By  Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Thiru K Veeramani is the ideological disciple of EVR Periyar and one of the senior most leaders of the Dravidian movement at the moment. He started working under his mentor EVR Periyar at the age of 10 years when he delivered his first speech in Salem. Veeramani is President of Dravidar Kazhagam and editor of Modern Rationalist, a monthly journal devoted to Periyar’s ideas. That apart, he is editor of many other magazines and journals in Tamil. This interview was conducted by Vidya Bhushan Rawat at the Periyar Thidal on November 1st, 2019. These are some of the excerpts and the entire interview can be viewed at the youtube link being provided at the end of the article. Dravidian movement internationally Thiru Veeramani said that “It is high time that Periyar must be globalised now. He said that it was easier in relation to Dr Ambedkar since he has written in English and almost all the western audience read him through his work. But the southern part of India

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Mr K. Veeramani, is perhaps the senior most of the leaders of revolutionary Periyar E.V. Ramasamy’s Dravidian movement. He was groomed by Periyar since childhood. Born on December 2nd, 1933, he was inducted in the Dravidian movement under the leadership of EVR Periyar since childhood and began addressing public meetings at the age of 10. He stood with Periyar throughout his life and dedicated himself completely for the cause of the oppressed and the marginalized. As a person dedicated to Periyar’s ideology, Dr Veeramani resisted the very idea of joining politics or getting political patronage and that is why the Dravidian movement has succeeded in Tamilnadu as it is his organizations like Dravida Kazgham which compelled political parties to follow the ideals of Periyar and bring them in law. He is the leader of Dravidar Kazhagam, the movement started by Periyar and succeeded Annai E.V.R. Maniammaiar (1920-1978), who had succeeded Periyar in 1973. Dr. K. Veeraman

By Rajiv Shah A senior chartered accountant, whom I have known intimately (I am not naming him, as I don’t have his permission), has forwarded me an Indian Express (IE) story (July 18), “Ashwini Vaishnaw: The man in the chair”, which, he says, “contradicts” the blog (July 17), "Will Vaishnaw, close to Modi since Vajpayee days, ever be turnaround man for Railways?" I had written a day earlier and forwarded it to many of my friends.

Gordhan Zadaphia By Rajiv Shah While alerts were coming in over the last few days about a series of articles on how phones of “journalists, ministers, activists” may have been used to spy on them with the help of an Israeli project, Pegasus, finally, when I got up on Monday morning, I saw a Times of India story quoting (imagine!, we never used to do this, did just a followup in case we missed a story) the Wire, a top news portal on this providing some details, along with government reaction.

By Rajiv Shah Finally, at least one expert, top historian Ramachandra Guha, has spoken out on eviction of 200 families living in the Gandhi Ashram premises. Last week, I received an email alert from a veteran academic, Ashoke Chatterjee, former director, National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, which happens to be one of the most prestigious academic institutes of India based, informing me about it. NID is one of the several top institutes founded when Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s Prime Minister.

By Rajiv Shah Ever since Ashwini Vaishnaw was appointed as railway minister, I was curious to know who he was and how did he come closer to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and, most important, when. Hence, I decided to talk with some Sachivalaya officials in Gujarat in order to find out if there was, if any, Gujarat (or Modi) connection.

Jharkhand's Adivasi women  By Rajiv Shah A lot is being written on Father Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest who is known more for his work for tribal rights in Jharkhand. His death at the age of 84, even when he was an under trial prisoner for his alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence three years go, has, not without reason, evoked sharp reaction, not just in India but across the world.

Home minister Amit Shah, health minister Harsh Vardhan By Rajiv Shah Don’t India’s top ministries – of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and of Home Affairs (MoHA) – tally data before releasing them? It would seem so… A few days back, I did a story in Counterview , based on an MoHA report, stating that Gujarat has the lowest sex rate at birth (SRB) at 901 girls as against 1000 births, followed by Assam (903), Madhya Pradesh (905) and Jammu & Kashmir (909), raising valid apprehensions that widescale female foeticide may be prevalent in India’s “model” State.

