Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from March, 2021

IIM-Indore students anonymously compain: Authorities ignore their Covid concern

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. The email alert states, "I am writing this to you on behalf of students who do not wish to disclose their names fearing administrative action. I request you to respect their and my request for complete anonymity in this disclosure." While there are no means to verify what all has been said on behalf of IIM-Indore students, it is being reproducing it to being to light what seems to be the students' concern: *** This disclosure is with reference to the "The Ken"  article that highlights the abuse of administrative power in the midst of a covid-19 outbreak at IIM Indore. I am writing this to bri...

When Deoras wrote 'approvingly': Hedgewar saved him, others from Bhagat Singh's path

By Mohan Guruswamy*  The term 'gotra' has Rigvedic origins. It originally was used to denote cattle belonging to the same cowshed, and hence to a single owner. In course of time it evolved to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline.

Food habits, climate change: Indian politicians don't even refer to 'existential' threats

By Shankar Sharma*  Average westerner's eating habits lead to loss of four trees every year, and renewables plus batteries offer Australia the same energy security as coal, according to a recent research , which adds, our food habits thus are a major cause of climate change.

Stan Swamy, 84, has 'no history' of violence against others, bail rejection unbelievable

By A Representative  In an appeal for “immediate bail” to 84-year old social activist Stan Swamy, more than 2,500 signatories have regretted that they are “shocked by the rejection of a bail application filed by him in the Bhima Koregaon case by the special NIA (National Investigation Agency) court on March 22, 2021.” Swamy was arrested on October 8, 2020 and continues to languish in jail.

IIM-Indore students anonymously compain: Authorities ignore their Covid concern

  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. The email alert states, "I am writing this to you on behalf of students who do not wish to disclose their names fearing administrative action. I request you to respect their and my request for complete  anonymity in this disclosure." This is what the e-mail alert says: *** This disclosure is with reference to the "The Ken" article that highlights the abuse of administrative power in the midst of a covid-19 outbreak at IIM Indore. I am writing this to bring to light the present conditions and abuse of administrative power that is happening at IIM Indore in the midst of a Covid-19 outbreak on the c...

Gujarat coin campaign to end untouchability: Dalit rights NGO begins donations drive

By A Representative  As part of a unique campaign to melt all the brass utensils and articles collected from across India and mint a 1111 milligram diameter coin, on which the image of Dr BR Ambedkar's famous anti-untouchability Mahad satyagraha of 1927 will be engraved, Gujarat’s top Dalit rights organisation, Navsarjan Trust, has begun a major donations drive from people willing to take part in what has been called “no rallies, no sit-ins, no slogans and no call for Bharat bandh” programme.

India's draft migrants policy: Whither concern on job restrictions imposed by states?

By Anil Kumar*  India’s Niti Aayog has prepared a Draft Migration Policy. The draft policy acknowledges migration as an integral part of development, and it calls for positive government interventions that facilitate internal migration. With a rights-based solution to migration, the draft states that the policy should “enhance the agency and capability of the community and thereby remove aspects that come in the way of an individual’s own natural ability to thrive”.

Vanita Shinde: A village woman shows the light on creating a digital revolution

By Moin Qazi* Mhaswad village is a mere blip on India’s vast geographic radar but it shines brightly on the country’s development landscape. Women here are seeding a digital revolution that is enabling financial security and well-being for low-income women in remote villages Located in the rain shadow region of Satara district, Maharashtra’s sugar bowl, Mhaswad faces perennial drought and agrarian distress. However, a unique movement involving several thousand women has quietly made the development landscape greener. The movement began with the Mann Deshi Foundation in 1996 and was started by a trained economist Chetna Sinha who combined her intellect with her passion for rural uplift. She used local villages as crucibles for some of the most revolutionary experiments in social innovation and entrepreneurship. Run entirely for and by women, the Foundation has so far reached out to four lakh rural women. Mann Deshi’s field leaders have been able to uncover deep and varied nuances of pov...

Delhi manhole deaths: 'Inexperienced' Dalit workers were forced to enter in sewer line

By A Representative A team consisting of civil society network, Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) activists, who visited to the families of two sanitation workers who died while cleaning up a sewer on March 25, 2021 in Pearl Grand Banquet Hall in Gazipur, Delhi, has regretted that government agencies, owners of septic tanks and contractors "are openly violating the Manual Scavengers Act, 2013 and directions are given by Delhi High Court", one reason why "poor Dalit sanitation workers are being killed while cleaning sewer/septic tanks."

Violation of India's global obligation? 107 coal blocks 'offered' for commercial mining

Counterview Desk  In a letter emailed to Dr S Jaishankar, Minister for External Affairs, Government of India, well-known power and climate policy analyst Shankar Sharma has posed a question as to what stance would India take at the Climate Summit in US proposed by President Joe Biden in US next month, at a time when the Government of India has already announced its decision to offer “40 plus 67 coal blocks for commercial mining.”

