Anirudh Rajan, a dedicated labour rights advocate based in the Delhi-NCR region, has been instrumental in organizing workers in Manesar under the banner of the Manesar General Mazdoor Sangh. His activism began with the New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) and later extended to efforts for the release of political prisoners in CASR. He has led numerous protests advocating for improved working conditions and has critically examined the misuse of public funds for the benefit of large corporations.

According to CASR, while traveling from NCR to Bengaluru to visit friends and family, Anirudh was apprehended by police as he was about to board a bus to Chennai. Allegations have surfaced claiming he was attempting to meet his girlfriend and was involved in fundraising for the banned CPI (Maoist) party—claims that have been denied as false. He has been labeled a criminal and arrested under the repressive Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

State aims to suppress discourse surrounding exploitation of working class, with all forms of unionization facing severe backlash

According to CASR, the Indian government is targeting trade union activists nationwide, resulting in heightened surveillance, raids, and arrests based on accusations over the past decade. The state’s tactics aim to suppress any discourse surrounding the exploitation of the working class, with all forms of unionization facing severe backlash. Activists have been alleged to be associated with conspiracy charges, designed to undermine legitimate organizing activities.

Believes CASR, Anirudh’s arrest is part of a broader conspiracy, which casts a shadow over democratic rights activists in northern India. Activists unrelated to any criminal activity are often ensnared in this web of intimidation and persecution, with the state working to criminalize public action by infringing on fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, including the right to freely associate and organize.

The ongoing repression of union activists, alongside those opposing social and economic injustices from marginalized backgrounds, aims to instill fear among ordinary to citizens and facilitate the unchecked rise of authoritarian, crony-capitalist governance, it adds.

Courtesy: CounterView

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Stating that the State government has this way initiated the process of killing the institution of the internationally renowned Sampurnanand Open Air Camp (Jail), it demanded restoration of land back to the open camp now.

The PUCL is shocked at the allotment of 2.2 hectares (21,948 sq metres) of land of the 3.04 hectares  (30,400 sq metres) of the Sampurnanand Open Air Camp (Jail) In Sanganer, Jaipur to the Medical and health department for a Satellite Hospital. This act of the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), which acquired it brazenly and the Government of Rajasthan (GoR) is a scandal. Of the 3.04 hectares, the open camp (jail) has now been reduced to approx 0.84 hectares (8452 sq metres), with more than two thirds of its land being snatched away.  This would take away, not only most of the houses, which the inmates have made themselves, but also the school, the anganwadi, the quarters, the office, the hall and other physical resources developed.

It is not the case of the PUCL to stop a public hospital from coming up in Sanganer. We are in full empathy of the trials and tribulations of the people of Sanganer, with a paucity of public health institutions in the area. The point is that the hospital must not be made by snatching the land of the open camp (prison).

On 10 December 2023, the PUCL had done some work in the open camp; there were 423 inmates, 400 males and 23 females. The total number of residents in the open camp (jail) on that day consisted of 633 people, which included the family members. This number changes. For instance, as of today 31st August, 2024 the total number of prisoners are 393, as several are out on parole. More than 200 have families and the total strength with families is 900 approximately presently (sometimes, complete families come and stay, otherwise, only a section comes, many times, the prisoner leads a lonely life with no family. In December, there were many single men and women).

Vulnerability of the open air camp prisoners emboldened the state’s land grab attitude

According to the PUCL, the land which the open air camp (jail) has in its possession for the last six decades, was taken away so easily, because the larger perception perhaps of the GoR is that prisoners don’t need so much space, they can be cramped in a small spaces and live in subhuman conditions. Most importantly they knew that the inmates would not raise their voice against  the State, as they would not wish to lose their freedom of being in an open camp (jail) and living with their families. The State took advantage of this vulnerability of the prisoners.

Killing India’s best open camp for prisoners

This act of grabbing the land of the open air camp (jail) in possession of the Jail Institution since 1963, is an attempt to kill India’s best open camp (jail) institution for which it has been lauded in the state, nationally and Internationally. Of the total of the 51 open air camps in Rajasthan which has a capacity for housing 1600 prisoners, the occupancy is only 1339 (84% of the total capacity).

