Counterview

By A Representative The rape and murder of eight-year-old nomadic girl, Asifa Bano of Hiranagar town in Kathua district, mid-January is blowing into a full-blown political controversy engulfing BJP, a partner in the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) government, following a Hindu Ekta Manch (HEK) rally last week seeking the release of a special police officer (SPO) arrested for the gruesome act.

By Rajiv Shah A Government of India (GoI) report, likely to create a major flutter among sociologists, women's rights activists and feminists, as also those claiming to be Dalit and tribal rights activists, has said that a whopping 24.6% scheduled caste (SC) women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence during the 12 months preceding a survey carried out to ascertain empowerment issues they face.

By A Representative At a time when the Government of India (GoI) has claimed that 99.4% of the country's villages have been electrified, but the GoI's powerful thinktank electrification, Niti Aayog, has pointed out that there are 304 million people who still lack access to electricity in its draft National Energy Policy (NEP), released in mid-2017, top US business interests have begun to see it as an opportunity.

By Moin Qazi* India has been home to a variety of arts and crafts which have won it a coveted place in the cultural heritage of the world. Khadi was the symbol of the freedom struggle and handloom weaving was one of the core elements of Gandhi’s philosophy of self-reliance. After independence, handloom industry was seen both as an employment provider in large parts of rural India and a vehicle to protect cultural heritage. It is really tragic that the handloom sector is going through a painful phase. What was once an abiding symbol of India’s glorious cultural legacy has left many of its tradition bearers in a state of penury. It is time for the government, businesses and entrepreneurs to infuse new economic oxygen before these traditions become extinct. Ironically, the most authentic connoisseurs of Indian arts and o crafts are foreigners who are genuinely interested in patronizing them so that they withstand the onslaught of the changing state of affairs. While the origin o...

By A Representative In a surprise note, the Janhit Peoples' Legal Resource Centre in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, which seeks to provide legal aid to peoples' movements, village committees, NGOs, and trade unions, has qualified the 2013 Land Acquisition Act (LAA) as providing only "notional protection", insisting that for people the only benefit it provides is the "right to register objections..."

By  A  Representative The powerful US daily "Washington Post" (WP) has sharply criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him "popular and thick-skinned", even as pointing towards how he has "effectively cut off the mainstream media, forgoing news conferences to communicate directly with his vast electorate through Twitter, where he has 40 million followers."

By Rajiv Shah A Government of India (GoI) report, released recently, has found that, despite much hype around girl child education through Kanya Kalavani Mahotsav – the annual school enrolment event launched by Narendra Modi as chief minister in Gujarat way back 2004 – the “model” state’s rural girls fare worse among all 21 major Indian states in schooling.

By  A  Representative Gujarat's new minority rights organization, Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), which proposes to hand over a list of eight demands signed by over one lakh individuals, mainly Muslims, on February 14, to chief minister Vijay Rupani, has said that it wants the state government to raise the "negligible" allocation made in the budget for them, which is just Rs 55 lakh.

By A Representative DiaNuke.org, a team of dedicated researchers and activists claiming to be a one-stop resource for nuclear information, analysis and discussions, has strongly protested against the proposed visit of officials of the US-based nuclear corporation Westinghouse to "resuscitate" the plan the Kovvada nuclear project planned on Andhra Pradesh coast, saying, the local communities see it as a threat to their environment, health, livelihood and traditional lifestyle.

By Adv Masood Peshimam* On the eve of festivals the police in Maharashtra, particularly in cities like Kalyan, make very effort to maintain communal harmony and social stability. No stone is left unturned to secure a peaceful environment. In meetings convened by the police plenty of opportunities are provided to create a better chemistry between Hindus and Muslims. The police on the eve of festivals is quite categorical in convincing the people that any communal trouble is not in the national interest. Police efforts to inspire the confidence of the people to celebrate festivals in a peaceful environment have drawn massive admiration. But no such efforts are needed on the eve of celebrating national festivals like 15th August or 26th January to restrain potential trouble shooters. Social fabric is never threatened on such occasions. However, what happened on 26th January at Kasganj in UP where the Muslims were celebrating the Republic Day was very sad. The tricolor was about to be unfu...