Counterview

By Harsh Thakor  On March 20, we commemorated the 20th anniversary of one of the blackest moments in history. The War of Iraq by the United States is an event that will be inscribed in black letters forever. Hundreds of millions of people in every part of the world revolted to the bloodbath of a merciless military power shattering a small and defenceless country. The invasion of Iraq was an imperialist war in the classic sense of the term: a barbaric act of aggression that manifested the interests of the most reactionary and predatory sections of the financial and corporate oligarchy in the United States. Its immediate purpose was s the establishment of monopoly over Iraq’s vast oil resources and converting that long-oppressed country to an American colonial protectorate. Not since the 1930s—when the fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini were at the height of their power and madness—was the world faced with such International level of barbarism. . The goal of the American mili...

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  For the past couple of days, electronic and print mainstream media in the country, have been highlighting the public ‘promise’ made by the Archbishop of Tellicherry. During a protest rally of some Catholic rubber farmers he offered to help the BJP open an account in Kerala in the next election, provided the price of rubber is increased to Rs 300 per kilogram.

Kirity Roy, Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), writes to the Chairman, National Human Rights Commission: *** I want to attract your attention towards the illegitimate restrictions on the life and livelihood of the villagers of Paschim Sahebganj village under Dinhata - II Block and Sahebganj police station in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal by the Border Security Force personnel attached with Dharala Border Out Post under 138 Battalion BSF. The population of Paschim Sahebganj village is around 1480, where almost 75 percent of the villagers belong from Hindu Scheduled Caste (Dalit) and 25 percent from minority Muslim backgrounds.The main occupation of the villagers is agriculture. About 260 acres of cultivable land in the village that belongs to the villagers is located outside the border fencing, which is heavily guarded by the Border Security Force (BSF). The BSF regulates the ingress and egress of the villagers to their fields through the fencing gates that a...

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  The South Asian sub-region consisting of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal has, no doubt, immense potential for economic growth and significant untapped economic potential for intra-regional trade. What has been titled Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN), a quadrilateral sub-regional initiative, was endorsed way back in 1997 to strengthen the region’s pursuit of trade and economic integration, still has a long way to go.

By Harasankar Adhikari  The term "democracy" is derived from two Greek words: "demos ‘(or people) and ‘kratos’ (rule). So, in simple terms, democracy is the rule of the people, by the people, and for the people. ‘It is a system of governance where power and civic responsibility are, ideally, exercised directly by all citizens.' But unfortunately, the practice tells a different story because the "people" typically exercise their power indirectly through elected representatives. There, modern democracy "is a system of governance in which rulers are held accountable for their actions in the public realm by citizens, acting indirectly through the competition and cooperation of the elected representatives." The key characteristic of democracy is ‘the responsiveness of government to the preferences of its citizens," (who are, in theory, "political equals" of the rulers). In this responsiveness, ‘citizens have opportunities to formulate ...

By Harasankar Adhikari  Recently, UNESCO showed interest in the West Bengal education system, and the Institute for Lifelong Learning of the United Nations Agency expressed its willingness to join the State’s education system because the government is reportedly taking several initiatives for strengthening the education system. But has this agency collected the information on the ground reality of this state’s education system and its very recent data?

By A Representative  Taking strong exception to Union Minister Giriraj Singh’s recent statement in the Lok Sabha, statement that the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) had not received any complaints related to the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) digital attendance app, top advocacy network NREGA Sangharsh Morcha has claimed, it relentlessly drew the Ministry’s attention to the chaos that has been unleashed by the NMMS app and the Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS), both of which are now compulsory for NREGA wage payments.

By Bharat Dogra  As though the havoc created by GM crops was not adequate, several experimental efforts relating to genetically modified or engineered animals are bringing a wide range of new risks and uncertainties. These include health hazards relating to transfer of diseases from genetically engineered animals to normal animals as well as to human beings. In addition there are the additional risks from consuming the food based on or obtained from genetically engineered animals. Then of course there are grave doubts regarding the scientific basis of the technology and to what extent it can actually succeed in achieving its aim regarding transfer of certain genetic traits, quite from the hazards involved in this, as well as the ethics of playing around with an uncertain technology regardless of serious harm that may be caused to the health and welfare of animals in the process. Some of the earlier efforts in this direction relating to pigs and sheep turned out to be quite disast...