Even the SC in the case of Suhas Chakma vs the Union of India and others, had asked the State of Rajasthan to make a presentation of its open camp (jail)s as a best practice case study for the other states to learn from. It was the time to strengthen the infrastructure of the open camp (jail), including housing, water, sanitation, electricity, the school and anganwadi. Reports in the past have, including those of PAARr and the PUCL have highlighted this dimension, instead, the GOR has indulged in an attack on the open air camp (jail) itself. It should be known that the residents, themselves, make houses, invest in its maintenance, pay electricity and water charges. Would the Government compensate for all this?,

Attack on the idea of restorative justice

Essentially the attack on the open air camp (jail) is actually an attack on the idea of restorative justice and correctional spaces. The idea was to provide a community space for the open camp (jail) inmates. Not merely some house structures, which it will get reduced to now. It was also open to outsiders, for instance children from the neighbouring colonies came to play football and other games in the open space of the open camp (jail), naturally integrating the children of the prisoners and the prisoners themselves with the outside children and adults.

Apart from the above various orders of the Supreme court and the Rajasthan High Court, Jaipur Bench, should have restrained them for this brazen act.

GoR commits contempt of the Supreme  Court of India order 

The Supreme court of India, in the Civil Writ Petition(s) No. 1082/2020 Suhas Chakma Versus Union Of India & Ors. on the 17th of May, 2024, the bench of Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.R. Gavai Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sandeep Mehta, stated in their order clearly in point number “9,….. We are also informed that there is a proposal to reduce the area at Sanganer Open Air Camp at Jaipur. We thus direct that there shall be no attempt of reduction in area of open 4 air camps/institutions/prisons, wherever they are functioning”.

Ignores Rajasthan High Court order

In D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2808/2012,  Civil Writ Petition No. 5463/2015, D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 17462/2017, Suo Motu —-Petitioner Versus State Of Raj, the Hon’ble Mr. Justice Inderjeet Singh And Hon’ble Mr. Justice Bhuwan Goyal in their Order dated 23/07/2024 stated in their interim order that “…..Learned Advocate General seeks eight weeks’ time to submit the status report and asked for the matter to be listed on 25.09.2024. Despite the Rajasthan High Court having been seized of the matter and the amicus curiae, having placed the SC order of 17th May, which the AG very well knew off, it is shocking that on the 30th of July, land was allotted by the JDA to the Medical and Health department.

Allotment letter of the JDA to the Medical and Health Department: A clear violation of the SC order 

The amended allotment letter dated, 30/07/2024, क्रमांक /ज. वि. प्रा / उपा. /ज़ोन – 4 / 2024  / डी -1385 addressed to Director Public Health, Medical and Health Services, Rajasthan says that “The 194th meeting of the Land and Property Disposal Committee of Jaipur Development Authority held on 22.07.2024, discussed the agenda presented by the Zonal Deputy Commissioner regarding the free allocation of 21,948 square meters of land from a total of 3.04 hectares, covering Khasra numbers 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, and 131 in Revenue Village Sanganer to set up a satellite hospital in Sanganer. The land was previously recorded in the name of the Refugee Camp but has now been transferred to the name of Jaipur Development Authority by the Tehsildar, Sanganer.

The committee deliberated on the matter and recommended the free allocation to the State Government as per the Land Allocation Policy 2015 provisions, considering the excess area under JDA’s jurisdiction. The committee also resolved that the State Government’s approval and allocation should consider the previous allocations made by the Jaipur Development Authority. Following this, the State Government, through the Urban Development Department’s Deputy  Secretary, issued a letter with reference number 9274934 dated 26.07.2024, approving the free allocation of 21,948 square meters of land from the specified Khasra numbers in Sanganer, subject to the complete adherence to the provisions of the Land Allocation Policy-2015 at the authority level”.

With this allotment of the open camp land to the Medical and health department the Government of Rajasthan has clearly committed contempt of court. The PUCL and other organisations will either assist the Amicus Curiae or as an intervenor, will challenge this in both in the HC and the Supreme court, but will not let this continue.

The PUCL demands that the land be restored to the open camp now, the hospital be made elsewhere.

*Kavita Srivastava, President; Bhanwar Meghwanshi, President, Rajasthan and the jail work team members; Pragnya Joshi, National Council member; Suman Devathiya, Jaipur district General Secretary; Advocate Mamta Nair, Jaipur District Treasurer; Advocate Bobby Datta, Jaipur district, member, PUCL

Courtesy: CounterView

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As a result, it added, the association had to resort to protest actions.

