Towards an Understanding of the University

June 24, 2017

"The paradox is that the University, residing within the geographical territory of a nation and even with the economic support of the government, exceeds all possible national closures…"

Raphael, "The School of Athens" / wikiart.org

Though at different historical periods dominant political hegemonies have sought to appropriate the University, recent years have witnessed this appropriation to an unsurpassed degree with a qualitatively greater intensity. It can only be compared to the ‘nationalisation’ of the University-structure during the Nazi regime and during the historical epoch of Stalin. Here is the logic of what the French philosopher Jacques Derrida calls “onto-theology of national humanism”: the false universal and universalisation of a specific, particular claim (the claim of a particular people – let’s say the Brahminical order of Hindu religion and culture to be the pan-Indian cultural phenomenon); the deification and mythologisation of a collective fusion (this is the meaning of fascism: the word “fasces” means collective fusion) on an aboriginal consciousness (for example: “the blood and soil” ideology of the national socialists), whether that fusion is thought in terms of a radical purity (Aryan identity) or of a mythic continuum (marked by a “tradition” that identically persists through every moment of historical transformation).

With the withering away of the “social welfare” model of the nation state in the wake of the extreme form of neo-liberal economic theology, the state is no longer an agent of social welfare but has become an industry among industries, or in fact, it has become the industry par excellence. In such a situation, when the Indian state has given up the “social welfare” model, and yet, on the other hand, has taken up the violent language of an extremely regressive and conservative form of nationalism, the University will be allowed only one telos (the goal and the purpose): the University must assimilate itself into the overwhelming structure of neo-liberal economy whose false universalisation does not have to be opposed to the nationalism which is culturally based on the most obscure and the most primitive cultural con-fusion. The state can participate, as an industry or a corporate group, in the false universality of the new-liberal economic machine that is fuelled by extremely advanced technological and bureaucratic tools, and at the same time, at the social and cultural level, it can remain as primitive and regressive as in the fifth century BC! This is how the nation-state can claim to appropriate the University which, by definition, exceeds all the logic of territory: the University, by definition, has to be universal! It is the universal institution par excellence because it destitutes – and is this destitution par excellence – of all economic logic of national closures.

Now this paradox is totally hinged by the aforesaid onto-theology: the universality of the University, by its very axiomatic being, is irreducible to the onto-theology of any and all national humanism. The paradox is that the University, residing within the geographical territory of a nation and even with the economic support of the government, exceeds all possible national closures in all futures to come. This is the scandal which no nationalism can hope to bear: more extreme and brutal the form of nationalism becomes, more intolerable becomes the topos (site or place) of the University for the order of the state. Thus, either the University has to be annihilated directly, which is impractical, or the place of the University is to be transformed and converted into the very productive and fecund source where the onto-theology of national humanism grows like “mushroom after the rain” (Søren Kierkegaard).

Therefore, it is not surprising that in a premier University like the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the honourable Vice-Chancellor wants to reduce, in a typically technocratic-bureaucratic fashion, the whole University into a factory or industry. This is the typical gesture of an engineer, almost here in the social mode: a social engineering, if you like to say so. Behind this, and behind so many of his gestures, what is operating is the economic logic of technological rationality combined with the mystification of a primitive, mythic conservatism, the Brahminical order of engineering in the guise of an extreme, technologically sophisticated, economic and political domination.

It is not for nothing that Martin Heidegger could say that technology can’t think. The brutal assault on the Universities today has the purpose of creating a thoughtless order, the order that thoughtlessly – that is, without critiques, deconstructions, subversions etc. – accepts the political and economic domination of the neo-liberal Brahminism.

In Indian society, generally, we always have the weakness for engineering and the civil services. From very early on, we are ourselves engineered to be engineers and civil servants, and we think engineers and civil servants are the highest human beings ever. This is so much so that the dominant political parties, just before elections, suddenly build bridges and repair roads (in other words, do bit of engineering!), and the mass of people are overwhelmed by the illusion of the social progress that is made in two months’ time! And our Universities are now increasingly transformed into producers of engineers, just like IIT’s , while the University, which is by definition an incomparably higher educational institution, is precisely that place where closures of all onto-theological national humanisms are to be interrogated and questioned. This is the highest and greatest contribution that the University can make to the whole human race: that it must exceed, by its very axiomatic presence, all possible closures and hegemonic dominations. The University professor and the University student, by definition, occupy incomparably higher places among the human kind, in their very worldly destitution. In their very fragility, they bear a power that keeps the human race open to its radical and redemptive futurity.

Read Saitya Brata Das's incisive essay on being a Dalit here, and watch his interview with us after the stalling of his promotion by JNU VC here.

Saitya Brata Das teaches literature and philosophy at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

Is the Modi Govt Preparing to Sell Off Indian Railways?

June 24, 2017

With the intervention of the private sector, the fares may be hiked.

Image Courtesy: DQ India

The Indian Railways is moving fast towards total privatisation as seen in the light of the Centre's decision to auction 23 railway stations across the country. Centers’ new move came as a part of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

The stations will be allocated to the private firms through auction. The firms getting tender will be allowed to modernise the stations. As part of the modernisation of stations, Railways will allow developers to build malls, cinema halls, hotels and specialty hospitals within the station premises.

The financial model for the redevelopment work has been framed in a way so that the government doesn't incur any expenditure as the developer would be rebuilding the railway stations and maintaining it for 15 years.

In return, the firms would be granted 45 years’ leasing rights for the commercial properties developed at these stations. It gives them right to commercially exploit railways’ land. The firms will also be allowed to maintain all the station facilities like power, platform maintenance, parking, food stalls, retiring rooms, etc.

The redevelopment of the stations is occurring through different phases. In the first phase, the responsibility of redevelopment had been given to Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC), a joint venture Company of Ircon International Limited and Rail Land Development Authority.

