About Us

CounterView seeks to reflect news 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”, focusing 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
aims to fill in this gap in some way. It differs from the so-called mainstream news, which reflects news from established power structures. 
Not supported by any organization, CounterView is a voluntary initiative. Most of the contributions to this site come from voluntary information sent to the site by grassroots activists from across India. Anyone willing to contribute is welcome to write to us.
Our email id: counterview.in@gmail.com
Edited by RAJIV SHAH
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Dalit youth tied to tree, beaten up till he became unconscious; time to protest: Jignesh Mevani

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Strongly objecting to what he called "police terror" in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's top Dalit rights leader Jignesh Mevani has said that cops of the city's Kagadipith police station "tied Dalit youth named Umesh Solanki with a tree till they became unconscious", recalling, "We remember what Modi had said  -- it you want to attack, attack me, not my Dalit brothers."
In a statement, Mevani said, "I appeal to the Dalit brothers of entire Gujarat and others, too, that these atrocities in the BJP regime should be answered in 2019" even as demanding "strict legal action against the policemen who attacked our innocent brother." He added, "Even if this person of a Dalit community is involved in any illegal activities, the police have no right to take the law into its own hand."
Continued Mevani, "Two days ago in Ahmedabad city, a Muslim community person was murdered in custody. A few months ago, cops entered in the houses of …
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Discriminatory to take back cases against Patidar quota agitators: Dalit rights body

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The Gyati Nirmulan Samiti (GMS), a grassroots Dalit rights organization of Gujarat, has strongly protested against the manner in which the state government has been allegedly seeking to take back cases against those belonging to non-Dalit and non-Adivasi individuals.  Asserting that this is being done on a mass scale, GMS said, this is "discriminatory", and is being done to please the dominant caste people. "No cases registered against Dalits and Adivasis are being taken back", said GMS convener Sanjay Parmar in a letter submitted to KA Punj, who heads an inquiry commission the state government set up under the chairmanship of retired High Court judge KA Punj said, "This is being done purely for political reasons."  The letter has also been signed by GMS co-convener Rajesh Solanki, a Dalit rights advocate.
In a reported bid to placate the Patidar community, the Gujarat government last year announced setting up of the commission of inquiry headed under Pu…
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Cow vigilantes in Ahmedabad attack two persons taking buffaloes in truck, stab one

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In yet another clear case of mob lynching, saffron vigilantes have attacked two persons belonging to a minority community transporting eight buffaloes in Gujarat. The incident happened between 1 and 2 am when they were taking the animals from Deesa in Palanpur district in North Gujarat to Bharuch in South Gujarat.
The attack, said a media alert by Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) convener Mujahid Nafees, took place when the vehicle, a truck, in which they were taking the buffaloes passed through Ahmedabad's Ramol police station area. "They were attacked by four persons riding on two motorcycles", Nafees said, adding, " One of them, Zaheer, was attacked with a knife. Badly injured, he is currently taking treatment in Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad."
The second person, Mustafa, Zaheer's brother, saved his life by hiding in a police car parked nearby. MCC activists Jameela Khan and Danish Khan helped the victims at the Civil Hospital. An FIR, lodged with t…
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Dalit housing societies in Ahmedabad "fraudulently" taken away by non-Dalits: Activist writes to Gujarat CM

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Veteran Dalit rights activist Valjibhai Patel has alleged that as many as 33 societies -- such as Valmiki and Savaiyanath -- in Ahmedabad's posh Bodakdev and Navrangpura areas, reserved for scheduled caste (SC) people, have fraudulently passed on to upper caste sections, who have constructed bungalows and flats on them. "This is based on a survey which we carried out in the city", he claimed.
In a letter to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, Patel, who is general secretary, Council for Social Justice (CSJ), said that poor people living on 1.23 square metres of land in six major cities of Gujarat -- Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar -- have been displaced, and SC community people have not been provided with alternative housing despite the clearcut legal provision.
"We wrote letters to the district collector's offices in the six cities about this two years ago, apprising them that the slum clearance law, which came into effect in 1970, …
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Appoint only SC-ST lawyers to fight anti-atrocity cases: Dalit rights body write to Gujarat CM

