Counterview

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The BRICS summit hosted by India brought together leaders from Russia, China, South Africa, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Indonesia and other countries. Yet one notable absence stood out: Brazil and its President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil, after all, is one of the founding members of BRICS, and Lula has been among the grouping's most prominent political voices.

By Busani Ngcaweni   The enlargement of BRICS presents Africa with a wider field of economic possibilities by bringing the continent into closer relationship with some of the world's largest markets, important sources of development finance and countries possessing substantial capabilities in manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and advanced technologies. At a time when international economic relations are becoming increasingly fragmented, this wider range of relationships gives African countries greater room for manoeuvre.

By Bharat Dogra   The BRICS New Delhi Declaration, released on 12 September 2026, deserves far wider attention than it has yet received. At nearly 17,800 words, it is an unusually expansive consensus document—one that not only reflects two decades of BRICS evolution but also articulates a broad, justice‑centred vision for global governance at a moment of profound international distress. In an era marked by wars, sanctions, widening inequalities, and geopolitical fragmentation, the Declaration’s emphasis on peace, equity, and multilateral reform is both timely and necessary.

By Nava Thakuria  The 18th BRICS Leaders' Summit, hosted by India at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on 12-13 September 2026, has concluded with leaders formally adopting the New Delhi Declaration. The gathering, themed "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," drew Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other leaders of the now 11-member bloc, along with heads of partner organisations such as ASEAN, the African Union and the Eurasian Economic Union. Diplomats had worked through the final hours to bridge differences — notably between Iran and the UAE over West Asian tensions — before the declaration was signed.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  In a recent interview on Firing Line with Margaret Hoover , broadcast on 4 September 2026, Salman Rushdie drew a parallel between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). It is a comparison so historically hollow and ideologically jarring that one wonders whether it was a careless slip or a calculated provocation. 

By Bharat Dogra   Due to its data cut-off date, the latest edition of the Global Peace Index (2026) has been able to capture only very partially the impact of the Iran war and its related aggressions and risks. Even so, this index, prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace, presents clear evidence that the world is becoming an increasingly dangerous place, with conflicts and wars on the rise. The report states clearly that geopolitical risks now exceed the levels seen during the Cold War.

Dr. Ponnada Srinivas*  The recent Nepal flash floods that killed thousands of pilgrims near the China-India-Bhutan border is not an isolated tragedy. The involvement of Isha Foundation and Jaggi Vasudev drew attention this time, but the 2013 Chardham floods that washed away 6,000 pilgrims—mostly Telugu-speaking—caused equally devastating pain. That most northbound pilgrims originate from South India, particularly Andhra and Tamil Nadu, raises uncomfortable questions about the economic and cultural dynamics at play.

By A Representative   A call for unity among OBC, SC, ST and minority communities to defend constitutional rights took centre stage in Ahmedabad, as scholar and social activist Dr. Laxman Yadav’s two books, “Professor Ki Diary” and “Jati Vasti Ganana,” were launched at a public dialogue on democracy and social justice. Speaking at the event, Yadav urged marginalised communities to overcome divisions, build a collective voice and organise around issues of rights, representation and social justice.

By Tings Chak  The television series Asking the Vast Earth (问苍茫, 2023) opens with a scene of a young Mao Zedong swimming in the Xiang River, swollen from the heavy rains. A fisherman calls from the bank to the lone swimmer: ‘You fool, you’re asking to die! The river is raging after the storm—there are boats, why are you swimming?’ Mao laughs and calls back: ‘Never mind how fierce the water is. Once you understand its temper, you can handle it. Just like you with your fishing—where the fishing is easy, there are no fish. Where the swimming is easy, there is no joy.’