A senior official from Indian Railways stated that the revamping work of Habibganj Railway station is likely to be commenced soon. For the facelift at Habibganj, developer Bansal Group has obtained financial loans of a total 400 Crores. The business firm will take care of all the station facilities like power, platform maintenance, parking, food stalls, retiring rooms, etc.

Also Read : Not Much to Gain & Much to Lose: Selling Indian Railways Bit by Bit

In the second phase of redevelopment 23 Railway stations will be auctioned. Kanpur Central, Allahabad, Lokmanya Tilak, Pune, Thane, Visakhapatnam, Howrah, Kamakhya, Faridabad, Jammu Tawi, Udaipur City, Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Ranchi, Chennai Central, Kozhikode, Yesvantpur, Bangalore Cantt, Bhopal, Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus, Borivali, and Indore are those stations.

Eyeing on Udaipur, Howrah, Indore, Secunderabad, Pune, and Faridabad railway stations, Malaysia’s state-owned Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) will participate in the auction . It is said to be one of the potentially big Foreign Direct Investment in railways. According to the officials from Railways, apart from CIDB, many Korean and Japanese companies have expressed their interest in the redevelopment project. Through, liberalizing the policies, Indian Railways will become a fertilized soil for Foreign Direct Investment.

Earlier, in 2014 India allowed 100% FDI in railways infrastructure through automatic route. Through this foreign companies have established two rail loco factories in Bihar with an investment of Rs 3500 crore. According to the railway official, various investors from Japan and South Korea have also expressed in the station redevelopment projects and the government has queued up 400 stations for redevelopment.

The private participation in public sector indicates the implementation Bibek Debroy committee report. The pro-privatisation wing is substantiating their point on the basis of it. The report favored private participation which is said to be the key to increase the efficiency of the system. The committee has also looked at the railway restructuring experiences from multiple countries, including Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Australia, and the USA, as examples.

Indian Railways moves about 2.3 crore people and 3 million tons of goods every day. The majority of the Indian populations, who cannot afford private vehicles, rely on the public transportation system. Railways are the most viable mode of transport for this section of the society. Millions use railways which connect geographically diverse population, each day.

Connecting the remotest corners of the country the railways runs 12,617 trains which carry both passengers and freight. Privatisation will affect the economic friendly transportation and connectivity to these areas. Preference for profitable route will result innegligence of the non-profit yielding routes.

Privatisation will also affect employees in the railways, including 14 lakh employees and almost as many pensioners.

Indian Railways which focuses on the service of the society will become a money yielding machine through privatization. With the intervention of the private sector, the fares may be hiked. The privatization will also lead to market monopoly. Monopoly through the private sector may tend to cause the troubles include low accountability, lack of responsibility, producer-centric approach, exploitation of the poor, etc.

Shashi Tharoor Says BJP Renamed 23 Congress Schemes. He’s Right About 19

June 24, 2017

On June 15, 2017, Congress member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor claimed that 23 of the BJP-led government’s new programmes were merely renamed versions of schemes launched by the previous governments led by his party.

Another Twitter user made the same claim on June 11, 2017.

We found that 19 of the 23 programmes were indeed renamed versions of older schemes, as Tharoor claimed. Here’s our analysis:

Claim 1: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana=Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account

Fact: True

Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) was a no-minimum-balance service with all facilities of a normal banking account except that withdrawals were limited to four a month, according to this Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular dated August 17, 2012. The accounts came with an automated teller machine (ATM)-cum-debit card too.

The BSBDA accounts were also meant for beneficiaries of government programmes, according to this answer in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) on December 13, 2012.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), launched on August 28, 2014, an accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh, overdraft facility up to Rs 5,000 after six months and a life insurance of Rs 30,000 were added to BSBDA accounts.

Unlike BSBDA, PMJDY accounts had a credit limit of Rs 1 lakh because of which pension reimbursements were getting rejected, The Financial Express reported on September 8, 2016.

While BSBDA covered only villages with above 2,000 population, PMJDY has been extended to all areas–rural as well as urban.

“They are more or less the same. All accounts opened prior to August 28, 2014, were BSBDA. Since then, they have all become PMJDY accounts. It’s only a change of nomenclature,” Prem Singh Azad, deputy general manager, Allahabad Bank, who is involved in the bank’s financial inclusion programme, told IndiaSpend.

Claim 2: Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana=National Girl Child Day programmes

Fact: True

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-I declared January 24 as the National Girl Day in 2008-09 and several objectives associated with previous continuing programmes were adopted as targets.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana (BBBPY), launched in January 2015 under the ministries of women and child development, health and family welfare and human resource development, was a consolidation of old programmes scattered across schemes and ministries under the UPA government.

For instance, the girl child education programme of BBBPY was a repackaging of older education schemes such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, according to this February 2016 report by the Centre for Development and Human Rights, a research and advocacy organisation in New Delhi.

Similarly, BBBPY’s objectives of improving the child sex ratio and reducing school dropout rates among girls were already present in the UPA’s Dhanalakshmi and Sabla schemes, respectively. Dhanalakshmi was later discontinued as states already had better schemes in place.

Claim 3: Swach Bharat Abhiyan=Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan

Fact: True

In September 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government approved a proposal that Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan scheme be restructured into Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, according to this government release.

Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan was the new name adopted for the Total Sanitation Campaign on April 1, 2012 under UPA-II, according to the Abhiyan’s guidelines.

Total Sanitation Campaign was the new name given to the Central Rural Sanitation Programme–launched by the Congress in 1986–in 1999, according to the drinking water and sanitation ministry’s website.

Claim 4: Sardar Patel National Urban Housing Mission=Rajiv Awaas Yojana

Fact: True

“The government is shortly going to launch a comprehensive programme named Sardar Patel National Housing Mission by merging and improving existing urban housing schemes,” The Pioneer reported on October 10, 2014, quoting Housing and Poverty Alleviation Minister Venkaiah Naidu.

A parliamentary committee, headed by Biju Janata Dal member Pinaki Mishra, had even asked the government in December 2014 how merely changing the name could accelerate implementation, The Telegraph reported on December 30, 2014.

