About Us

Seeking to provide news in 10-20 lines about emerging events, cutting back on what to many may seem be long, perhaps inconsequential ramblings, CounterView seeks to follow the new trend which wants to journalists to cut the fat – and keep stories to around 300 words, even less. Why? Just in order to satisfy those readers who may possibly get “turned off” by long stories.
This blog mainly reflects news in brief from sources which are broadly "subaltern", a term coined by eminent Italian anti-fascist politician, theoretician and neo-Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, who was in Mussolini’s jail from 1926 to 1935. The term “subaltern” has ever since come to mean “history told from below”, seeking to focus on populations which are socially, politically, and geographically, outside of the hegemonic power structure. 
Recognizing that news of subaltern sections is a neglected feature of the media today, CounterView
aiming to fill this gap in a small little way. This way it differes from the so-called mainstream news, which reflects the established power structures.
Not supported by any organization, CounterView is a voluntary initiative, inspired by top litterateur George Orwell, who said, "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations."
Kindly enrich the effort by contacting us.
Our email id: counterview.in@gmail.com
Edited by RAJIV SHAH
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India's polluted stretches along rivers rise from 302 to 351 in two years

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The number of critically polluted stretches of the country's rivers has increased to 351 from 302 two years ago, and the number of critically polluted stretches has gone up to 45 from 34, according to a recent assessment, released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The report analyses the water quality data under national water quality monitoring programme for the years 2016 and 2017. Scrutinizing the situation statistically. the report seeks to identify monitoring locations for water quality, identifying their polluted levels.
The polluted locations in a continuous sequence are defined as polluted river stretches and categorised in five priority classes based on BOD concentration exceeding to BOD levels >30 mg/l, BOD between 20&30 mg/l, BOD between 10&20mg/l, BOD between 6-10 mg/l and BOD between 3& 6 mg/l.
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MCC to begin state-wide Gandhinagar Chalo campaign, to hold public meeting on Minority Rights day, Dec 18

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The Minority Coordination Committee (MCC), a Gujarat-based civil rights organization, has decided to begin a public campaign under the slogan "Gandhinagar Chalo" in all the districts of the state with its eight-point demands. MCC, which held a state-level meeting, decided to hold a public meeting on December 18, 2018, the International Minority Rights Day to press its demands.
Pointing out that the aim of the campaign is to bring about awareness through district-level conferences, addressing media, MCC convenor Mujahid Nafees said, the demands include setting up a Minority Welfare Ministry, allocation of special fund in the budget for minority community development, establishing a state minority commission by passing a law, open government schools up to class 12 in minority areas,recognition of Madarsa degrees equivalent to Gujarat Board, special economic package for the upliftment of minorities, a government policy for the rehabilitation of people displaced due to commun…
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Big dams lead to "tremendous losses" to environment and livelihood: Activists, exprerts

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Participating in a dialogue in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, environmentalists and activists said that presented said that big dams lead to "tremendous losses" to the environment and livelihood of the people. The dialogue was organized by Narmada Bachao Andolan, Matu Jan Sangathan and Bargi Bandh Visthapit Sangh.
Social activist Medha Patkar presented several case studies to outline how undemocratically and unscientifically dams are being pushed forward without credible studies over environment, social and economic repercussions. Not even one third of irrigation targets have been achieved by the Sardar Sarovar Dam and the electricity generation is shut for a year. About 21,000 km of canals are yet to be completed, dry Kutch has also been left halfway from the benefits of this water, she added.
Vimal Bhai from Uttarakhand blamed the dams on Ganga-Bhagirathi in the Himalayan region for the 2013 floods. GO Jose from Kerala raised the same issue in the context of Kerala and demanded a…
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Fasting for 101 days to clean up Ganga, Swami Sanand to stop drinking water on October 9

Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand, earlier GD Agrawal, professor of civil engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has entered 101th day of his hunger strike at Matri Sadan, Haridwar, for cleaning up Ganga. Among those who met him included Cabinet minister Uma Bharti, asking him to give up the fast. Another Cabinet minister Nitin Gadkari has written a letter with a similar plea.
While the swami has declared he would stop drinking water starting October 9, the BJP government, which has spent over Rs 7,000 crore, has not only failed to clean up Ganga, the river has become even dirtier, said Sanjay Singh, Rajya Sabha MP and social activist and academic Sandeep Pandey in a joint statement.
On the other hand, the government has come up with projects that would further pollute the river. One of them is to connect by highway four religious spots, Gangotri, Janmotri, Haridwar and Rishikesh. It would only help the corrupt contractors, who are associated with the ruling party, the …
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Mahul pipeline affected residents to gherao MLAs, seek implementation of HC order