Sudarshan Iyengar, Ramchandra Guha By Rajiv Shah Rehabilitating about 200 families, mostly Dalits, living in the Gandhi Ashram premises by offering them Rs 60 lakh in order to implement a Rs 1,200 crore project called Gandhi Ashram Memorial and Precinct Development Project reportedly to bring the Ashram into its "original shape" as Gandhi established appears to me strange, to say the least.

Activists at Vasant-Rajab memorial on July 1 By Rajiv Shah Celebrated as Communal Harmony Day in Ahmedabad, July 1, 2021 is remembered for the sacrifice of two friends, Vasant Rao Hegishte and Rajab Ali Lakhani, laid down their lives for the cause of communal harmony on the July 1, 1946 in the city. A memorial stands in their memory in Khandni Sheri, Jamalpur, Ahmedabad.

By Mohan Guruswamy* The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the Muslim equivalent of the VHP, has opposed the celebration of the International Yoga day on June 21. It has been so for a few years now. It is utterly misguided, unfortunate and silly. The Board describes Yoga as a religious symbol. It is not. It is just a school of balance focused exercises - pure and simple. Like Tai Chi. They specifically cite the Surya Namaskar as offensive when it is nothing but a common sequence of asanas. Most Hindus revere the Sun as it is the giver of life and sustenance. Because of this some of Hindus set aside a portion of their daily worship for making salutations to the Sun by prostrations. This method of adoration affords them so much muscular activity that it takes to some extent the place of physical exercise. Muslims can practice these very same asanas without worshipping the Sun. But before they reject the Sun salutation they will do well to reacall Allama Iqbal who wrote: "

Some time back, a human rights defender, Vidya Bhushan Rawat, who frequently writes for Counterview, forwarded to me a video interview with Guru Prabhakar Dhakade, calling him one of India's well known violinists.  Dhakade is based in Nagpur and has devoted his life for the Hindustani classical music. A number of his disciples have now been part of Hindi cinema world in Mumbai, says Rawat. He has performed live in various parts of the country as well as abroad. What however attracted me was Dhakade's assertions in video about Dr BR Ambedkar, India's undisputed Dalit icon. Recorded several years back at his residence and music school in Nagpur, Dhakade not only speaks candidly about issues he faced, but that he is a believer in Dr Ambedkar's philosophy. It is in this context that Dhakade narrates his problems, even as stating that he is determined to achieve his goal. A violinist and a follower of Ambedkar? This was new to me. Rarely do musicians are found to take a

By Rajiv Shah KP Sasi, a well-known Left-wing film director and cartoonist from Thrissur, Kerala, currently based in Bengaluru, has come up with a 12-point charter on what he calls Socialism of a Third Kind. Sent in an email alert via Dalit Media Watch, Sasi, who is son of late K Damodaran, a Marxist theoretician and writer and one of the founder leaders of the Communist Party in India, provides his perspective of the types of equal status he thinks socialism should have. Though interesting, one didn’t find in any of his 12 points what exactly his view on economy is – whether there could be economic equality, especially at a time when even Marxists agree private capital is a must for development in view of the fact that the productive forces are not ripe enough to change relations of production, supposed to be a precondition of socialism. Be that as it may, the 12 point charter by Sasi was interesting, coming as it does from a person who has made powerful documentaries like "A V

Stone carved from Pindwara, Rajasthan, for US temple By Rajiv Shah A senior trade union activist based Ahmedabad, Ashim Roy, whom I have known, forwarded an explosive article published in the New York Times , titled “Hindu Sect Is Accused of Using Forced Labor to Build N.J. Temple”, claiming he has been behind the support to the workers who have charged the temple authorities in New Jersey of exploitation.