Claim 5: Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin)=Indira Awaas Yojana

Fact: True

A parliamentary standing committee report–submitted on August 31, 2016–pointed out that Congress’s Indira Awaas Yojana was “rechristen[ed]” Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin).

The “Guidelines”, “Scheme Allocation” and “FAQs” on the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin) website still open Indira Awaas Yojana documents.

Claim 6: Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana=Rajiv Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana

Fact: True

The UPA’s Rajiv Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana was “subsumed” under Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, according to this government release on July 23, 2015.

Claim 7: Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation=Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission

Fact: True

NDA’s urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu had said on assuming office that they would replace Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) with their own urban renewal schemes, The Hindu reported on May 29, 2014.

Subsequently, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), smart cities Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Urban) were launched on June 25, 2015.

JNNURM was launched on December 3, 2005, for an initial period of seven years and then extended for two years up to March 2014, according to this Rajya Sabha answer on December 6, 2012.

A comparison of some key objectives of the two programmes shows that under the NDA government, the targets of UPA’s umbrella programme have been spread over several schemes.

The “sectors covered under JNNURM and [AMRUT and other urban development programmes] overlap significantly,” according this March 2016 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a global consultancy .

“[V]arious urban sector components [that] were earlier addressed through a single mission (JNNURM) … have now been split across missions [such as AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission],” the report said.

Comparison of Urban Development Programmes

Sources: Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation,Town and Country Planning Organisation, AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, PM Awaas Yojana-Urban

Claim 8: Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana=Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme

Fact: Unclear

Three older programmes– Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme of the water resources ministry, Integrated Watershed Management Programme of the land resources ministry and the On Farm Water Management of agriculture and cooperation department–were merged to create the NDA’s Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, according to Yojana’s website.

As government websites (click here, here, here, here and here) do not reveal when exactly the programme was launched in 1996, it is difficult to check this claim, as three prime ministers–Congress’s P.V. Narasimha Rao (till May 16), BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee (May 16-June 1) and Janata Dal (Secular)’s H.D. Deve Gowda (June 1 onwards)–governed India during 1996.

The watershed management programme goes back to the late 1980s when the country was mostly under Congress’s rule.

Claim 9: BJP’s neem-coated urea=Congress’s neem-coated urea

Fact: True

Neem-coated urea was included in the Fertiliser (Control) Order of 1985 in 2004, according to government-owned National Fertilizers’ website, and was notified on June 2, 2008, according to this government communication.

It was finally included in the 1985 Order through an amendment on February 6, 2017.

Claim 10: Soil Health Card scheme=National Project on Management of Soil Health and Fertility

Fact: True

A soil health card was “added” to the National Project on Management of Soil Health and Fertility, according to the Outcome Budget 2015-16 of the agriculture and cooperation department.

The centre would earlier provide support to states for issuing soil health cards under the central scheme, according to Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) answers (click here and here).

Under the UPA government, soil health cards were also issued under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, one of its several organic-farming programmes, according to the Outcome Budget 2015-16. This scheme was also merged with NDA’s renamed Soil Health Card programme.

Claim 11: Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana=Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and other programmes

Fact: True

“Some existing components … have been clubbed together as a cluster based programme and named Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana,” according to the Outcome Budget 2015-16 of the agriculture and cooperation department, FactChecker reported on July 22, 2015.

Claim 12: Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana=Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana

Fact: Unclear

The ministry of women and child development’s website does not use the new name–Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana–for the maternity benefit programme (see the latest release dated May 19, 2017) but archives releases under the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana under the same head.

A senior ministry official was quoted as saying the name had been changed, Hindustan Times reported on May 25, 2017.

Claim 13: Atal Pension Yojana=Swavalamban Yojana

Fact: True

Even as the Modi government folded Congress’s Swavalamban Yojana–a pension scheme for unorganised sector workers launched on September 29, 2010–under its Atal Pension Yojana, the features of the two schemes remain the same, according to this comparison by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute For Contemporary Studies, a think tank in New Delhi.

Claim 14: Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana=Jan Aushadhi scheme

Fact: True

The decision to launch the Jan Aushadhi scheme, a programme to supply unbranded medicines at lower prices, was taken on April 23, 2008. The first store under the scheme was opened on November 25, 2008, according to the Bureau of Pharma PSU in India, established under the department of pharmaceuticals on December 1, 2008, to coordinate the scheme through government-owned companies.

The scheme is now called Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, according to this Lok Sabha answer on March 14, 2017.

Claim 15: Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana=Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme

Fact: False

The 1985 Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme concluded in 1999, according to this report of the agriculture and cooperation department.

Claim 16: Make In India=National Manufacturing Policy

Fact: True

The Make In India website not only summarises the scheme as Congress’s “National Manufacturing Policy” but even the broken download link unsuccessfully directs you to a 2011 document of the older policy.

The features of the National Manufacturing Policy and Make in India remain the same, shows a comparison on Twitter on February 13, 2016, by Amitabh Dubey, a political analyst at Trusted Sources, which provides investment research on emerging markets.

Claim 17: Digital India=National eGovernance Plan

Fact: True

The National eGovernance Plan is “now subsumed under Digital India”, according to this government release on November 30, 2016.

Both the Congress (click here and here) and the BJP schemes talk about building infrastructure for delivering government services electronically.

Claim 18: Skill India=National Skill Development Programme

Fact: True

Previous skill development programmes were relaunched as Skill India with new branding, according to this government release on July 15, 2015.

The older programmes–National Skill Development Corporation and National Skill Development Fund (launched in 2009), and National Skill Development Agency (launched in 2013)–were brought under a new department of skill development and entrepreneurship on July 31, 2014, according to this government release. The department became a ministry on November 9, 2014.

Claim 19: Mission Indradhanush=Universal Immunisation Programme

Fact: True

Mission Indradhanush is the new name for special immunisation weeks, which were being conducted in areas of low immunisation under the Universal Immunisation Programme, FactChecker reported on July 23, 2015.