Bihar's govt's legal armour for 'unbridled' powers to suppress dissent, rights activists

Counterview Desk  India’s top civil society network, National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements (NAPM), has demanded the Bihar government should immediately withdraw the “undemocratic” Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, calling it a draconian law, insisting it was “passed in a draconian manner.” It adds, the bill, passed on March 23, on the anniversary of martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, “effectively turns Bihar into a Police Raj.”

Law in my kitchen: Notion of privacy in the context of gender, body, desire, sexuality

By Simi Mehta, Anshula Mehta The law in India never uses the word ‘desire’. There is no law of desire or vocabulary present in the State that talks about desire. However, this “term can refer to a gamut of things including gender, politics, culture, history, sociology and all the subjects that go into making law what it is.” Desire acts as the bridge between the mind and the body.

'Little reason' to agonize over Ashoka Varsity, Pratap Bhanu Mehta's resignation

By Aviral Anand*  A certain section of the Indian intelligentsia is very perturbed at the recent events at Ashoka University. The alarm seems chiefly about the resignation of one of its star faculty, Pratap Bhanu Mehta. It is almost laughable this should have elicited the horror that it seems to have, given that Ashoka is a private university with a good number of businessperson-types among its founders. And the fact that PB Mehta has always been a sedate intellectual, his critiques quite mainstream and even good natured, most often.

'Anti-constitutional, high handed': NAPM on Gujarat farm leaders' arrest at press meet

By A Representative  Calling the recent arrest of several Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leaders on March 26, the day on which farmers across the country were observing Bharat Bandh, “anti-constitutional” and “high handed”, the Gujarat chapter of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), India’s top civil society network, has said that this was done “under instructions of the state government”.

Communal rhetoric? Hindutva preached by RSS-BJP is 'monolithic', not Hinduism

By Prem Verma*  I am a devout Hindu but not a believer of RSS Hindutva form of Hinduism which brings about hatred of other religions. My Hindu religion has not taught me to look down on other religions and neither has it instilled in me to go about converting others to my religion because my religion is superior.

Why apex court 'shouldn't entertain' Rizvi's petition to remove 26 verses from Quran

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed* Waseem Rizvi has stirred the hornet’s nest. In a recent PIL in the Supreme Court, he has demanded the removal of 26 verses from the holy Quran claiming that terrorists used these verses to "promote jihad". Waseem is going around throwing tantrums as earlier: He had written to the Prime Minister to close down all the madrasas since these breed terrorists. This was very badly viewed in the community. In 2017, Rizvi announced to offer the entire Ram Mandir area to the government.

Contribute to Earth Hour campaign to save environment from Light Pollution

By Dr Gurinder Kaur* Earth Hour is observed on March’s last Saturday every year in almost all countries of the world to make people aware about natural disasters due to climate change and their prevention. Earth Hour, an international event, is an hour long “light off” event. Excessive and non-essential use of outdoor artificial light, is affecting human health, wildlife behaviour and our ability to observe stars and other celestial objects. It is going to be celebrated on March 27th, 2021 this year between 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm local time for an hour by turning off non-essential lights in homes, businesses and government establishments. As many as 2.2 million people celebrated Earth Hour for the very first time in 2007 in Sydney, Australia on March 31 from 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm by turning off non-essential lights in their homes. The city of San Francisco in the United States of America also joined the Earth Hour campaign in October 2007 by turning off the non-essential lights for an hour. E...

New pregnancy law: Should women justify abortion? Whither reproductive rights?

By Simi Mehta, Nishi Verma* Abortion is a highly emotional issue and one that excites deeply held opinions. However, equitable access to safe abortion services is first and foremost a human right. On March 17, 2021, India’s Parliament passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Bill, 2021 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. 

Punjab meet on Bhagat Singh: 'Insufficient' presence of Dalit farm, industry workers

By Harsh Thakor*  On March 22 the youth of Punjab at a conference, staged by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Ugrahan  and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU) at the grain market in Sunam, tried to resurrect the spirit of Bhagat Singh and his comrades. It was staged in the hometown of martyr Udham Singh, whose name glimmers in the annals of India's anti-colonial history.