A person getting vaccinated at Urban Health Centre, Vejalpur By Rajiv Shah Amidst news of vaccine shortage, on one hand, and “rush” and “scramble” for it at several spots to get vaccinated in Ahmedabad, I was reminded of what happened with me while getting by second Covid-19 vaccine jab. I got my first vaccine at the local Urban Health Centre (UHC) in Vejalpur village, Ahmedabad, on March 5 after getting myself registered online on the website Government of India has especially created for those seeking to do it.

By Chandra Vikash* With the election results in five states on May 2, and more than a hundred million Indians who have petitioned online with hashtag #ResignModi together with the resound drubbing by the global media projecting him as a narcissist and a disaster, it is a bygone conclusion that Modi should resign or will be forced out by the people very soon. In such an event, do we have a replacement for him in place? After Modi who? I don’t see anyone from the existing power circle – as coming forward or finding support with people given the widespread anger and resentment. It will therefore have to be a dark horse who can rise up to the challenge to bring together India’s diversity and differences, conflicts and contradictions and transform them into new synergies and opportunities to rise up and to save the country from sinking further into despair and disillusionment. In such a scenario, fully aware of our deep and complex challenges at this critical juncture of a dire health and

By Rajiv Shah Two days back, a veteran journalist based in Patna, previously with the Times of India, Ahmedabad, phoned me up to inform me that he had a sad news: Swarnakanta Varma, a retired Gujarat cadre IAS bureaucrat, who was acting chief secretary on the dastardly Godhra train burning day, February 27, 2002, which triggered one of the worst ever communal riots in Gujarat, has passed away due to Covid. “I have been informed about this from a friend in Jaipur, where she breathed her last”, Law Kumar Mishra said.

By Rajiv Shah The other day I was talking with Alexander K Luke, a Gujarat cadre IAS bureaucrat of the 1975 batch, who resigned from the service in 2006 following two negative confidential reports (CR) despite having dramatically turned around one of the top state public sector undertakings (PSUs), Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals (GSFC), which was a sick unit till he took it over in 2003.

Well-known human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi has forwarded a WhatsApp message, wondering, “they” can browbeat Twitter, Facebook, intimidate independent journalists, but can they really control the media world over? Reproducing the editorial of the French daily “Le Monde”, she says, “The Australian newspaper showed their thumb to the High Commission's “stupid” attempt at threatening them and asking for retraction and publication of rejoinder, which was turned down politely.” This is what "Le Monde" editorial "Covid-19: Narendra Modi's India shaken" says: *** Every day, 350,000 new infections and more than 2,000 deaths are recorded in the country. A situation due to the unpredictability of the virus but also to the lack of anticipation, arrogance and demagogy of the Indian Prime Minister. Presented as the "pharmacy of the world", the country exported and offered millions of doses of vaccine, ensuring that it produced enough for its populati

Peony Hirwani reports in "The Independent" that India’s rich and famous are fleeing the country on private jets as airfares soar amid Covid crisis, adding, VIPs have reportedly spent more than £100,000 chartering nine-hour private jet flights to London, amid a rush for regular tickets out of crisis-hit country.

Veteran economist Amit Bhaduri, who gave up his status as professor emeritus of the Jawaharlal University (JNU) in protest against “throttling” of dissent in JNU in January 2020, has in an email alert released a letter, purportedly written by “former and present employees of Times Now” which talks “beleaguered and disillusioned employees” of the top English news channel, run by the Times of India group.