Claim 20: Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana=National Rural Livelihood Mission

Fact: True

“The Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana … is a part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission,” according to the programme website.

Claim 21: PAHAL=Direct Benefits Transfer for LPG

Fact: True

Launched on June 1, 2013, the “Direct Benefit transfer of LPG scheme PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh) [was] re-launched in 54 districts on November 15 ,2014 in the 1st phase and will be launched in the rest of the 622 districts of the country on 1.1.2015,” according to this government release on December 31, 2014.

Claim 22: BharatNet=National Optic Fibre Network

Fact: True

The National Optic Fibre Network, approved on October 25, 2011, aims to provide “Broadband connectivity to Panchayats”.

BharatNet merely repeats the claim: “to digitally connect all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and Villages of India”, according to this September 2016 Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay report on the second phase of the programme.

Claim 23: Sagarmala=National Maritime Development Programme

Fact: False

The programme was originally announced by former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on August 15, 2003, during the BJP-led NDA’s first stint in power, Frontline reported in March-April 2004.

When the Congress-led UPA came to power, it launched its own National Maritime Development Programme even as Sagarmala lapsed, according to this Lok Sabha answer on August 3, 2009.

The NDA revived the original programme on March 25, 2015.

Courtesy: factchecker.in

An Alien’s Letter to the new President Elect

June 24, 2017

We must learn to accept you in Rashtrapati Bhawan, and you, Sir, have to learn to accept the Constitution much as you may have once so ardently believed in Manu’s work, rather in Ambedkar's

Greetings President Ramnath Kovind

Greetings from an Alien, who is also as much a citizen of India as you are

I call you President Kovind, for though you now are but the candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party, supported by an increasing number of allies and non-allies, you will soon be President-Elect with a token challenge from a fragmented Opposition united only in its absence of power, rather than in coherence alliance of ideology, or even a vision for India. And by the time you get this letter in your unofficial Dak, you would have taken oath in a ceremony partly out of mythology and the rest out of a colonial tradition of imported democracy.

Perhaps I will also write an open letter to Ms. Meira Kumar, put up by the “united” opposition to give a token challenge and hereby fulfil a democratic ritual. Her father, Babu Jagjivan Ram, the tallest Dalit leader after Babasaheb Dr. BR Ambedkar, never did make Prime Minister, or President. He was non-Congress at a very critical juncture that helped unseat Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi after the Emergency. It was, then, possible to oppose a Dalit, specially of the dominant sub caste, if he tried to fly too high. If Babuji was too early, Meira, his daughter, is too late. One of those things, one could say. Ms. Meira Kumar deserves our respect, more than our sympathy.

You will, of course, understand more than anyone else in India, these issues of caste, sub caste, and caste engineering. If it were not perhaps for the international focus on the plight and persecution of Dalits in India following all those gang rapes, last year, the suicide of scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad, and the beef lynching and the medieval attacks by self-styled upper caste men on the former untouchables in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country, the ruling party and your Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh may never had thought of you.

But some credit also need to be given to them to have been able to collect all the sub castes which had felt themselves left out with the seventy-year focus on just the Jatavs and Mahars, the castes of Babu Jagjivan Ram, Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram, and of four time Uttar Pradesh chief minister Ms. Mayawati. The Ram Vilas Paswans, Udit Raj and others on the fringes were therefore an easy and expected catch, as had once been the smaller OBC groups, including the Ghanchis, to which the honorable prime minister is said to belong. Only he knows for sure, of course.

Not that there is no glitch. Your own caste, the Koris, often called Kolis in some variant spelling or pronunciation, were once being denied the scheduled caste certificate by one till the group’s youth and politicians rebelled, forcing state governments to declare that the precious certificate would not be denied. But it is quite true that the sword of Damocles does hang on the small groups which have the protection of the constitution as scheduled castes. Eternal vigil is the price for keeping that certificate in the file. I will come to this again, later, asking why you think this protection and facility should be denied to some other groups. Among them are Christians and Muslims who suffer all that you have suffered historically, but can never dream to fly free and high as you have.

There is no Dalit Prime Minister in sight in the next four elections, but you have done the second-best thing, become President of the Democratic Secular Socialist Republic of India. You are just the second Dalit to sit a chair where you can decide if a man is to live, or to die at the hands of a government executioner. And once or perhaps more times, you will decide who will be the prime ruler, the chief executive of this vast cooperative society of a billion and a quarter people.

There is so much to write to you, share with you, inform you, admire in you, and caution you about, that one may forget to ask you a few questions. Many fellow Indians share with you your personal story of being born in a thatched hut, and living a life of snakes and ladders in the painful but unhaltable climb to the top of your chosen vocation. You have vanquished all the snakes. No one can deny you that satisfaction, seen if it does not really make you forget that you had to hear all those chants about how some men are at birth superior to others.

So, the questions first, before one gets into the explanatory text. This is not a Demi-0fficial, or D.O. Letter. Just some questions which, as our honorable prime minister does so often, I had first asked on social media, Facebook.

Presumably you renounce the Manu Smriti, at least in its relevant chapters that spell doom and pain for what it calls the untouchables, and in as loud and clear a voice as you will in taking oath of office by swearing allegiance to the Constitution, and promising to preserve and protect it, a duty no other elected office has. They just swear by it. You are the custodian and its protector. In referring to the Law-giver Manu, I of course by no means even hint on the freedom of faith of the President of India. I uphold your right, as you will uphold mine in time. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Republic, was an active believer of every single tenet of his religion. Giani Zail Singh did KarSeva. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the man you will succeed, is annually photographed worshipping in his home temple clad in his sacred thread and classic Bengali dhoti. If ever there were a Christian President, I'd possibly run into her or him at Mass or a fasting prayer.