As the faculty association of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD), we remain steadfast in our commitment to uphold our dignity as dedicated educators and researchers at an institution bearing the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar. Unfortunately, our university is now on the brink of collapse and fragmentation.

Despite our continuous efforts to address various concerns, including appeals to higher authorities within and outside the University, our pleas have been met with indifference. Many of the issues we highlight have persisted for years; previous leaders of AUDFA have campaigned for resolution, yet little progress has been made.

The administration now operates with increasing impunity, subjecting faculty to harassment amid deteriorating working conditions. Once a respected institution dedicated to equity and social justice, the university’s standing has sharply declined.

Over the past five years, 30 to 32 faculty members have departed, while 22 are embroiled in legal battles concerning promotions, financial recoveries, and harassment, with administration frequently suggesting that they “go to court” in response to complaints. The association is escalating its protest actions until our demands are met.

A general assembly and demonstration are scheduled outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office on Monday, August 12, 2024, followed by a hunger strike relay starting on August 13, 2024. We call upon all individuals and organizations devoted to safeguarding the values of a public university founded on social justice, as championed by Babasaheb Ambedkar, to stand in solidarity with us.

Our Issues and demands

1. Immediate revocation of punitive transfers for faculty and staff who challenge injustices, raise concerns, or report harassment.
2. Accused Deans should be required to “step down” pending the outcomes of investigations.
3. Essential committees, such as the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) for gender/sexual harassment, the Equal Opportunities Office, and the Grievance Redressal Committees, must function in accordance with UGC guidelines. Irregularities in their formation and operation, including delays in complaint processing, hinder their effectiveness in ensuring a just work environment.
4. Immediate cessation of unjust financial recoveries from faculty members, in accordance with Supreme Court rulings on the matter.
5. Despite the passage of over 15 years, AUD still lacks a permanent campus, and we demand that construction commence without delay.
6. There is currently no major hospital empaneled with AUD; the list of available hospitals has only decreased over time. We urge immediate adoption of the DGHS scheme to ensure access to critical medical care.
7. Several faculty members have faced unwarranted denials of promotions or demotions, severely impacting their morale. We ask the administration to adopt a supportive role, especially following the UGC’s recent guidance on promotion procedures. All pending CAS promotion cases should be resolved promptly.
8. Timely disbursement of statutory gratuity dues for retiring or departing employees.
9. While we acknowledge recent improvements to classroom infrastructure, critical facilities such as the KG library and research scholars’ rooms remain in disrepair.
10. AUD has previously denied child-care leave to women employees, violating Supreme Court mandates; such requests should be honored without delay.
11. Unlike traditional universities, where department heads and deans can efficiently manage operations, at AUD, even casual leave requires Vice-Chancellor approval. A few favored individuals hold multiple committees and positions, which undermines the democratic functioning of our institution. We demand a decentralized administrative structure that distributes responsibilities equitably.
12. We insist on the rigorous enforcement of the Citizen Charter recently adopted by AUD, complete with clear timelines for processing.
13. The statutory requirements of the Right to Information Act must be respected by regularly posting minutes from meetings of the Board of Management, Academic Council, and Court.
14. Contractual faculty face significant financial and administrative challenges, including delays in salary disbursement and lack of timely access to office space, which hampers course delivery.
15. We call for the elimination of bureaucratic red tape surrounding NOC issuance for professional activities, including conferences, workshops, and lectures. Current delays and rejections undermine the academic and creative work of our faculty.
16. The administration must respect the previous allocation of office space to AUDFA and provide a designated official email address.
17. The previous email policy should be reinstated, allowing faculty and staff access to both mailing lists, and the fac staff email ID should be reactivated. We insist on immediate action to address these issues to restore the integrity and vision of our university.

Courtesy: CounterView

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We are writing this letter, as members of ALIYSA (All India Inquilabi Youth and Students Alliance) to express our deep dismay and anguish at the recent eviction notices sent to at least 12 PhD scholars to vacate the TISS Mumbai campus in 24 hours, issued from your office. We demand your immediate intervention, in a fair manner, to withdraw these eviction notices and ensure a dignified stay and completion of studies for these PhD students of TISS.

ALIYSA is an All-India non-partisan alliance of students and youth who have come together through NAPM (National Alliance of People’s Movements) to build solidarity for justice and equity for the youth and students across India. Coming from varying backgrounds of privileges and marginalisations, we stand beside every young person facing discrimination and injustice.