By Mohan Guruswamy* Kumbh Melas are held every 12 years. The actual due date for the ‘current’ Kumbh Mela at Haridwar was 2022, not 2021. Because the last Haridwar Kumbh Mela had been held in 2010. So how did it get advanced by one whole lethal year? Let me tell you the reason. It was ‘advanced’ by a year, to 2021, because the ‘astrological configurations’ of the ‘Sun entering Aries’ and ‘Jupiter entering Aquarius’ were available for 2021 this time. This happens once every 83 years, and it happens because of the need to reconcile astrological configuration charts to calendrical years. The calculative arcana of this ‘adjustment’ is beyond my capacity. I suggest none of you try it if you don’t want to give yourselves a headache. So, not only did the Government of India, and the Government of Uttarakhand NOT cancel the Kumbh Mela, which they could easily have done, so as not to endanger the lives of millions of people by causing a super-spreader event for Covid 19; they also need not have

An email alert received by me from a 2020 batch alum of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Indore has forwarded a mail received by this person regarding "concerns of the current students towards the top business institute's Indore branch's authorities' alleged "disregard" towards the management of the Covid-19-related situation on-campus.

AK Vijay Kumar By Rajiv Shah Many say, marriages are made in heaven. However, as a confirmed non-believer, I don’t seem to think that way. But if one were to believe that marriages are indeed made in heaven, would the guests who are invited in some of the high-profile weddings also decide the destiny of the newly weds? I don’t know. Yet, the fact is, the competition to invite guests at such weddings is something I noticed after I came to Ahmedabad in 1993 to join as assistant editor of the Times of India.

Neeraj Nanda By Rajiv Shah In continuation of my previous blog , my friend in Melbourne, Neeraj Nanda, on reading it, tried to see if a Gujarat government site of the General Administration Department (GAD), which I opened sitting in Ahmedabad, is opening in Australia, too. Ironically, this site introduces itself as “Towards Smart Governance: Department’s main objectives lay strong foundations for citizens and fulfill their expectations and gain trust by finding measures through effective and responsive administration”.

Roshan Shah By Rajiv Shah Recently, I got a message from an NRI friend settled in Canada, Roshan Shah. Himself a software engineer, he told me that several Gujarat government sites do not appear to be “accessible outside India.” He particularly cited the main state government site , referring to an IT tool , wondering, “When PM has touted Vibrant Gujarat for years, how would any investors trust a government which can't even get its main site, policies etc, accessible to outsiders?”

Last year, e-journal “Visual Capitalist” ranked about 36 countries on how they were doing insofar as providing pension to their population is concerned. The ranking suggested that India is the fifth worst country in providing pension to its aging population. Titled "Ranked: The best and worst pension plans, by country", and authored by Carmen Ang, other countries that rank worse than India are Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey and Argentina. The Netherlands ranks the best, followed by Denmark, Australia, Finland and Sweden.

A Facebook page, titled “Silk and Steel”, has revealed something astonishing: How a Nazi anthropologist went as far away as Tibet in order to find traces of Aryan civilisation! Introducing itself as “a podcast about China and Silk Road, history, culture and current events” with the web address https://www.patreon.com/silknsteel , this is what it says: *** Nazi anthropologist Bruno Berger on 1938-39 Nazi expedition to Tibet sponsored by Heinrich Himmler, measuring Tibetan skulls to find trace of ancient Aryans... They’re trying to verify Nazi theory that a group of pure blood Aryans had settled in Tibet. They believed that Tibetan aristocracy still retained ancient Aryan bloodline. Later Berger tried to get access to skulls of executed Soviet Jewish commissars on the Eastern Front but failed due to logistics. So he participated in selecting 100 Jewish prisoners of Auschwitz to be killed for Jewish skeleton collection. He was convicted in 1971 for being an accomplice in the murder of

A twitter handle, calling itself Indian Rwanda Radio, @IND_RwandaRadio, which claims to record evidence and examples of Indian professional media organizations allegedly engaged in what it calls "genocidal Rwanda Radio script”, has, in a series of tweets , pointed towards how nearly a year ago Muslims were sought to be blamed for spreading coronavirus. The tweets, shared on the social media, seek to expose prominent media houses for this, even as giving screenshots from electronic media which tried to send a communal message by blaming Tablighi Jamaat.