But I'd like to know your changed views on:

1.    Lynching of Dalits by self-styled Upper Castes and / or by Cow Vigilantes, otherwise called Gau Rakshaks.
2.    Dalits' Freedom of Faith. Do they have the choice of any other than the one defined for them by the government?
3.    Continuing untouchability, even among some in the judiciary and your legal profession. As a senior lawyer, you may have heard of the shameful incident once when a new judge had his chambers cleansed by bucketful of Ganga water because his predecessor was a Dalit, who Mahatma Gandhi had called Harriman, and who the law books once defined as an Untouchable.
4.    Do you believe in the death penalty as much as Mr. Mukherjee does, and which has earned him opprobrium internationally as a Hanging President. Superficially, do you believe beef eaters should be hanged, as demanded by some people who hold political office, and not just by maverick Sadhvis and Babas.
5.    Do you think Muslims and Christians, who you more than once said orally and in writing clearly said worship alien religions, be allowed to continue to enjoy full citizenship including freedom to practice, preach and propagate their faith.
6.    Do you believe in Annihilation of caste which Babasaheb Dr. B R Ambedkar so passionately demanded? How do you think it can be made into reality?

And, 7, which I ask more in passing than with any seriousness, how would you guide us in in this nation in Developing a Scientific Temper.

As I salute you on assuming your new office as President and Commander in Chief of the Armed forces – you know you are the Chief, and not those anchor and retired generals in TV newsrooms — let me briefly explain why I had the temerity to ask you these questions.

I had, much as every other person interested in Indian politics, read the 26 March 2010 IANS news report headlined in the most dramatic manner as“Islam, Christianity alien, so cannot get quota: BJP”.
The text was equally dramatic.

"Islam and Christianity are alien" to India and, therefore, the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) feels people from the minority groups, even if their socio-economic condition is low, should not be given the privilege of quota in jobs, legislative bodies and education, a party official said today.

“At a press conference in New Delhi, BJP's newly-appointed spokesperson Ramnath Kovind called for scrapping of the Ranganath Misra commission report that recommends 15 per cent quota in government jobs for socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities in India. The National Commission on Religious and Linguistic Minorities, headed by Justice Ranganath Misra, former chief justice of India, has in its report also recommended inclusion of Muslim and Christian converts as Scheduled Castes and given a quota to that category.

"No, that is not possible," said Kovind. "Including Muslims and Christians in the Scheduled Castes category will be unconstitutional."

“Asked how Sikh Dalits were enjoying the quota privilege in the same category, Kovind said: "Islam and Christianity are alien to the nation." He said that "it is very well known" that convert Dalit Christians and Muslims get better education in convent schools.

"The educational level of Scheduled Caste children remains much lower than that of convert Dalits and Muslims. The children of converts will grab major share of reservation in government jobs. They would become eligible to contest elections on seats reserved for Scheduled Castes. This would encourage conversion and fatally destroy the fabric of Indian society," he said.

"The Misra commission report should be scrapped because (its recommendations) will jeopardise the interests of Scheduled Castes," he said.”

The matter has been agitated before the Supreme Court of India where it has been hanging for more than a decade. It is now transferred to a constitutional bench, which is still to be set up. The government is yet to tell its mind to the court, though senior ministers of the NDA have made clear, as you had then, that no one who is not of the “indict Faith’ will get the benefits.

Former Chief Justice Ranganath Misra’s report is crucial evidence before the court, and the religious minorities have set much hope by it. The Misra panel report, which was tabled in Parliament December 18, 2009, has defined religious and linguistic minorities as backward classes and recommended 15 percent reservation for all minorities in jobs, education and welfare schemes.

As the IANS report told the world, of India's then 1.2 billion population, Muslims form the largest minority at close to 14 per cent, followed by Christians at 2.3 per cent, Sikhs at 1.9 per cent, Buddhists at 0.8 per cent, Jains at 0.4 per cent and others including Parsis at 0.6 per cent. "Within the recommended 15 per cent earmarked seats in institutions shall be 10 per cent for the Muslims and the remaining 5 per cent for the other minorities," the report had said.

If ever anyone had any doubts on your toeing the party line, and the Sangh line, you set it at rest in your written statement: “the report of the Commission is not unanimous. The Commission, inter alia, made recommendations to give 15 percent reservation to minorities under Backward Class quota in education, government employment and social welfare schemes. Out of this 15 percent reservation, 10 percent reservation has been recommended to Muslim Community and remaining 5 percent to other minority communities. The Commission has further recommended to include convert Dalit Christian and Dalit Muslims in the list of Scheduled Castes.”

You knew the so-called objection was not by a member of the commission, but by the IAS woman secretary whose bigotry had been a byword for a long time in the commission. Perhaps that is why she had been put in that office. The UPA often functioned mysteriously in such matters.

You said with unambiguous precision and clarity “At present convert Christians and Muslims are getting reservation in government jobs under Backward Class categories. The Question is when they are already getting reservation in backward class category why do they want reservation in Scheduled Castes category. The answer is clear. Their special interest is not in getting reservation in government jobs, they want Scheduled Caste category reservation for contesting elections from village Panchayats to the LokSabha. As they know, they cannot be eligible to contest elections on reserved seats under backward class reservation. If the government accepts Ramnath Mishra Commission recommendations, the convert Christians and Muslims would become eligible to contest on seats reserved for Scheduled Castes. Thus, the people of Scheduled Castes would have to share their reservation in government jobs and political fields with convert Christians and Muslims.”

If your contempt at that time for Christian and Muslim Dalits was not enunciated sharply enough, the next few paragraphs would deliver the coup de grace, the master stroke, so to say.

You told the Media, “You are aware that educational level of Scheduled Castes children remains much lowerer than that of convert Dalit Christians and Muslims. So, the children of converts would grab major share of reservation in government jobs. The convert Dalit Christians and Muslims would become eligible to contest election on seats reserved for Scheduled Castes. So, the Scheduled Castes would suffer from all angles in all fields. Moreover, it would further encourage conversion and fatally destroy the fabric of Indian Society.” Your note was circulated to media offices by your office secretary. Sham Raju, I belief his name is.

