Counterview

Counterview Desk Several human and civil rights lawyers of South Asian descent, expressing "grave concern" about alleged legal abuses and human rights atrocities in India, have said that “the crisis unfolding in India today is rooted in a long history of impunity and failed democratic institutions.”

Counterview Desk Following dismissal of the curative petitions filed by two convicts in the December 2012 case, feminists from across the country issued a statement to appeal to the President of India to stop the execution of all four persons convicted in the case. The signatories included organisations working on women and children’s rights as well as queer and trans rights, disability, environment and other people’s movements.

   By Rajiv Shah   India appears to be competing with terrorist-stricken north-central African nation, Chad, in the number of internet shutdowns. In 2019, says a recent report, released by the UK-based top10vpn.com, which provides services meant to protect online privacy, India experienced 4,196 hours of internet shutdown, next only to Chad, with 4,728 hours of internet shutdown.

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.

By Venkatesh Nayak* Soon after the then Union Finance Minister announced the Government’s plan to launch Electoral Bonds (EBs) as a method of making donations to political parties, in February 2017 I had critically analysed its implications . I had also pointed out that EBs will become the preferred method for making large-sized donations to political parties due to the anonymity that it affords to donors. The EB receipt data reported by some political parties, now available in the public domain, thanks to the disclosure of their Annual Audit Reports for 2018-19 on the website of the Election Commission of India, has proved my hypothesis. RTI interventions have also revealed that there were few takers for EBs of lower denominations like Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000. The EB receipts data shows the sharp plummeting of corporate donations made in a transparent manner as big donors seem to prefer the EBs route. My main findings from a quick comparative analysis of the proportion of EBs to total...

By Moin Qazi* Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead A highly welcome and discernible sign on the Indian development landscape is that many bright brains from the best of universities are foregoing high salaries to commit themselves to development issues such as alleviating poverty, improving education, and combating climate change. They believe it allows them to live their passion, embracing a career with meaning. Inspired by this trend and responding to his own inner calling, Tanveer Mirza decided to give up a secure career. He spent the better part of his life cruising along a well-paying corporate career when he decided to change track and switch gears. He decided to focus on empowering rural communities and mentoring young entrepreneurs among them. Mirza qualified in agricultural technology and management from G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology. Mirza is not a...

By Anand K Sahay* The architect of the Russian Revolution, its master strategist and grand thinker, Vladimir Lenin, whose genius brought about a cataclysmic shift for the better part of a century in the affairs of most parts of the world, once observed that life was more “cunning” than any theory or plan we may devise.

Deepika Padukone at JNU Counterview Desk Writing on the masked attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students on January 5, former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan has said in a blog on his LinkedIn timeline that there is no point in blaming leaders, because, after all, “it was the citizenry” that put them into office, and “acquiesced in their divisive manifesto, which they have taken as their marching orders.”

By Vimal Bhai* "Bring my son back". In a small room, Aalim's mother was crying. Next to her, Aalim's brother Salauddin said, "We want justice for everyone with whom something like this has happened." Municipal councilor Haji Noor Alam added, "The police was not giving the corpse back. We as well as the MLA had assured the police that we would bury the corpse in a small burial ground next to the house of a relative nearby. But they were reluctant."

By Rajendran Narayanan*, Sandeep Pandey** “Jab har saans mein bandook dikhe toh baccha kaise bekhauf rahe?” (How can a child be fearless when she sees a gun in every breath?) remarked Anwar, a gardener from Srinagar, when asked about the situation in Kashmir. On November 30, 2019, a walk through an iron gate in a quiet neighbourhood of Srinagar took us inside a public school. It was 11 am when typically every school is abuzz with activity. Not here though.