Counterview.In

By  Prof CK Raju*   Truth presupposes knowledge, which depends on the education system. During colonialism the church captured the education system worldwide. Church power comes from myths and superstitions. Through its capture of the education system, the church is able to instil those myths and superstitions in the minds of children worldwide. This enables it to indoctrinate impressionable young children for 15 to 20 years. People expected only religious propaganda from the church. But the unexpected trick was that the church captured our education system by using a false history of science, which it initially erected during the Crusades. For example, in India, Macaulay used this false history of science in his Minute. The colonised never expected that the church propaganda could use a false history of science, to teach them to worship false gods of science. (Most of the colonised still believe the 19th century story that science and the church are at war.) In some two centuries, nob

Reproduced below is an open letter to jailed former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt by his daughter and son Aakashi and Shantanu Sanjiv Bhatt. Bhatt is in Palanpur Jail after being awarded life imprisonment by a Jamnagar sessions court in 2019 for a custodial death way back in November 1990. Known to have said, Narendra Modi as chief minister directed Gujarat cops to allow Hindus to vent their anger, Bhatt was suspended in 2011 for allegedly remaining absent without permission and misuse of official vehicles, and thereafter sacked in August 2015. *** Dearest Dad, Today, as you complete 58 glorious years of your life, we wish we could hug you to never let go and smother you with wishes and love, while you celebrated your birthday surrounded by friends and family. There was a time, not too long ago, when each birthday was celebrated as a wonderful year gone by, and an open armed welcome to the new exciting year ahead; however, today as we stand here, staring into the abyss of the last 3 years,

By Dr David Leffler* President Vladimir Putin! You are amassing (soon perhaps) up to 175,000 Russian military personnel on Ukraine's border. Are you afraid that Ukraine and Georgia will become NATO members, threatening Russia's sovereignty? The presence of these Russian troops is triggering a response within the international community that could easily become volatile. Tensions are also simultaneously rising between the US and other countries such as China, North Korea and Iran. These hotspots could quickly escalate into global catastrophe. The Russian people have long been leaders in great military achievements and scientific innovation; now is the time for Russia to utilize the latest, most advanced military brain-based technology to defuse these dangerous rising tensions. We bring to the attention of your people a field-tested, scientifically-verified means to not only alleviate Russia's fears, and protect Russian soil and its people, but, mostly importantly, to replace

By Katarzyna Rybarczyk*   In the words of May Hobbs, ‘one person’s slum is another person’s community.’ This phrase finds itsreflection in the case study of Tarlabaşı, often referred to as Istanbul’s oldest slum. What in minds of many is a no-go area, has become home for thousands of new arrivals in Turkey who hoped for a better life but instead became victims of social exclusion. Historically, Tarlabaşı was a place where minorities, such as Armenians, Jews, and Greeks, fleeing political instability and dire economic conditions would find shelter. Since the 19th century, Tarlabaşı has been a residential area for the low-income class where predominantly non-Muslims live. Today it is one of Istanbul’s most impoverished areas, a ghetto integrated into the urban landscape of the city. The contrast between Tarlabaşı and the neighbourhoods adjacent to it is striking. Tarlabaşı is just a few minutes away from Taksim square, the heart of Istanbul, and Istiklal Avenue boasting some of the city

In a conversation with human rights defender Vidya Bbushan Rawat, which took place about three years ago at his Delhi residence, “Indian Express” journalist Joseph Maliakan talks about the massive anti-Sikh pogrom which place in the aftermath of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31. He also speaks about the caste bias in our media and how the media ignored the real facts and how the SC-ST officers faced the punishment instead of the real criminals.

Udham Singh (26 December 1899 – 31 July 1940), best known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer , the former lieutenant governor of the Punjab in India , on 13 March 1940, done in revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919, for which O'Dwyer was responsible, was subsequently tried and convicted of murder and hanged in July 1940. While in custody, he used the name Ram Mohammad Singh Azad, which represents the three major religions of India and his anti-colonial sentiment. Writes a well-known analyst, "He too could have apologised. He chose the noose instead!" Udham Singh's speech prior to sentencing in UK: *** “I say down with British Imperialism. You say India do not have peace. We have only slavery Generations of so called civilisation has brought us everything filthy and degenerating. known to the human race. All you have to do is read your own history. If you have any human decency about you, you should die with shame. The brutality and blood

In major shift, International Energy Agency (IEA)’s World Energy Outlook has mainstreamed 1.5°C pathway, showing need to end oil, gas, and coal expansion, insisting on new fossil fuel phase-out benchmarks in order to test government ambition ahead of COP26. A report by Oil Change International, distributed by BankTrack: *** For the first time, the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s flagship annual report on global energy pathways, used worldwide to influence trillions of dollars in investment, details an achievable roadmap to keep global heating below 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C). By making a 1.5°C scenario the benchmark of this year’s World Energy Outlook (WEO), the IEA challenges governments and companies to back up lagging Paris pledges with immediate action to shift the energy system away from fossil fuels. Notably, this year’s WEO solidifies the policy conclusion, first presented by the IEA in May , that no new oil, gas, and coal extraction projects should be approved under a 1.5°C-