Why do you fear conversions, Sir? The Buddha converted many, and Ambedkar followed his Mentor’s choice, taking with him 400,000 Dalits in history’s single largest peaceful mass conversion. I don’t mention the Manipur conversion to Hinduism, because it was the King’s decision, not the peoples’.

There only two things a human being can change. Not his race or place of birth or parentage. He can change his religion and he or she can change their nationality. As many times as she or he may wish to do so. Many Non-resident Indians have done so.

These NRI now finance and lead the troops of Hindutva.

I hope you will, in your new office, restore sanity and cool this GarmHawa, the evil wind which is now searing and scorching our motherland.

I wish you luck

Jai Hind
I remain, your’s sincerely
The follower of a religion you once thought was alien
(Also published in Indian Currents, New Delhi)

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1. An Open Letter to Ram NathKovindjifrom a Concientious Indian

Caste in Law Schools, the Elephant in the Room

June 24, 2017

The caste and class compositions in Indian private law schools shows a stark exclusionary reality: a 2015 NLSIU Survey showed that 80 % of students were Hindu, 1 % Muslim; IDIA Law survey across national law universities, found 65 % students upper caste of which 27 % Brahmin…..In the law school, caste takes the form of class, manifesting as accent, fashion and attitude.

On June 21, 2017, Dalit judge Justice C.S. Karnan was arrested on a charge of contempt of court. He has been in the news since his appointment in 2009 with his frequent public complaints against the judiciary. In November 2011, he had filed a complaint before the National Commission for Scheduled castes alleging harassment and discrimination by fellow judges. In 2014, he entered the courtroom where a PIL on a list of recommended judges for appointment was being heard and stated that the list was ‘not fair.’ The judiciary, at large, condemned his behaviour, calling it ‘unbecoming of a judge’ and ‘uncharitable.’ In September 2016, he accused the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court of caste discrimination. Justice Karnan’s allegations have all been met with scorn and ridicule. Outrage over the sheer impossibility of a High Court judge making such direct allegations against his seniors has taken centre stage, with no one actually looking at whether there is any truth in Justice Karnan’s allegations.
Legislations require judges to exercise their independent discretion and reasoning to decide different cases based on their factual situations. In doing this, it is impossible for judges not to draw from their own lived experience. This is why the caste composition, among other parameters of identity, of the judiciary is important; in order to ensure fair representation and understanding of the interests and problems of different classes of people.

Traditional caste-based opportunity structures continue to shape access to, and participation in, legal education. Although elite law schools claim to be casteless and classless, caste remains present both systemically and otherwise in these institutions, impacting the eventual composition of the legal fraternity in the country.

A survey conducted by some students in NLSIU in 2015, showed that over 80% of the college’s students were Hindu, while less than 1% were Muslim. IDIA Law found the same statistics when they surveyed students across several National Law Universities. It was found that 65% percent of the students at NLSIU are upper-caste, with 27% being Brahmin. Similarly, a survey conducted in Jindal Global Law School in 2014 found that 61% of its student population is upper-caste.

In the law school, caste takes the form of class, manifesting as accent, fashion and attitude. IDIA’s Diversity Survey found that around 20 percent of students surveyed in various National Law Schools face harassment, or bullying, because of various factors, such as their familial background, poor English language skills, dressing sense, knowledge of popular culture, caste, or ethnicity. Thirty-five percent also reported that they had trouble fitting in with the student community in their college because of their background. A survey of students conducted by two of its students in NLSIU in 2003, showed a strong correlation between the caste/class background of students and various activities, such as mooting and debating, which are important markers of social capital in law school environments. Ten years later, the IDIA survey also found that students with poor English language skills tended to participate less in extracurricular activities. Caste manifests strongly as class in terms of fluency of English in urban India today.

As an upper-caste law student, I have the privilege of not experiencing my caste in any institution. Lower-caste students from elite law schools, however, speak of experiencing discrimination and casteism in college. For instance, Akhil Kang, a Dalit graduate of NALSAR, an elite law school in Hyderabad, writes of how classmates would look directly at him while speaking about how ‘some lower caste’ individuals do not deserve the opportunity of studying in an institution like NALSAR. Sumit Baudh, a Dalit graduate of NLSIU, Bangalore writes of what he refers to as the ‘roll call of shame.’ The roll numbers of students were arranged with the names of General category students followed by SC/ST students, or ‘reserved category’ students. Attendance would be taken before each of their classes daily with names read out in this order, a ‘rehearsal of (the institution’s) merit and casteism.’ In this manner, the caste which students had entered law school with remained in spite of their entrance into an elite legal institution. Anoop Kumar also notes the resistance and disbelief expressed by upper-caste students when they are told that caste still exists even in urban spaces and is not only linked to poverty, but also broader systemic oppression.

Historically, upper-castes have controlled the production of knowledge by restricting lower castes’ access to education, which continues today, as seen from the statistics above. ‘Merit’ is considered the sole legitimate marker of ability, when in reality it cannot be distanced from the privilege of one’s birth.

Ever since Justice Balakrishnan retired from the Supreme Court in 2010, no judge belonging to a Scheduled Caste has been appointed to the apex of the judiciary. As of 2016, no High Court in the country had a Chief Justice who belonged to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. As an upper-caste woman, I will never experience caste even if I do become a judge one day, so I cannot speak to the veracity of Justice Karnan’s claims, or to his lived experience. As upper-caste allies, it is our bare minimum duty to listen when someone tells us they experience casteism, not shut them out like everyone has done with Justice Karnan.

Cow Vigilantes Strike in Delhi’s Outskirts: Bloody Eid for Young Junaid, Bros Out for Eid Shopping

June 23, 2017

Photo Courtesy: India Today

Victims, shocked and injured received no response from the Emergency Police and Helpline numbers and have further alleged that the GRP (railway police force) at Ballabgarh railway station stood by and refused to help

India will soon need to develop it’s own Lynch Calendar. Who is killed When in which City. Identities will probably always be Muslim, sometimes Dalit. But the ideological identities of the killer will escape public knowledge. Deliberately.