By Rajiv Shah Mamata Banerjee is “injured”. The two main political opponents of Mamata, the Congress-Left combine, on one hand, and the BJP, on the other, challenging what so far seemed to be her indisputable rule in the poll-bound West Bengal, are stating that it was an “accident” and Mamata was trying to use it as to gain sympathy. On the other hand, as already reported, the Trinamool Congress, which she heads, says, she was “pushed” by four to five persons and was the result of “security lapse.”

Last table: Top 10 excluding US and China Visual Capitalist , in its latest survey in order to “visualize” the richest people in the world, has suggested that India’s billionnaire Mukesh Ambani is the 11th richest person the world with an accumulated wealth of $90.9 billion, failing to make in the top ten. Even singling out two countries China and India, to identify their richest persons, the commentary refuses to comment on Ambani's wealth.

By Rajiv Shah Recently, I received an email from from a person who introduced himself as Ronny Krier, claiming to be an American cultural researcher. He said, he visits Counterview in a regular basis to read news about India, and thinks, “It's a great platform to break the information filter bubbles and hear different voice.” Then Kreir, who is on Twitter and Facebook , and calls himself “independent investigator, religion-politics researcher,” refers to a friend whom he does not name to point out how the Tibetan government in exile is failing to take care of refugees.

Quoting a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) report , “Amnesty Move To Strip Navalny Of 'Prisoner Of Conscience' Status Sparks Outcry”, a Moscow-based journalist, Fred Weir, whom I peripherally during my Moscow days (1986-93), has brought into the light problems in which such top human rights organisations like Amnesty International, find themselves in while defending what they called “prisoners of conscience.

By Rajiv Shah Are journalists being misunderstood even by well-meaning people? I was to kickstart by quoting an article published in theprint.in titled “ED (Enforcement Directorate) says NewsClick used Rs 30 cr ‘mystery remittances’ to ‘pay Navlakha, CPM IT cell member’.” This article has invited a wild comment from a person who is known to be editing a well-known left-leaning blog. An old time friend since my college days in Delhi University, referring to this article, said on his Facebook timeline: “An absolutely unethical hatchet job by The Print against NewsClick that descends to unprecedented lows in ass-licking. But am I surprised? Yes, at those who still thought Shekhar Gupta is a journalist with integrity. This is him in his true colours. #StandbyNewsClick.”

There appears to be no end to South Asians settling abroad taking with them their casteist, anti-Dalit mindset – a fact brought to light by Deepak Joshi , a Facebook friend who lives in Melbourne, Australia. Joshi has shared on his Facebook timeline an article published in the ABC Radio National site titled “They've left South Asia, but they can't escape the discrimination and division of its caste system” authored by Karishma Luthria. It is actually a first person blog.

By Rajiv Shah Pointing out that it is hard to fathom why state governments in India go back on their word and tearing up contracts awarded by them, “Mint”, in an opinion piece , has given the example of how Gujarat has “reneged” one of its own deals. “In one fell swoop”, the daily says, “Gujarat’s power procurement agency cancelled tenders for 700 MW of solar power generation given to a clutch of energy producers, citing lower tariff bids in a subsequent auction.”

By Rajiv Shah The “nationalist” Koo fever appears to have caught up with some Union ministers, BJP politicians, some right-wing actors, media and professionals. I too decided to try it out by downloading what is tom-tommed as a Twitter alternative on my mobile phone, thinking, perhaps it would give a little insight into right-wing news stories, which interest me.

Releasing a fresh video on the plight of two individuals belonging to highly neglected communities of Indo-Gangetic plains, Vidya Bhushan Rawat , a human rights defender, describes the plight of the family of Banarasi Mushahar, who was found dead on a road side about 200 meters from his house in the morning of May 24, 2020, and of his injured friend Rampreet Nat, lying unconscious across the road.