By Venkatesh Nayak*  Readers may recall my despatch from two years ago about my efforts to seek access to the papers handed over by General Sir Roy Bucher to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (popularly known as Teen Murti Library) containing details of the operations launched by Indian Defence Forces in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) soon after the erstwhile princely State acceded to India on 26-27 October 1947. Both the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) and the First Appellate Authority (FAA) had refused to disclose those papers under The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) claiming that the Union Ministry of External Affair s (MEA) had prohibited disclosure to researchers. 18 months after the matter was escalated to the Central Information Commission (CIC) by way of a second appeal, the CIC has now favoured the disclosure of the Sir Roy Bucher papers on J&K, in the national interest, directing NMML to obtain the necessary permissions from MEA. The Background Rea

Renowned Gandhian, activist and physicist Professor VK Tripathi witnessed an “intensely worrisome” event at the Gandhi Samadhi on his birthday on October 2, 2021. “The children of the Hindutva criminals who assassinated him have captured places which are supposed to keep Gandhiji's heritage alive”, says Deepak Joshi in a Faceook post, insisting, “We should strongly protest against it. It is already too late.”

By Venkatesh Nayak*  Readers may recall reading my despatch from earlier this month about the data discrepancy in the implementation of the scheme of ex gratia payment of INR 500 (i.e., US$ 20 where every US$ 1 = INR 74.69 as on 26th March, 2020) per month to more than 20 crore (200 million) women under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) COVID-19 relief package. On 28th August, 2021, the Union Finance Ministry had claimed that a sum of INR 30,945 crores (or INR 309.45 Billion = US$ 4.143 Billion) had been deposited in the no-frills Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) bank accounts of women belonging to weaker sections and low income groups of society as part of this ex gratia payment scheme over a three-month period in April, May and June, 2020. I had pointed to the numerous discrepancies in the implementation statistics voluntarily disclosed by the Union Finance Ministry on the one hand and on the other, the district-wise data which the Union Ministry of Rural Deve

Soheil Arabi The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), in a suprise move, has decided to observe September 30 as the Blasphemy Day. In an email alert, Maryam Namazie, CEMB spokesperson, has asked anyone interested to join CEMB in celebrating blasphemy by " uploading your photo into our #blasphemyday frame and sharing on social media."

By Martin Macwan*  It was sometimes may be 10 years ago or more that I received a mail from Kamala Bhasin, asking me if I could be a guest speaker for a day to a workshop organized by her organization Sangat for women from different walks of life from south Asian countries to speak on the subject of Caste. It was my first personal meeting with her though I knew her from reading her book, “Sparshbhed” along with some of her poems including ‘Ulti sulti mitto’. At Dalit Shakti Kendra and Navsarjan, we used Kamala’s books as more than a training material. There have been other occasions later when I have been treated like a family member at more Sangat workshops. Kamala did join the Dalit Foundation Board for a brief period and I met her occasionally as member of the Jagori. But to know her, one had to meet her outside the narrow walls of the organizations. Her identity has been predominantly that of a feminist. Little has been known that she brought in the realities of caste within the na

By Jonathan Latham*   The contention of the book is that the key organising principle of Western thought is the seemingly innocuous and seemingly simple idea that our personal qualities are biologically inherited. That is, our character derives from our ancestors rather than being an always-adapting product of our own experiences, decisions, and education. The book makes the case, first, that genetic determinism is a scientific fallacy. Organisms are self-organised systems and therefore are not genetically determined. Second, the explanation for the myth, which predates Mesopotamian cities of 6,000 years ago, is its utility. Genetic determinism rationalises political systems based on genetic privilege. The result of the emergence of genetic determinism was the dismantling of ancient cultures based on inclusiveness, cohesion, and egalitarianism and their transformation into rigid structures of authoritarian domination based on separation and division: into families, classes, races, nati

As Modi addressed UN, human rights groups decried “monstrosity” of persecution of Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and other minorities in India. Demonstrators gathered outside UN to protest fascism, hate campaigns, weaponized rape, apartheid, lynchings, unlawful arrests, attacks on the media, and other abuses in India: A report distributed by the diaspora group Hindus for Human Rights: *** While observers said it was “shameful” that President Biden failed to publicly address widespread persecution of religious minorities in India when he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 24, more than 100 members of interfaith and human rights groups spoke out as Modi addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Speakers condemned the egregious human rights violations and murders of religious minorities in India under a government that openly supports Hindu supremacy. The rally was sponsored by 21 organizations, including Ambedkar International Center, Ambedkar King S