Three days before Ramzan Eid, on the last Friday of the Holy Month of Ramzan, a Muslim family was attacked in a local train on the outskirts of Delhi, India’s capital leading to the death of Junaid, a 15 year old student and serious stab injuries to his brother 22 year old Shakir. The third brother Hashim was also injured. The men who led the slogan shouting mob attacked them with large knives.

India Today reports that young Junaid was lynched and 3 others brutally thrashed over rumours of beef eating on Delhi-Ballabhgarh train routeThe four had come to Delhi from their village in Haryana for shopping ahead of Eid.

These young men boarded a local train at Delhi around 5 pm for Ballabhgarh, Haryana. Junaid and his younger brother are students in a Madrassa in Surat and were home on their annual visit during Eid. ‘Some men’ who got on at Tughlaqabad started abusing them using filthy communal language. When they protested they were brutally attacked amidst shouting of communal slogans. Junaid was beaten to death in the train.

Where were the Railway Police?

The four men have been identified as Junaid, Hashim, Shakir Mohsin and Moin of Khandavali village in Ballabgarh. They had boarded a train from Tughlakabad in Delhi. They were later thrown out of the train at Asavati railway station as train left for Mathura. They were taken to Palwal hospital where Junaid was declared brought dead. Shakir and Hashim are still in hospital.

Mohsin in his statement said that all of them had gone to Delhi for Eid shopping. They boarded a passenger train. According to Mohsin's statement, soon after they boarded the train some passengers started abusing them. When they resisted, they were beaten up. A huge crowd attacked them.

Two suspects were carrying knives with them and stabbed the four, Mohsin said in his statement. They called police and emergency response number but to no avail. Mohsin further claimed that they tried to pull the chain to stop the train but failed. He also said GRP personnel at Ballabgarh railway station refused to help them when they told them what happened on the train.

‘The mob’ then tried to pull out Shaikr’s beard. He was stabbed in three places The badly injured victims were not allowed to get off at Ballabhgarh. They were literally thrown off the train. Some people later found them and took them to the hospital.

The CPI-M has issues a strong statement condemning the incident stating that ‘this communally motivated crime shows that the BJP-RSS rule is leading to communal mob actions.’ The statement also says that there’ have been earlier incidents of violence against Muslims on trains but Government has not acted to uphold the law of the land, thus directly encouraging the growth of such communal hate crimes.’

CPI(M) Polit Bureau members Brinda Karat and M.P. Md. Salim and DelhiSecretariat member Asha Sharma met the family in hospital in Delhi this morning. The statement says it all. ‘It is shameful and condemnable that the Government and specifically the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have maintained a deafening silence and not a single officer has been deputed to even visit the family.’

Not only should strict action be taken against the guilty. The CPI-M has demanded adequate compensation for the family. It calls for strong protest actions against such
communally motivated crimes, especially in public spaces.

Republic TV “harassing” and “intimidating family and me’ alleges anti-nuclear activist, files Complaint

June 23, 2017

Leading anti-nuclear activist SP Udayakumar of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) has complained to the News Broadcasters Association and the Press Council of India that well-known journalist Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV has been harassing him and his family.

Udaykumar
Image Courtesy: Indian Express

In a letter, released on Thursday, he says, Goswami and his colleagues Shweta Kothari reached his home at Nagercoil on April 8 and introduced to him as “Shweta Sharma”, a “research scholar” from the Cardiff University in the UK, and sought help with her dissertation research. She was accompanied by her “local friend” Sanjeev.

Leaving after getting books, she requested Udayakumar on the next day “to stop by her hotel room as she had a few more questions”, telling him that “one of her British professors” was very keen on supporting struggle against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant.

On being told that the PNAME did not accept money from foreigners and its movement had “no bank account”, Kothari alias Sharma asked him if there was “any other way of donating money” to the movement.

On being further told that his personal account was “frozen” and that even their “party account could not receive foreign funds”, Udayakumar says, the Republic TV journalist was informed that donations could be given to his parents.

“I also mentioned clearly that I would give proper receipt and the money will be accounted for. I also informed her that we were not interested in getting foreign funds”, Udayakumar claims, adding, he was surprised that on June 20, “a so-called sting operation on him was telecast at 2 pm.”

Among the allegations made included that the struggle against the Koodankulam nuclear power project was funded by the Church with foreign donations, says Udayakumar, adding, “I took part in the very same panel discussion on Republic TV and clarified what had transpired. But Goswami was so abhorrent, abrasive, and even abusive.”

Pointing out that as he was taking part in the discussion from Kumbakonam town, where he was attending an agitation, Udayakumar says, “Republic TV reporter Sanjeev and three other men were standing in front of my home at Nagercoil from 2 pm till 11 pm that night harassing my parents aged 85 and 82 respectively, my wife and school-going son.”

“Sanjeev and his colleagues were hounding my family with their high-handed behaviour”, says Udayakumar, adding, “They were loitering about my house for hours together, talking to people and shopkeepers around my home and defaming me and my family.”

“Sanjeev and his team showed up at my home again in the morning of June 21, and started harassing my family all over again”, says Udayakumar, adding, “When my aged father objected to his ruthless behaviour, he fraudulently reported on his TV that I personally had scolded him.”

Clarifies Udayakumar, “I came to know about the whole incident when I came home in the evening”, he adds, “Sanjeev’s and his gang’s sole intention was to provoke me in some manner.”

Accusing Goswami’s TV of causing “mental agony and suffering” to him and his family, Udayakumar says, he fears safety and security of his family following “Goswami’s slanderous campaign” for three continuous days.

