Counterview

By Sandeep Pandey, Ayush Bajpai, Bemisal Hasani  The Allahabad High Court's bench comprising Justices Siddharth and Vinai K. Dwivedi has ruled that "politicians bear a special duty to their constituents and that failure to secure stay of conviction may lead to loss of an opportunity to contest an election." It also said, "Keeping in view the right to livelihood of a common man which is not less important than the right to contest election by a politician, conviction and sentence of appellant deserves to be stayed…" The convict Nandlal Rai has been sentenced to life term for the murder of Pramod Kumar Nigam, an activist who worked for the rights of street vendors, in Sigra area of Varanasi in 2017. In his petition for bail and stay on his conviction Nandlal Rai had stated that he wished to contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election either as a ruling party candidate or an independent. He was lucky to get relief from the Court. The co-convict...

By A Representative   In a profound tribute, the human rights network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), has said a main contribution of pioneering social activist, educationist, and Barefoot College founder Sanjit ‘Bunker’ Roy was to  question the very foundations of ‘mainstream development’ thinking. Roy  passed away on November 10, 2026, at the age of 81 in  Tilonia, Rajasthan.

By Bharat Dogra  With the passing of Bunker Roy, rural India has lost a great presence of original thinking and beautiful creativity. He breathed his last on November 10. He was 81. Over six decades he made immense and durable contributions to rural development, institution building and protection of the environment. He leaves behind his wife Aruna Roy, an equally great development and social activist, and a very large family of members and well-wishers of the Barefoot College and numerous other institutions he helped create or inspired. Both Bunker Roy and the Barefoot College have been highly regarded nationally and internationally for their original thinking and beautiful creativity. He received the Padma Shri, the Jamnalal Bajaj Award, the Tytler Prize of Environment Protection, the Blue Planet Award and other honours.

Counterview News   A sweeping new global report has laid bare how India’s digital landscape has become a toxic breeding ground where male supremacism converges with Hindu nationalist ideologies , fueling severe, algorithmically amplified violence against women—particularly those from minority communities. 

By Dr. Bhimi Daimari   Every morning, as the mist lifts over the emerald hills of Assam, thousands of women bend over tea bushes, their fingers moving in a blur to pluck the "two leaves and a bud." They produce more than half of India’s tea, a beverage savored in drawing rooms across the globe. Yet, in the cramped, damp labor lines where these women return at dusk, a quiet tragedy continues to unfold. 

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Sonia Gandhi's memoir is out, and the publisher is making a fortune. It will soon be a bestseller in India. Loyalists, journalists and opponents are all buying it, and many commentators now have material for a year's worth of podcasts. They will either chant its contents as gospel truth or dismiss them as lies; there is no middle ground in today's discourse. Liberals will assume everything she wrote is correct without examining the other side, while Sangh supporters are determined to exploit its contradictions and a few inaccuracies in dates and years.

By Shankar Sharma*  As we celebrate Deepavali,  the festival of lights,  it is imperative to shed light on a burning issue in our national energy landscape: the phenomenon of peak demand pushing power purchase costs to unsustainable levels.  Indeed, the phenomenon of escalating peak demand and the associated surge in power purchase costs has become a critical national issue, demanding the active involvement of policymakers and stakeholders alike. 

By Bharat Dogra   The people of the global south waited with eager expectation and hope that their climate efforts would get a massive boost when the climate finance promised by rich countries finally materialized. Recently, wealthy nations announced they had crossed the long-promised annual contribution of $100 billion in 2024. But as the ongoing COP31 international climate conference unfolds in Turkey, we must ask a uncomfortable question: Can we truly say that the cause of climate justice has been well served?

By Harsh Thakor*  Johnny Walker introduced a new model of the comedian, one who symbolised the ruthless realities of post-Independence urbanisation, migration, and the commodification of human life. He was one of the most defining actors of the 1950s and 1960s, with a considerable fan following. A simple man of great character, he was known for his clean comedy. On 11 November, we celebrated the centenary of his birth. Born in 1926, he passed away on 29 July 2003. His memories have left an indelible mark through his films and songs.

By Shawan Jabarin   On 13 October 2023, Al-Haq was among the first to warn states to intervene to stop Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The continuum of decades of dehumanisation of Palestinians, a population subjected to refugeehood, denial of return, killings, torture, property appropriations, and pillage – fragmented and subjugated by Israel’s violent settler-colonial apartheid regime – has resulted in an ongoing Nakba, an ongoing colonial erasure, and escalating destruction of the Palestinian people.