Counterview

People in Rakhine state protest against Sino-Mayanmar pipeline By Nava Thakuria* As the world media continues focusing on Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, its giant neighbour China is not just maintaining aloofness. It is utilizing, full scale, two fuel pipelines, originating in the trouble-torn Arakan (also known as Rakhine), province of western Burma (former name of Myanmar).  The China-Myanmar gas and crude oil pipelines connect Kyaukphyu port of Rakhine – lately in news for the gory clashes between majority Buddhists and Rohingya Muslim settlers – with the Kunming city in south-western part of China. The pipelines are designed to shift crude oil from the Middle-East and Africa through Myanmar with the aim of feeding the world’s second-biggest oil consumer nation. Thanks to these pipelines, the Chinese authorities no longer need to depend on the troublesome cargo shipping through South China Sea (around 5,000 km sailing) for its crude oil imports for the China National Petroleum C...

By Rajiv Shah A top Government of India document has said that, in “model” Gujarat, the real wages of both male and female agricultural workers in 2016-17 were worse than most major Indian states. At Rs 223 per day, Gujarat’s male agricultural wages were lower than all but three of 15 major Indian states; and for females agricultural workers, Rs 202, they were worse than all but five of 15 major Indian states.

By Moin Qazi* Men and women should own the world as a mutual possession. ― Pearl S. Buck Structural barriers and discriminatory social norms continue to constrain women’s decision-making power and political participation in rural households and communities. Women and girls in rural areas lack equal access to productive resources and assets, public services, such as education and health care, and infrastructure, including water and sanitation, while much of their labour remains invisible and unpaid, even as their workloads become increasingly heavy due to the out-migration of men. Globally, with few exceptions, every gender and development indicator for which data are available reveals that rural women fare worse than rural men and urban women, and that they disproportionately experience poverty, exclusion and the effects of climate change. As the world observed International Day of Rural Women on 15th October, India has an envious record for empowering village women in a big way . Ev...

Jay Prakash Narayan By Rajiv Shah  The ninth edition of "Sarthak Jalso" , a unique Gujarati half-yearly journal edited by well-known writer Urvish Kothari, has brought to light how RSS cadres and the BJP's parent organization, Jan Sangh, behaved as ultra-nationalists during the Emergency days (1975-77), talked high of patriotism, but were equally quick in apologizing to the authorities about their opposition to what is considered as a dark spot of Indian democracy.

Moplah rebels Counterview News     Amidst an aggressive BJP and RSS in Kerala, especially state party chief Kummanam Rajasekharan, calling the famous farmers' Malabar rebellion of 1921, also known as Moplah rebellion, “the first jihadi massacre”, facts have come to light suggesting that a powerful Muslim family from Maharashtra which was helping the rebels was also funding the freedom struggle.

Alpesh Thakor, Jignesh Mevani, Hardik Patel By Rajiv Shah  As the Gujarat state assembly elections draw nearer, all eyes are set on whether the BJP, which won 47.9% of votes in the 2012 polls as against the Congress’ 38.9%, would be able to successfully keep intact this huge 9% gap in order to again resoundingly “win” a state for another five years, which is ruled by the party for the last more than two decades.

By Aleem Faizee* In yet another instance to show how the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) distort history to suit their communal agenda and to gain political mileage, the party’s Kerala unit chief Kummanam Rajasekharan called the Malabar Rebellion of 1921, also known as Moplah Rebellion, “the first jihadi massacre” in Kerala. As the BJP’s Jan Raksha Yatra entered Muslim-dominated Malappuram district last Monday, Kummanam Rajasekharan, said the Malabar rebellion of 1921 was the first jihadi massacre in Kerala. Rajasekharan, who lead the yatra as it entered Muslim-dominated Malappuram district, said that depicting unprovoked massacre of Hindus as part of the independence struggle is an insult to history as well as the majority community in the state. “If it were an agitation against British rule, why were thousands of people butchered and temples destroyed? It high time we stopped glorifying this massacre depicting it as freedom struggle. If anyone is giv...

Chief election commissioner AK Joti  By A Representative Senior Gujarat government officials are learnt to have been told by their counterparts in Delhi that, “in all likelihood”, the Election Commission of India (ECI) would announce state assembly polls on or after the auspicious Labh Pacham, October 25, which is the fifth day of the new Gujarati New Year.

Crowd in Petlad, Central Gujarat, on Rahul Gandhi's visit By Rajiv Shah Even as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi this week completed the second leg of his whirlwind visit to Gujarat ahead of the state assembly polls, to be held in December, all eyes are set on whether the party, which got 38.9% votes in the 2012 polls as against the BJP’s 47.9%, would be able win over the huge crowds Gujarat's Congress leaders had mobilized for him.

By Moin Qazi* According to an India Spend report, the number of Indians suffering from mental illness exceeds that of the population of South Africa. At present, the mentally ill account for nearly 6.5 percent of the country’s population and it is estimated that by 2020 this number will increase to a staggering 20 percent. Further, the World Health Organisation estimates that nearly 56 million Indians — or 4.5% of India’s population — suffer from depression . Another 38 million Indians –or 3% of India’s population -suffer from anxiety disorders. Many of these people live with both. . Many of these illnesses can be treated, but access to treatment is often difficult, and stigma continues to scare individuals away from seeking diagnosis and appropriate treatments even when they are available. As the world observed World Mental Health Day on 10th October, it is time India renews its efforts to improve the mental health services. The abysmal state of mental health care in the country is ...