As a premier social sciences institute, TISS is considered a progressive institution in the country, with a legacy for upholding social justice values, both academically and institutionally. However, in the past decade, multiple such issues have come up where TISS has failed to ensure a just academic environment. Through academic and grassroots work, causes of social justice can be furthered and the values imbibed in our Constitution upheld. Students in university spaces and educational institutes have faced injustice and exclusion multiple times in recent years.

We are pained to know that the recent eviction notices are an addition in this spree of arbitrary actions where PhD scholars are being unfairly targeted. They have been asked to move out of the campus without appropriate notice or intimation. It was only some time back that the students had requested the administration for an extension to complete their thesis writing till September, to which your administration had agreed.

In a statement, you have claimed that scholars have taken beyond 5 years of time in completing their doctoral work. However, it is common knowledge that between 2019 to 2020, the students were off campus for over two years due to the COVID lockdown. Thus, they have only spent 3.5 years on the campus during their doctoral work. Further, as an old academic institution, TISS administration must be well-aware of the rigorous demands of a PhD program, that often extend beyond 5 years. Your statement comes across as a blame on students for taking more than 5 years.

We also want to highlight that most of the scholars who have been served with these notices come from vulnerable communities — SC, ST, OBC, De-notified and Nomadic Tribes. The costs involved in higher education at TISS are not easily affordable for all the students and hence the issue of pending balances cannot be pinned down on students. TISS states in its vision that it works for a “…just society that promotes and protects dignity, equality, social justice and human rights for all”.  It seems that the recent notices are instead violating these values for the scholars from vulnerable communities.

Several scholars who are served the notices have been active in critically questioning  actions of the administration

It is a struggle for students to reach university spaces to realise their dreams. When they succeed in that, a treatment of this sort breaks them and their dreams. Without giving prior intimation, serving such notices and only providing 24 hours to vacate the campus is beyond reason and any measure of the principles of natural justice. Educational institutions are meant to undo historical injustice faced by students from marginalized backgrounds and not perpetrate them further through such arbitrary actions.

Just a month ago, your institute had issued a mass termination notice to over 100 teaching and non-teaching staff across your four campuses which was retracted after the strong public condemnation. The recent notices after such mass termination are not just concerning but deeply disturbing.  They put a question mark on the future of students at this ‘premier’ institute.

It has also come to our notice that several scholars who are served these notices have been active in critically questioning the actions of the administration in the past. In light of this, the notices to these students look like motivated targeting of the politically conscious and articulate students and this depicts the anti-democratic nature of your administration.

Your public notice also states that it was merely a ‘request’ after ‘letting the scholars overstay in the campus with free meals, not paying semester fees and not completing their thesis work as well’. However, this claim is unsubstantiated, since several students who have received notices have been paying for availing these facilities.

You have been unfairly accusing students of ‘defaming the reputation of your institute and being politically motivated’. However, it is such arbitrary decisions and acts of repression on the student community that precipitate the situation and contribute to the downfall of the spirit and reputation of TISS.

We, at ALIYSA, strongly condemn the eviction notices and demand their immediate retraction. The students must be allowed a dignified graduation from PhD.

We look forward to your immediate intervention and fair, necessary action in this regard. Jai Samvidhan!

Click here for signatories 

Courtesy: CounterView

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It wanted the government to “immediately give ration cards to 8 crore migrant/unorganised sector workers as directed by the Supreme Court.”

The Right to Food Campaign is deeply disturbed by reports of the immense distress and problems being faced by people across the country on account of the government undertaking E-KYC verification of all 81 crore people who have ration cards and are entitled to receive foodgrains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

From different states, the campaign is receiving reports of people rushing back to their villages because they are being informed that failure to get EKYC of the whole family will result in stoppage of ration.

At a time when crores of people have been left out of the food security net on account of the government’s failure to carry out the census of 2021, it is inexplicable that the energy and resources of the government are being spent on creating further hinderance for existing ration cardholders rather than issuing ration cards to all those excluded from the NFSA.

As per ground reports, SMSes have been received by ration cardholders or they are being informed over the phone to immediately go to the nearest ration shop with their whole family to comply with E-KYC requirements through authentication via the POS machines. Ration shopkeepers are informing cardholders that failure to get E-KYC will result in denial of food grains. Even national media has been carrying news that failure to comply with EKYC will result in stoppage of free rations.