Calling it a “desperate attempt to raise the TRP rate”, Udayakumar says, “This kind of indecent and abusive behavior of an anchor and reporters is unacceptable”, adding, “The Republic TV and their reporters are crossing all limits and causing so much mental agony and suffering to me and my entire family”, even as seeking intervention from the twin authorities

In the Name of Conservation, Militarization & HR Violations in Kaziranga: NAPM

June 23, 2017

The Govt. of India & Assam must End Impunity: Ensure rights of scheduled tribes, forest, park dwellers and safeguard environment-wildlife with an objective & holistic conservation policy

Serious investigations, related to gross hand rights Violations I the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) have come to light: 57 cases of extra-judicial killings over the last three years, as against 106 since 1996 alone The recent deaths include 27 in 2014, 23 in 2015 and 7 in 2016. In the killings, not a single forest staffer has list his/her life in "encounters" since 1985.

This has been brought out recently by the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), an apex body of a large number of people's organisations across India. The NAPM in details sent to Sabrangindia , has alleged that these facts raise “some crucial questions about the official claims that all the killings are of poachers in cross-fire.”

The NAPM has also pointed out that local activists protesting this repression, villagers and activists like Akhil Gogoi, associated with the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) are sought to be suppressed by governments and the administration, in and around Kaziranga.

Recently , The issue once again came to spotlight with the Govts ban on BBCs documentary Killing for Conservation which has exposed the shoot-at-sight policy of KNP and the grim situation of the locals being threatened, harassed, tortured and even killed by the Forest Dept, using conservation a shield. The documentary has graphically portrayed the serious issues faced by communities living at the periphery of KNP by the Forest Dept. in the name of conservation.

The Impunity which shields government officials and the administration is stark.

The repression on the KNPs forest dwellers as well as in its arbitrary ban on BBCs film, threat of blacklisting the media group and revoking its filming permission across the country!

Pointing that the killings are being carried out in what is being termed as ‘good faith’, citing Section 197 of CrPC, NAPM adds, this is the direct result of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which is applicable in the North-Eastern states, allowing “blanket immunity” to “shield for fake encounters, rapes and torture” of scheduled tribes and other forest dwellers of Kaziranga.

NAPM's strong reaction comes amidst a sharp upturn in the struggle against the allegedly repressive attitude of the forest department of Assam and “silence” of the Government of India in the garb of conservation.

Activists like Pranab Doley, Soneswer Narah and others of the Jeepal Krishak Shramik Sangha Akhil Gogoi, associated with the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and face “continuous threats, trumped-up charges, hand-cuffing and arrests”, because they have been highlighting the “immunity” of the forest department in dealing with the local people.

The forest departments own Report of 2014, while hundreds of alleged poachers have been shot dead in encounters over the years, not a single forest staffer has been killed in an encounter between 1985 and June, 2014.

This record over 3 decades raises some crucial questions about the official claims that all the killings are of poachers in cross-fire!

The NAPM states that " there is enough reason to suspect periodic abuse of the Order dt. 14/7/2010 issued by the Govt. of Assam according legal immunity to all the forest guards of Kaziranga using Firearms, in addition to the existing immunity from judicial proceedings they enjoy for actions done in good faith under Sec 197 of CrPC. India has been witnessing the abuse of draconian legislations like AFPSA for decades in Kashmir, Manipur and other North-East states, where legal immunity is used a shield for fake encounters, rapes and torture." Besides, they add, " We fear for the well-being of the scheduled tribes and other forest dwellers of Kaziranga in the light of such provisions, granting blanket immunity to forest authorities."

Across the country, whether in Niyamgiri, Narmada, Nilgiris or elsewhere scheduled tribes and other forest dwellers are always forcefully made to pay the price for development, many times with their livelihood (displacement) and at times even with their life.

Hence, People’s movements are compelled to ask, if "the Governments of Assam and India, if what the State is doing at KNP is indeed Conservation or Militarization."

The NAPM endorses the key demands of the local people including immediate review of the 33 Highlands Project in the KNP core zone, disclosure of the Environment and Forest Clearance, Environment Impact Assessment Report and allied documents in relation to the Highlands Project within KNP, implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 as well as the LARR Act, 2013; complete reservation to the inhabitants of KNP and its periphery and reservation for ST(P), OBC, MOBC as per government guidelines; regularization of all the casual employees in KNP, immediate release of compensation for loss of life or property during the 2016 floods, a loan waiver for affected farmers, permanent jobs to family members of victims who have lost their life to wild animal attack or innocent victims who have suffered at the hands

The NAPM had also demanded the withdrawal of false cases, end to all forms of threat, arbitrary arrests and a dialogue with the peoples organizations in the area to address the concerns of scheduled tribes, forest ad park dwellers, and involve them in the conservation efforts.

The Govt. must ensure that there are no evictions, without lawful rehabilitation. We also call upon the State Govt. to institute an independent inquiry into all the killings by forest guards and adequate compensation for survivors / family members of state violence. Govt. of India must revoke its ban on BBCs documentary and abstain from issuing any form of threat to media or other public organization that report the ground realities.

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Towards an Understanding of the University

"The paradox is that the University, residing within the geographical territory of a nation and even with the economic support of the government, exceeds all possible national closures…"

Is the Modi Govt Preparing to Sell Off Indian Railways?

With the intervention of the private sector, the fares may be hiked.

Shashi Tharoor Says BJP Renamed 23 Congress Schemes. He’s Right About 19

An Alien’s Letter to the new President Elect

We must learn to accept you in Rashtrapati Bhawan, and you, Sir, have to learn to accept the Constitution much as you may have once so ardently believed in Manu’s work, rather in Ambedkar's

Caste in Law Schools, the Elephant in the Room

Cow Vigilantes Strike in Delhi’s Outskirts: Bloody Eid for Young Junaid, Bros Out for Eid Shopping

Victims, shocked and injured received no response from the Emergency Police and Helpline numbers and have further alleged that the GRP (railway police force) at Ballabgarh railway station stood by and refused to help

Republic TV “harassing” and “intimidating family and me’ alleges anti-nuclear activist, files Complaint

In the Name of Conservation, Militarization & HR Violations in Kaziranga: NAPM

The Govt. of India & Assam must End Impunity: Ensure rights of scheduled tribes, forest, park dwellers and safeguard environment-wildlife with an objective & holistic conservation policy

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