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In a major victory for the Bhar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan (GBGBA), the Bombay High Court recently asked the Maharashtra government to either relocate or compensate the the Tansa Pipeline Affected Persons in Mahul. The compensation, HC said, should be enough so as to enable them to rent a house in Mumbai.
In its order dated August 8, 2018, uploaded a couple of days ago, the Bombay HC asked the government to decide on one of the two options latest by October 1. "We have not heard of any decision from the government till date. Residents of Mahul feel agitated by this callous attitude of the government even when the HC has approved of their grief", GBGBA says.
It adds in a statement, "Aggrieved residents of Mahul have decided to do the gherao of the MLAs of the areas where they were previously residing. As the residents of Mahul are still listed as the voters of their previous areas, they think that their MLAs -- especially who are part of the party in power -- are duty b…
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Girish Patel was an ardent supporter of Narmada dam-affected people: NBA

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The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has described the demise of advocate Girish Patel on October 6, 2018 morning a great loss to all people's struggles and causes of democratic and human rights. Calling him a legal luminary and social activist, who remained committed to all causes of human and Constitutional rights as well as civil liberties, NBA, in a statement signed, among others, by Medha Patkar, says, "He was an ardent supported of the movement by the Narmada dam-affected in Gujarat, taking a courageous and confident position."
NBA particularly recalls that Girish Patel's book "Kona bhoge, Kona mate", saying, it raised "all the issues related to the Sardar Sarovar dam which have proved to be correct even today". It adds, "He was active in various ways against atrocities against dalits, adivasis and influenced hundreds and thousands of social activists to sensitise intellectuals, including lawyers and law students, who he continued to educa…
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Three months after they were "illegally" detained, two of three UP forest rights activists released

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After spending three months in jail, Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond, tribal human rights activists of Sonabhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, have been released on bail. These two, along with woman tribal rights leader were allegedly "illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006), says the All India Union of Forest Workers (AIUFWP).
Citizens for Justice and Peace(CJP), which has been supporting the AIUFWP, adds, "Now, we await the bail hearing for Sukalo Gond, who we expect will be released next week. This development comes after Sukalo and Kismatiya were produced before the Allahabad High Court on September 7, following a Habeas Corpus petition filed by CJP, where the Court had allowed both women to seek ‘judicial remedy’.
Roma, who serves as General Secretary of the AIUFWP, said, “We are very happy at this development. Even for a small thin…
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Sagar Rabari resigns as secretary, Khedut Samaj, Gujarat; says he wants to remain strictly apolitical

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Sagar Rabari, well-known farmers’ leader who, as secretary of the Khedut Samaj, Gujarat (KSG), is known to have fought and won many a battle for the farmers, has resigned from his post. In an open letter, posted on his Facebook timeline, Rabari said, he decided to work as secretary of the KSG because it was a purely non-political organization, wedded to farmers’ rights. “I decided that I would not join any political party, in order to ascertain that people’s interests are taken up without taking into account this or that political party interests”, he said.
Pointing out that he had sent across his resignation to the KSG leadership on August 27, telling them to appoint a new secretary in his place, Rabari said, “I had expected that in the executive meeting of the KSG, a decision on this would be taken on this. But there has not been any meeting, nor have they accepted my resignation, hence I decided to make public my decision to quit as KSG secretary.”
Claiming that under his leaders…
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Murder of Amreli Dalit youth: Action sought to arrest 3 accused, who are at large

In a letter to Nirlip Roy, Superintendent of Police, district Amreli, Dalit rights leader Kantilal Parmar has sought urgent action for arresting the accused who are involved in the murder of a schedule caste (SC) community youth Mahesh Ratilal Zala on October 1, 2018. Pointing out that three persons belonging to a dominant caste killed Zala, Parmar said in the letter, "Till today there are none of the three accused have been arrested. All three have run away from their residence."
The letter added, "As a consequence of this incident, the family members of the scheduled caste community are living under fear. I request to you to look into this personally and intervene in this case to deliver justice to the schedule caste community family, which has lost its son. The arrest of the three accused alone would help reduce the atmosphere of fear in which the family members of Zala are being forced to live."
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Odisha civil society condemns custodial "torture" of forest rights activist

Several civil rights groups and activists have come together to condemn "illegal detention and custodial torture" of Dadhi Kadraka, forest rights activist of the Niyamgiri Surakshya Samiti (NSS), by the Rayagada Police, Odisha. They have also condemned the threat being issued to Lingaraj Azad by the Superintendent of Police of Kalahandi District in order to force him not to organize any meeting and protest in the locality and suppress him to postpone the proposed rally against police brutality for October 23 at the district headquarters.
In a joint civil society statement, they have described such incidents as attack on democratic rights of people as well as state-sponsored attack on dissent, and in the interesst of corporate giant Vedanta. "On October 6, the police picked up Kadraka from his village without any warrant and severely tortured him for four days and left him in a nearby police station on October 10. He is incapable to walk", the statement said.
Those…
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