Rolling out an authentication exercise in this manner, without providing clear and official information to people about the framework within which the EKYC is being done, the need for EKYC, the timeline and consequences is creating intense distress and anxiety among people. The requirement for the whole family to be present at the ration shop has resulted in the most marginalised sections including migrant workers, elderly and those with disabilities being the most affected and likely to be left out of the EKYC.

Further, the campaign is extremely shocked to note that ration shopkeepers have been empowered to carry out the EKYC process thereby allowing them to exercise power and discretion over it. The ration shopkeeper has absolutely no role in issuance and cancellation of ration cards as that is the prerogative of the Food Department.

The shopkeepers role is limited to distribution of foodgrains to cardholders. This is a key separation of the roles as it is critical to empower people to seek accountability from shopkeepers in the distribution of grains without fear of facing backlash in the form of cancellation of ration cards.

Allowing shopkeepers to carry out EKYC is skewing the power balance and will undermine the capacity of people in raising problems and concerns about irregularities in ration distribution.

Dipa Sinha of the RTF campaign said it is clear that right to adequate and nutritious food is not getting the priority it should. The government’s intentions are clear even if one looks at the coverage and budget allocation. The total coverage of NFSA  still being determined by census 2011 leading to exclusion of crores of people.

If the government’s own population projections are used then as of the 2024 figures, 13 crore additional people should have also been provided ration cards under the NFSA. Instead of addressing this large gap, including through increased budgetary allocation, we find the current budget has slashed the food security budget by Rs. 5,000 crore.

Further, the unleashing of the EKYC in this manner, seems to be a conspiracy to cancel ration cards of people. We have seen how in the name of verification and authentication, even in the past crores of legible people, especially those who are the most marginalised get thrown out of the social security net.

Unemployment and unprecedented inflation has made people very vulnerable and many more people need access to rations. Rations and foodgrains are a legal, constitutional right and not some revdi or dole by the government, as it is sought to be projected these days.

Anjali Bhardwaj of the RTF campaign said that anxiety and distress among people is also happening because of the unclear communication by the government. Pointing to the SMS sent by the Food Department in Delhi (pasted at the end of this document), she noted that no proper information is being provided to people regarding the rules, time-frame, necessity and process of EKYC.

This coupled with news stories that foodgrains on the ration card will be discontinued if EKYC is not done, has led to this situation where people are spending thousands of rupees to rush to the ration shops, especially migrant workers who are travelling to their home state to do the EKYC process.  She spoke of the ongoing case in the Supreme Court in which since 2021 the SC has been giving directions on increasing coverage under NFSA.

In June 2021, the Supreme Court (in xxx) directed the central government to re-determine coverage taking into account the increase in population while the coverage remains stagnant as per 2011 census numbers. Upon the central government stating that re-determination of coverage is not possible in the absence of the census and the census is indefinitely postponed.

The unleashing of the EKYC seems to be a conspiracy to cancel ration cards of people, throw out most marginalised out of the social security net

In 2022, the SC directed the government to consider the population projections figures to increase coverage and finally in April 2023, the SC gave explicit directions that 8 crore people who are registered on the E-shram portal must be immediately issued ration cards. The court has clarified that this should be done irrespective of the quotas defined in the NFSA and the central government must release additional rations to states.

In July 2024, the Court took serious note of the slow pace at which states are carrying out the exercise of verifying and issuing ration cards and directed that all states must complete the work within 4 weeks failing which the court would initiate proceedings against concerned officials.

Annie Raja of the RTF Campaign said that a government which claims to be pro women is creating unprecedented havoc in their lives by forcing them to run around for even their most basic entitlement of ration. What is the purpose of this EKYC? Will they cancel ration cards of those who are unable to comply?

This is going to be a huge blow for ordinary people. By cancelling ration cards who does the government want to benefit? The government is denying people their right to live with dignity- such high unemployment, and budget for NREGA is also wholly inadequate. Now even right to food is in crisis.

Is this the government taking revenge for their reduced numbers in the elections?

Several people spoke of the problems they are facing on account of the EKYC issue.

Sunita hails from UP and is staying on rent in a slum settlement near Malviya Nagar with her family. She has a ration card issued by the government of UP, and she received a call from the ration shopkeeper asking her to come quickly to get her EKYC done. Worried that her ration card may get cancelled she, her husband and 4 children spent around Rs. 6,000 making the round trip from Delhi to UP by bus in order to do the EKYC.

