities. From the "Shining India" narrative of the early 2000s to the "Viksit Bharat" (Developed India) vision, the political discourse increasingly clashed with rising unemployment, economic inequality, and social polarization. The mass protests that recently swept the nation were not merely a rejection of specific policies, but a profound repudiation of the prevailing political narrative, exposing the hollowness of a governance model that prioritized optics over substantive welfare.

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan  There is growing talk of political change in India. With the next Lok Sabha election due in 2029, many people already believe that the present government could eventually be replaced. But there is a more important question that Muslims need to ask: if the government changes, will the condition of Indian Muslims change too?

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The policies of the Modi government, shaped by the Hindutva ideology of the RSS and its engagement with right-wing politics and crony capitalist projects, have created conditions that enable figures like Elon Musk to comment on Indian affairs by calling Mukesh Ambani the unelected Prime Minister of India.