Counterview

Lakhan Musafir By Sagar Rabari*  Sarvodaya worker Lakhan Musafir has been served a notice by Rajpipla Sub-Divisional Magistrate barring his entry in five Gujarat districts (Narmada, Bharuch, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur and Tapi) for two years. Citing a police report, KD Bhagat, sub-divisional magistrate, Rajpipla in the notice states that:

By RK Misra* Estimates may deign to deceive but figures ferret out facts. In Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, the government’s cumulative public debt has shot up to an astronomical Rs 2,96,268 crore which is almost Rs 75,000 crore higher than the size of the state’s budget estimates of Rs 2,17,287 for 2020-21 placed in the State Assembly on February 26.

Counterview Desk The Delhi-based collective, Citizens Against Hate (CAH), in its new 206-page report, “Everyone has been Silenced: Police Excess Against anti-CAA protesters in Uttar Pradesh, and Post-Violence reprisal”, has alleged that the police are not been “disclosing, admitting to, or registering cases of deaths by police firing”, adding, this is happening despite “ground reports” by affected persons, civil society organisations, and the media. Prepared by a research team* under the guidance of well-known scholar Henri Tiphagne, among others, the report  says, based on on-the-spot inquiries in December-January in the nine districts where violence took place Bijnor, Firozabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Rampur, Sambhal and Varanasi, the report says that all that the UP Police has done is only to project “denials and contradictions in disclosing how many deaths have occurred due to police firing.” The result is, it adds, First Information Reports (FIRs) regist...

Counterview Desk The Press Club of India (PCI), in a statement signed by its president Anand K Sahay and general secretary Anant Bagaitkar, even as conceding that "intrepid" journalists "went out in the midst of violence, risking their life and limb" during Delhi riots the four-day in order to tell stories and offer visuals, has come down heavily on the media "friendly to the government" for failing to do "fuller" investigation and accepting police version.

Journalists protest against attacks on colleagues during Delhi riots By Nava Thakuria* Even as attacks on journalists continue unabated in South Asia and across the world, Pakistan has reported the murder of a journalist this year, whereas India has so far not reported any across the country. Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) indicates that nine journalists have been killed till date this year while on duty. Highest number of casualties are reported from Iraq (3) followed by Syria (2), Pakistan (1), Somalia (1), Nigeria (1) and Paraguay (1).

   By Rajiv Shah  A new “fact-finding” report, taking a line similar to that of Union home minister Amit Shah, who has  termed  Delhi riots “pre-planned” and “part of a conspiracy”, has admitted that “the police and law enforcement agencies were on a back-foot” during the riots which have claimed more than 50 lives, rendering hundreds injured and thousands homeless.

By  A  Representative Ten women's groups and more than 100 individuals* led by economist Devaki Jain, historian Uma Chakravarti and activist-writer Farah Naqvi in a statement issued in the wake of violence that gripped Delhi in the last week of February have regretted that, instead of holding the people who incited violence accountable, there is a rush to spin arbitrary conspiracy theories.

By  A  Representative There is good news on the Ambedkar House in London. While the permission to convert this house into a museum was refused by the local authorities, thanks to the Maharashtra government, which assisted a number people in London appeal against the decision, after a lengthy public inquiry, it has become possible to convince the authorities and the permission has been granted. Now the house has officially become Ambedkar Museum.

Jodha Malek, Mulu Malek By  A  Representative Jyotiraditya Scindia, on joining BJP, has reportedly invoked forgotten history -- the Scindia's forefathers had joined the British during the first was of Indian independence, 1857. Well-known social activist and researcher Nandini Oza has now revealed that the Scindias were not alone in their support to the British.

By  A  Representative Several concerned citizens have urged Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to urgently amend the compensation package announced for the riot victims, regretting that compensation amount of Rs'10 lakh announced by the Delhi government for the next of kin of those who died in the violence is grossly insufficient.