Only Sunita, her husband and one child are listed on the ration card and therefore they get only 15 kgs of grain per month. During the EKYC process the shopkeeper informed her that authentication of her only child listed on the ration card failed as the aadhaar is outdated! She was advised to get the aadhaar updated and try again at a later date. She spent more than 15 days in the village trying to get the aadhaar updated, but was unsuccessful as they were told there are some server and connectivity issues. Other than the verbal communication from the shopkeeper, she has not received any official communication from the department and is unsure of the next steps. Sunita’s husband works as a daily wager and had to missed several days of work due to the unexpected emergency travel.

Munish Devi is currently living on rent in Jagdamba Camp. She is a widow and works as a domestic worker. She is getting calls from her village in Sambhal district, Uttar Pradesh asking her to come for EKYC but she is unable to afford the trip and is worried that she will not get leave. Her family members in the village have been told that if EKYC is not done, Munish and her childrens names will be struck off.

Sumaira, a domestic worker, spent ₹ 8,000 to travel to her village in UP with 7 members of the family for the EKYC process. They ended staying for 15 days and losing their wages as the EKYC of one child was not successful and they had to wait to get it updated.

Sangeeta shared that her husband is bed ridden and there is no way to take him to Ghaziabad for EKYC. She went to the ration shop and failed to get her own EKYC done as it was too crowded.

Similar issues are coming across states- wherein inter state and intra state people are rushing for the EKYC process. From UP there are reports of ration shopkeepers are charging between Rs. 50-200 per person for the updation of EKYC.

The campaign demands that the government immediately halt the EKYC process to prevent further distress among ration cardholders. Further, the government must immediately issue ration cards to all those left out of the purview of the NFSA on account of the failure of the government to carry out the census of 2021.

Click here for NGOs and individuals endorsing the statement 

Courtesy: CounterView

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PUCL condemns the insulting treatment of Prof Himanshu Pandya at Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, by student activists of the ABVP. This represents not just an attack on one person, but an attempt to stifle academic freedom and curtail free speech, vital to the health of any democracy. PUCL demands that the state government take cognizance of the offence without delay, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Prof Himanshu Pandya had been specially invited to the university to teach a course in research methods. The ABVP members reached his class without any warning. They abused the professor and evicted him from the class, raised ugly slogans and forced him to leave the university, pursuing him with slogans even outside the campus. After Prof Pandya left, the foul-mouthed group protested against course coordinator Prof Sudha Choudhury and department head Hemant Dwivedi.

The agitated ABVP activists claimed they were protesting against Prof Pandya because on a Facebook post six months ago, he had expressed pain over the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992. This is evidence that the ABVP members have little respect for the freedom of expression.

To assert that their protest was legitimate, the students later uploaded content on YouTube claiming that Prof Pandya was a supporter of Palestine. The student activists seemed completely ignorant that the Government of India too has often expressed support for the suffering people of Palestine.

What is noteworthy is that the class Prof Pandya was teaching was about research methodology – there was no mention of either Babri Masjid or Palestine during that session.

PUCL is deeply pained that the Bharatiya Janata Party, in power in the state and currently leading a coalition government at the Centre, has worked relentlessly to constrain academic freedom. The RSS and its affiliated organizations have been working tirelessly to penetrate the education system. These forces of disruption had been curtailed for long in independent India, but have been granted impunity under the rule of the BJP.

Even before this incident on June 8, 2024, there have been instances of attacks on academic freedom.

ABVP activists claimed books written by Bhagat Singh were treasonous, and students must only read material promoting patriotism

Rajasthan Central University disallowed students from watching the BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots. Students of Rajasthan University had attempted a memorial event for martyr to India’s freedom Bhagat Singh, which the ABVP activists stopped. Tearing up literature available at the site, ABVP activists claimed that books written by Bhagat Singh were “treasonous,” and students must only read material that promoted patriotism!

Across universities in the state, there is an undeclared clampdown on events that celebrate democracy, equality, secularism, and freedom of expression. A teacher in Baran district was suspended for speaking with students about the Constitution! Muslim teachers are facing the brunt of the illogical power of the state.

The Constitution of India provides for free expression and debate between people holding different points of view. That is why the freedom of expression is listed as a Fundamental Right. It is a matter of great concern that right-wing activism has found considerable success in curtailing the scope for debate even within universities. Only what Hindutva considers appropriate, according to such activists, ought to feature in curricula and classrooms.