Findings from study of CIC’s Annual Report on implementing RTI Act (2019-20)

By Venkatesh Nayak*  The Annual Report of the Central Information Commission (CIC) for the year 2019-2020 is out in the public domain. Readers will recall, presenting such a report to Parliament about the action taken by public authorities every year, to implement this transparency law, is a mandate under Section 25 of The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). As always, the CIC has kept the public disclosure of its latest Annual Report, a quiet affair. We have undertaken a preliminary review of this Annual Report. A set of our preliminary findings is given below. Many of these findings are not immediately apparent to the reader of the narrative portion of the Annual Report which the CIC has kept very brief. These findings are based on a quick analysis of the detailed dataset contained in the Annexures to the Report and comparable data collated from previous Annual Reports of the CIC. This preliminary review covers the following areas: Trends relating to RTI requests in 201...

Do ladies dressed in ripped jeans rip apart eternal ‘Bhartiya’ culture?

By Shamsul Islam*  Tirath Singh Rawat who took over as chief minister of Uttarakhand on March 10, 2021 is a senior cadre of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He started RSS career by becoming the organizational secretary of the Uttarakhand unit of Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarti Parishad (ABVP: the student appendage of the RSS), later promoted as its national secretary.

Vigilante harassment of nuns in UP with police help: Modi, Shah asked to intervene

Counterview Desk  In a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lancy D Cunha, national president, All India Catholic Union (AICU), and spokesperson AICU John Dayal, have demanded action on a vigilante group and the police for reportedly harassing two nuns in train in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, insisting the government must “send strong warning against persecution of minorities”.

One year on, 'vulnerabilities' of migrant workers continue to persist in multiple ways

Counterview Desk  In a statement on the condition of India’s migrant workers one year after the COVID-19 lockdown, the Working Peoples Charter (WPC) network has regretted that “India does not have a central, formidable policy or law to safeguard its migrant workforce despite the horrors of last year”, pointing out, “One year on, the vulnerabilities of migrant workers continue to persist in multiple ways.”

India 'critically needs' prophetic courage of Romero, gunned down by Salvadoran rightists

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  Even a cursory glance at the realities which grip India today, will make one realise how grim the situation is. On every global parameter, from the happiness index to the freedom one; from democracy to economic indicators, the country has plummeted miserably and as never before. Untruth and injustice, divisiveness and discrimination, exploitation and exclusion have become the ‘new normal’!

Environmentalists warn contempt action: Gujarat lignite power plant 'pollution'

Rohit Prajapati, lignite plant in the backdrop  Counterview Desk  Gujarat’s senior environmentalists Rohit Prajapati and Krishnakant of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS) have warned of contempt proceedings for allegedly violating the Supreme Court order dated February 22, 2017, in the Writ Petition (Civil) No 375 of 2012, against the state public sector undertaking (PSU) Bhavnagar Lignite Thermal Power Station (BLTPS) “for non-compliance of the major conditions of the environment clearance”, even as going ahead with lignite mining.

State polls: How Tamil Nadu governance has steeply fallen from lofty levels of Kamaraj

By NS Venkataraman*  Those living in Tamil Nadu in the age group of 65 plus , who have seen the type of quality governance that Kamaraj provided as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, now constantly regret that Tamil Nadu governance has steeply fallen in the last six decades from the lofty level to which Kamaraj raised it.

Journalists barred from temple on account of their religion, Press Council protests

Board barring Muslims' entry (left) by temple mahant (right)  By A Representative  Two journalists from well-known news and current affairs portal “Millat Times”, which publishes everyday in Urdu, Hindi, and English, have been denied entry for coverage on account of their religion. Bringing this to light and taking strong exception to this, the Press Club of India (PCI) said, “This is singularly unfortunate”, and PCI “criticises the incident in the sharpest terms.”

Where are the ‘values’ in India's private varsities that the 2 professors talk about?

By Mansee Bal Bhargava*  The two inspiring thinkers left Ashoka University within two days, first Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta and followed by Professor Arvind Subramanian . Their resignations are based on the non-alignment of the values of the university in the recent time. Leaving a prestigious university based on the changing values of the university brings question in mind pertaining to, what/where are those ‘Values’ in the private universities in India that the two great Professors are talking about?

Poor conviction rate in child sex abuse: Top NGO to map targeted drive for 5000 cases

By A Representative  The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF) is all set to launch the Justice For Every Child campaign, in which it has decided to intervene in 5,000 “strategic” Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases in 100 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) at the district level, regretting that at 88.8% pendency as of today, if no new cases are added after 2019, “it will take 8.2 years to dispose of current POCSO cases in courts.”

Gathering 'storm' around Gujarat Dalit RTI activist's murder amidst official inertia

Jignesh Mevani paying homage to Amrabhai Boricha in Bhavnagar By Mahesh Trivedi*  Claiming to be harassed and humiliated by upper-caste men, Gujarat Dalits, forming about seven per cent of the state’s six crore plus population, appear all set to begin a fresh move to gird up their loins to take on the "oppression" they have been facing under the BJP rule.