In a representation to Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, the Dalit rights organization, Gyati Nurmulan Samiti, has demanded that only scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) lawyers, selected through Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) examinations, should be appointed as special public prosecutors in order to take up anti-atrocity cases. Signed by co-conveners of the organization, Rajesh Solanki and Sanjay Parmar, the representation added, these special public prosecutors should be provided with all the necessary facilities to fight such cases, which are run in special courts.
Pointing out that in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal this is already being done, the representation further said, it is found that non-GPSC lawyers appointed as government pleaders are not committed to fighting SC and ST atrocity cases, nor are they accountable to anyone. Suggesting that even GPSC-appointed lawyers of the general category are also found to be not serious in f…
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RBI survey: Consumer confidence on jobs, economic situation deteriorates

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Results of the Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS), carried out by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for November 2018, suggest that growing pessimism on general economic situation and employment scenario. Conducted in 13 major cities – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram - RBI said, "Future expectations index (FEI) also moderated due to lower optimism on the employment scenario and household spending."
Based on 5,326 responses on households’ perceptions and expectations on the general economic situation, the employment scenario, the overall price situation and their own income and spending, the survey results show, to quote RBI, that the current situation index (CSI) "declined further in November 2018 in a phase that commenced in November 2016, on the back of growing pessimism on the general economic situation and the employment scenario as also some cutback in spending."
RBI…
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Bullet train project ignores environmental, social impact: Gujarat environmentalists tell JICA

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Gujarat’s top environmentalists, belonging to the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), Vadodara, in a representation before the main funders of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project, Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Surat, where they were called for a meeting, have said that the bullet train project violates JICA guidelines on environmental and social impacts of the project.
Raising three main issues before JICA officials, Rohit Prajapati, Kriashakant and Swati Desai sought answer as to why was the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is absent during public consultations in Gujarat and Maharashtra, where the project is being implemented, while a foreign government agency is participating in it.
Insisting that the ongoing consultation accepts the need for environmental concerns, they queried, “Why environment laws of India and MoEFCC have no role in the process?”, adding, “Are the MoEFCC and environment laws of the land mortgaged to JI…
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Vacancies in CIC, 26,000 backlog: Supreme Court seeks status report from GoI

Taking a serious view of vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC), the Supreme Court has expressed its concern regarding the status of functioning of CIC, asking the Government of India (GoI) to file a status report within one week and scheduled the next hearing on December 13, 2018.
During the hearing on December 3, the petitioners, Anjali Bhardwaj, Lokesh Batra and Amrita Johri, pointed out that at present there were eight vacancies in CIC, including that of the Chief Information Commissioner, and the backlog of appeals/complaints had risen to more than 26,000.
The bench of Justices AK Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer -- which heard the public interest litigation urging the Supreme Court to give directions to ensure that appointments of information commissioners in a timely and transparent manner -- sought clarification on advertisement issued by the GoI for the posts of information commissioners and chief information commissioner, which allegedly did not specify the salary and…
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Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

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Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna.
Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins.
To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous region in the country till the 1950s, maintai…
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Call to "enjoy" pilgrimage of Sabarmati beyond Ahmedabad, where river water turns black

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Nagrik Sashaktikaran Manch (NSM), a Gujarat-based civil rights organization, has called upon the state's citizens to join in a "unique yatra" along the river Sabarmati, starting in Ahmedabad and ending off the Gulf of Khambhat, where the river is supposed to merge with the sea. Pointing out that in Hindu culture, rivers are equated with Mother Goddess, NSM convener Jatin Seth says, it will be a "special event of pilgrimage", because, just like Ganga, Sarbarmati possesses "special properties."
"Starting at Giaspur, one can see how industries are releasing chemicals in Sabarmati, and you get a Thumbs-Up like colour of the water, and if you drink it, you are sure to be at least affected by cancer, and this way would enable you to book your ticket in the paradise. The river has a special smell, too, emanating from a black cocktail-type colour", says Seth in a statement. Insisting that this would be occasion for "unique darshan", Seth …
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