Abanindranath Tagore's Bharat Mata Well-known historian DN Jha , who has been an eyesore for Hindutva protagonists, passed away recently. In a revelation which he made in 2016 years ago, he claimed the concept Bharat Mata did not exist even in 1857, which has gone down in the history as the country’s first struggle for Independence. 

Distributed by the Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre (PMARC), a Dalit media group, an article published in “Asia Samachar”, titled “Indian fascism and current farmers’ movement” says that though the discussion about Indian fascism is not new, the current farmers movement centred on the borders of the national capital Delhi, and the government's heavy handed response, has “raised the sense of concern and urgency amongst many observers.”

By Rajiv Shah I was talking with a long-time friend of mine, Neeraj Nanda, editor, “South Asia Times”, which is brought out from Melbourne. He informed me, on February 7 he had gone to cover a pro-farmers’ rally in the town, where there was “massive” gathering (from current Australian standards, as coronovirus has just been “overcome”). The police was there to protect the protesters, he told me!Peaceful, the rally saw someone shouting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.” The cops called him, queried him, and then he was asked to go, and he went away. “I asked the cops what did they ask him. And they replied that the person was from the opposite side, and that such disruption is not allowed. We we called him, and asked he to move out, which is what he did”, Nanda told me. While Nanda said the Indian diaspora is “vertically divided” on the farmers’ protest in India, and that a candle light march was also planned on the same day evening, where he did not go, this is what he reported in “South Asia Tim

An investigation by the e-journal “Forward” has revealed that there are hundreds of statues and monuments in the United States and around the world to people who abetted or took part in the murder of Jews and others during the Holocaust. “How many monuments honor fascists, Nazis and murderers of Jews? You’ll be shocked”, says the author of the writeup Lev Golinkin.

This was surprising: A nightclub in Mexico in the name of MN Roy, an early 20th century Indian revolutionary, whose thoughts are claimed to be have influenced Lenin, Einstein, Gramsci and Sun-Yat Sen! A Communist who turned a radical humanist, whatever that means, during the later period of his life, Roy founded the Mexican Communist Party and participated as one of the top representatives in the Communist International.

In conversation with human rights defender Vidya Bhushan Rawat , former United Nations diplomat Bruce H Moore, who has served as boards of several NGOs and institutes, including Transparency International Canada, Institute for Global Food Security at the McGill University, Canadians for Tax Fairness, Forum for Democratic Global Governance and the Huairou Commission (an international alliance of grassroots women’s organizations), speaks about growing inequality and food crisis in the post-Covid world.

Amidst Government of India seeking to retaliate Chinese aggression of Ladakh by banning mobile apps in order to create an anti-China sentiment among people, an official Chinese site has claimed that not only India’s “radical” scholars are misleading India on its northern neighbour, "Chinese products took 18.3 percent of India's total imports from April to September 2020, up from 14.6 percent in the same period in 2019..."

By Rajiv Shah Was Marx influenced by his Jewish background? It would seem so, if one believes Shlomo Avineri’s book Karl Marx: Philosophy and Revolution . Praised for his “sympathetic and thoughtful interpretation of Karl Marx's view of religion”, Avineri says in his book, "Merely criticizing religion, without trying to identify the concrete social conditions that give rise to it, is to Marx shadow boxing, and unlike many other radicals, he finds it a waste of time.”

Human rights defender Vidya Bhushan Rawat talks to Pankaj Singh, a veteran land rights activist based in Champaran, Bihar. One who was arrested for raising the issues of the backward Mushahar community's land rights, he remained in jail for several months till the Patna High Court granted him bail. 

By Rajiv Shah The Nidhi Razdan episode, which I learned from the blog she wrote on the NDTV site, has created a flutter among journalists, whether in New Delhi or in Ahmedabad. I talked with half-a-dozen senior journalists, three of whom said they knew her personally and were "surprised" how and why she was a victim of what she claimed to be a phishing attack, which led her to believe that she had been enrolled in as associate professor to reach journalism at the Harvard Extension School in US.