Sabarmati riverfront's lake-like stagnant water 'ignores' Ahmedabad's climate, culture

Sabarmati's Stagnant water body  By Bernard Kohn*  The Sabarmati river is one of the major west-flowing rivers in India. It originates in the Aravalli Range of the Udaipur district of Rajasthan and meets the Gulf of Khambhat of Arabian Sea after travelling 371 km in a south-westerly direction across Rajasthan and Gujarat. Forty eight km of the river length is in Rajasthan, while 323 km is in Gujarat. The Sabarmati is a seasonal river whose flows are dominated by the monsoon, with little or no flow post monsoon.

How contractual sewer worker succumbed to his gruesome profession in Narela, Delhi

By Sanjeev Kumar*  Bijendra, aka Bobby, aged 47 lost his life doing a doleful job of cleaning the sewers at around 01:00p.m. in Pocket -3, Sector A-9 of Narela, Delhi on March 19, 2021. He had been in the profession for almost 10 years. He was the lone bread earner in his family and an only parent to his three minor daughters; after the death of his wife, approximately five years ago. Bijendra was accompanied by his colleague Vinod, alias Mota, to his daily work on 19th March, 2021. The work had been in progress for a couple of days under a private contractor named Manoj Sharma, who was given the contract by Delhi Development Authority (DDA). The workers had not been facilitated with any safety/protective equipment by their contractor. At the time of the incident, the two workers and the contractor were at the incident spot, who later was accompanied by the Action Officer Vinay Kumar from DDA. Vinod stated that they had opened two gutter lids, prior to opening the third one which l...

#BlackLivesMatter, anti-CAA stir, farmers’ protest: Lessons from global movements

By Simi Mehta, Anshula Mehta  There has been an exponential increase in protests around the world, and these have been hailed as the site for speaking truth to those in power. These global phenomena have a unifying symbolic representation. The question that persists is that do all these protest sites create the same impact on power? Do all these protest sites become harbingers to saving an ideal of democracy? Are their differences in perception, symbolism, the role of actors involved and the outcome? Should these movements be valorized and glamourized?

Gross 'injustice' to children: Rs 5000 cr cut in education budget; 15 lakh schools shut down

Counterview Desk  More than 100 dignitaries, including educationists, academia, social activists, teachers’ union, civil society organisations (CSOs), various networks and people working on child rights, in a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have sought reversal of reduction in allocation for education in the Union Budget 2021-22, even as demanding substantial increase in it.

Muslim boy denied water in temple part of 'culture' Dr Ambedkar fought in 1927

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  A lot has been said about the barbaric incident of a Muslim boy being beaten, scolded and denied water to drink at a temple complex near Ghaziabad. Many people expressed shock and sorrow and rightly expressed solidarity with the boy. Many said that their 'Hinduism' does not reflect this and that they are ashamed of the incident. Many apologised that their idea of India was not this where an innocent boy is denied the right to drink water.

New labour reforms: What safety net for workers in urban informal economy?

By Arup Mitra, Mayumi Murayama*  Considerable overlaps exist between rural and urban poverty through migration and employment in the informal economy. However, several of the low-income households have been residing in the urban space for a very long time and it would be misleading to interpret them as a fresh spill-over from the rural areas. In fact, the elasticity of urban poverty with respect to rural poverty is very low. In spite of the fact that parts of the informal economy share close links with the formal sector, residual activities conducted on a large scale within the informal economy cannot be overlooked. Further, many of these low- income workers reside in slums and squatter settlements. Rural transformation has not been accompanied by the growth of demand induced activities. So, the rapid population movement from the rural space occurs in relation to the large cities, if not all the urban areas. But an exclusionary urban policy is not the right method of reducing the c...

Another 5 years for Mamata despite 'little focus' on economy, development?

By NS Venkataraman*  I am not in politics. However, I am a close political observer for the last several years. I try to objectively analyse the movement of politics and politicians to the best of my ability, without having any prejudice or love or hate for any political outfit or political philosophy.

Conspiracy to defame an outstanding institution builder Dr RS Praveen Kumar

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Dr R S Praveen Kumar is one of the most outstanding minds of our country. If I were to speak about him, I can only say, he deserves to be in the Ministry for Education. No one in my memory in the last couple of decades has influenced the lives of children of the most marginalised communities as his dedicated work in Telangana. Today. His has revolutionised the life of the students from the marginalised sections. You will not find a matching effort anywhere in India where the government schools and Ambedkar hostels have been able to show you the strength of what a government can do if it has the right intent. Dr R S Praveen Kumar is currently Secretary, Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) which runs 268 educational institutions in the state. More than 500 students of these residential schools cracked JEE last year. The average result of the institution is much above the state’s average results in secondary and higher se...