Counterview News  A citizens’ audit of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Y Block, Mangolpuri, has challenged the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s defence of deletions from the draft electoral roll, alleging that in four of six cited cases the official explanation rests on “an unrecorded, unnamed ‘local inquiry’ or oral statement” rather than documented evidence. The detailed response follows a four-hour public hearing on 5 September 2026 before a citizens’ jury chaired by Justice (Retd.) Madan B. Lokur, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Insolvency is a financial condition that triggers legal processes for discharging debts that cannot be repaid. Yet the application of these laws reveals significant disparities in how different classes of debtors are treated. From the collapse of Lehman Brothers during the 2008 financial crisis to recent personal insolvency proceedings in India involving the reduction of a Rs 22,006-crore debt to Rs 6.5 crore, the global record suggests that insolvency frameworks often produce unequal outcomes depending on the debtor's resources and connections.

By Ram Puniyani*  As the three-nation tour of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has come to an end, various analysts have offered their assessments. Some have praised Bhagwat, arguing that he has broadened the idea of Hindutva by incorporating diversity into it. But can Hindutva, in any meaningful sense, be broadened to accommodate the rich religious diversity of our country?

By Rajiv Shah   I was a little surprised to see how some of those whom I respect for taking a firm stand on patriarchal issues reacted to the manner in which they responded to the recent incident in Paris, in which women employees of the Eiffel Tower were asked to remain "invisible" on September 5 when 100 BAPS sadhus visited one of the world's top tourist destinations.

By Dr. P.K. Gupta*  Hinduism and Hindutva are not interchangeable. Hinduism is a plural religious civilisation, while Hindutva is a modern political ideology that seeks to consolidate this diversity into a uniform national identity. The ascent of this once-marginal current from the fringes of Indian politics to the commanding heights of state power represents one of the most consequential ideological transformations of the republic. In acquiring legitimacy, organisational reach and mass appeal, Hindutva has also attempted to claim the authority to define Sanatan Dharma itself.

By A Representative   In a wide-ranging interview, veteran secular activist and writer Ram Puniyani has offered a stark assessment of India's political trajectory, warning that the country's pluralistic fabric is being systematically eroded by a well-orchestrated Hindutva project that seeks to reshape Indian society along Brahminical lines. Speaking to journalist A K Shiburaj , Puniyani, who has spent decades working for communal harmony, described the nature of communalism in India as having worsened dramatically over the past two decades, particularly since the BJP came to power about twelve years ago. 

By Thomas Kell*  As a researcher whose primary work examines the application of international law to geopolitical disputes in South Asia, I have also developed a particular interest in Tibet and the Tibetan government-in-exile. Recently, I read the statement issued by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on the 66th Tibetan Democracy Day, and it prompted me to want to engage with the Tibetan exile community on a topic I've thought about for some time: the structural shortcomings of the Tibetan democratic system, viewed from a legal perspective.

By Prof. Suresh Deman*   Mao Tse Tung’s death on 9 September 1976 closed an extraordinary chapter in modern Chinese history, but it did not resolve the profound structural questions he left behind. Mao led the generation that achieved the Chinese Revolution, directed a second charged with state construction, and during the Cultural Revolution appealed directly to China’s youth to contest entrenched authority and safeguard revolutionary purpose. While the Cultural Revolution remains deeply controversial and historically destructive, Mao’s legacy endures through his engagement with a central dilemma: who controls the vanguard party once it acquires sovereign power?  

By Harsh Thakor*  September 9, 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of Mao Zedong 's death On September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong, chairman of the Communist Party of China and the central figure of the Chinese Revolution , died in Beijing at age 82. His death closed a 27-year period in which he dominated China's politics, economy, and culture, and it left a legacy that historians, the Chinese state, and ordinary citizens continue to interpret in sharply different ways.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  An old mosque has been demolished by the Saharanpur administration under the pretext of a court order that was about to be challenged in a higher court. It is extremely shocking to see how the administration has turned highly biased and quick to invoke the "rule of law" when the alleged violation or crime is committed by Muslims. It keeps a blind eye when lumpen elements from the Hindu community take the law into their own hands, violate it, and rubbish it.

Counterview News   A people-led audit of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Mangolpuri’s Y-Block has brought renewed scrutiny to the accuracy of Delhi’s draft electoral rolls, with citizen volunteers and civil-society groups reporting cases in which voters allegedly found themselves wrongly classified as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate, or missing altogether from the draft list.