Counterview

By Salman Khurshid* The protests at Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia, not to mention the protests inspired by them across the country against the CAA-NRC-NPR, were a remarkable break from the past and a repudiation of stereo- types. Virtually leaderless masses of students and women took to the streets to register their presence and participation in Indian democracy.

By Rajiv Shah  As farmers’ agitation gripped the country on September 25, a retired IAS bureaucrat, whom I have known for nearly two decades, phoned me us to get a feel of what I felt would be its impact. I said, I don’t know, as it is too early to assess, but I wondered whether the fact that it shook the entire country would mean that tables have begun turning against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  This bureaucrat, who has been a keen watcher of the Indian political scene and has been in direct touch with those in the top positions of power, said, “Indeed, this is what many of the bureaucrats across India have begun to discuss... After all, we in the administration have always had access to know what the mood of the political masters is...” This bureaucrat, who has mostly served in Gujarat, suggested that the agricultural bills, passed in Parliament, show that Modi was ill-advised, or “to be more precise, there is nobody left around whom to whom he would listen.” The bureaucr...

By Vidya Bushan Rawat* The revolutionary ideals of Shaheed Bhagat Singh have become more than relevant in today's time. It is beyond the imaginations of many how a man who just lived 23 years of his life had so much of idealism. In his prime time, he spent his life in jails under difficult circumstances.

Counterview Desk Friends and family members of Sudha Bharadwaj, a top undertrial human rights activist who is in jail for her alleged involvement in the controversial Bhima-Koregaon case, have said that they are “disappointed” that the Supreme Court has not granted any relief to her on medical grounds.

By Rit Nanda* “The reason for the special distinction that we find in Bengal is that many great men were born there during the last century. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was the greatest among them all. He was not an ocean of learning alone; he was an ocean of compassion, of generosity, as well as of many other virtues. He was a Hindu and a Brahmin too. But to him a Brahmin, a Sudra Hindu and a Muslim were all alike”. – Mahatma Gandhi in ‘ Indian Opinion ’, 1905

By A Representative The Gujarat High Court has issued notice to the state government regarding alleged refusal to appoint Class-III lokrakshak unarmed police constables, armed police constables and jail sepais in pursuant of advertisement by the Lokrakshak Bharti Board dated August 15, 2018 taking into account the meritorious criterion.

Recently, there was some controversy (storm in a teacup?) around a photograph. A photo went viral on the social media following an unemployed youth demonstration in Lucknow, picked up by several Facebook and Twitter enthusiasts, including journalist Rohini Singh, who claimed in a tweet it was a clear case of sexual harassment of a female demonstrator at the hands of a UP cop.  I couldn’t find the tweet, which I believe she must have deleted following a UP police “ clarification ” that, “since the crowd was huge, it was difficult to distinguish between the genders on the basis of their attire”, hence, by mistake, “the female protestor was taken away by the police personnel, after mistaking her for a man.” It added, “Even the female protestor has acknowledged the misunderstanding caused over the attire.” A video simultaneously went viral where the female protestor is seen stating that she was indeed a protester near Gate No 1 of Lucknow University, but the cops mistook her “for a boy...

By Balwant Singh Mehta, Arjun Kumar* The novel coronavirus pandemic and recession has destroyed the jobs of millions of people across the world at staggering levels. Due to lockdown and social-distancing, many self-employed, casual workers and regular workers were unable to work, and many has to lose their jobs and source of livelihoods.

May 2017: Turkish President Erdoğan with Prime Minister Modi in Delhi By A Representative Even as India rejected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s comments that the Kashmir dispute is a “burning issue” for the stability of South Asia, saying they were tantamount to “gross interference” in the country’s internal affairs, a Washington, DC-based Kashmiri diaspora group has said that the Turkish leader’s statement for “multilateral dialogue” is “consistent” with the stance taken by “the President of the United Nations General Assembly.”

Well-known environmentalist and scholar Dr Vandana Shiva's  unpublished briefing paper “Protecting the Rights of Small Farmers (our anna datas), the Right to Food of All Citizens to Create a Food Sovereign, Food Self-Reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat)” analyses the potential impact of the dismantling of India’s food sovereignty and food security regulatory and legal infrastructure framework through three food and farming Bills, passed in Parliament.  Here is the paper, which was distributed by JanVikalp for general interest in the subject:  ***  Three Bills have been passed in Parliament which are being referred to as “Farm Bills”. However these are not about farming alone. They are food system Bills. They affect the entire food system. These laws will determine how we produce our food, how much do farmers get for what they grow, how much do people pay for food, how many people have livelihoods in the food system, and how we manage our soils, biodiversity and natur...