What is significant is that the incident at Udaipur on June 8, 2024 occurred even though the subject of the discussion had nothing to do with Hindutva. The ABVP activists were clearly flexing their muscles, asserting their powers, and working to prevent anyone who disagrees with them from gaining access to a public university. It was a show of power, and an attempt to intimidate.

PUCL calls upon the state government and the university authorities to take cognizance of this crime on India’s democracy and bring the accused to book.

Courtesy: CounterView

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Vijay Valmiki was a resident of Kusumpur Pahari. His wife and three minor children along with the family, and co-workers are in a state of shock.

“This death comes in the context of irregular and delayed wage payments to contract workers which has sometimes spanned months in JNU”, said a statement issued by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA).

“The delays and irregularity have been especially compounded for sanitary workers in JNU who belong to the bottom most layer of the graded social labour hierarchy”, it added.

“This along with the increasing onerous contractualisation and casualisation of essential jobs which are perennial in nature is blatantly illegal”, JNUTA underlined, alleging, *The JNU administration has been committing these illegalies with impunity for years now. This is ironical for an administration that always flaunts itself as the ‘topmost’ university in the country.”

Pointing out that sanitary workers and other contract workers in JNU have been valiantly struggling against such Illegality and injustice, the statement, signed by JNUTA president and secretary Moushumi Basu and Syed Akhtar Husain, said, “Vijay Valmiki had been active in the struggle by his union against these illegal and unethical practices that the JNU administration has routinised, and had made significant contributions to the periodic victory of these struggles.”

Expressing immense grief and anger at the death of Vijay Valmiki, JNUTA said it “stands with his family and co-workers in securing justice for Vijay Valmiki”, even as demanding that the JNU administration should take responsibility for Vijay Valmiki’s institutional murder as the principal employer (as defined in the law) and meet the demands of his family, and co-workers, and those standing by his family to ensure that justice is done to his wife and children.

“JNUTA condemns the illegal and unethical practices of casualisation and contractualisation of jobs that are essential, perennial and permanent”, it said, calling on the JNU administration to immediately stop all violations of law” and “start with paying wages on time and regularly, and also begin the process of reversing the illegal contractualisation and casualisation of all perennial jobs in a time bound manner.”

Courtesy: CounterView

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The natural resources found include limestone, chromite, nickel, copper, malachite, azurite, magnetite, and various platinum group elements. There are predominantly found in Hundung, Phungyar, and Mailiang villages in Ukhrul district, as well as in Toupokpi, Chakpikarong, Pallel, Nungphura, Nungpal, Sajik Tampak, and Haikot villages in Tengnoupal and Chandel districts — 80% of which fall in areas inhabited by tribal communities practicing Christianity, which are particularly the Kuki-Zo and Nagas in Manipur.

On the other hand, the Meiteis are “largely Hinduism-practicing”, which became targeted as the base for the ruling Hindutva regime.

On 3rd May 2024, it was a year since the genocidal violence in Manipur has started, and it has continued to intensify across the year. As of 1st May 2024, there have been 185 people killed in the violence initiated by the ruling BJP-RSS combine with more than 200 villages burnt and more than 41,000 people displaced from Manipur.

The struggle in Manipur is centred on the lands of the tribal peasantry, with the ruling BJP government in both the centre and state assembly of Manipur pushing for the ability of the valley-based landowning sections to purchase the forest lands in the hills, instigating violence between the Kuki-Zo, Naga peasantry and the Meitei tribal communities.

Various reports surfaced where the Indian army and paramilitary arms and ammunition were “stolen” which were later found to have been arming the conflicts to create militias in service of brahmanical Hindutva fascist Indian state.

The conflict is premised on the fact that Manipur is rich in natural resources, particularly limestone, chromite, nickel, copper, malachite, azurite, magnetite, and various platinum group elements which are predominantly found in Hundung, Phungyar, and Mailiang villages in Ukhrul district, as well as in Toupokpi, Chakpikarong, Pallel, Nungphura, Nungpal, Sajik Tampak, and Haikot villages in Tengnoupal and Chandel districts.

Per geographical analysis, 80% of these resources fall in areas inhabited by tribal communities practicing Christianity, which are particularly the Kuki-Zo and Nagas in Manipur, while the Meiteis who are largely Hinduism-practicing are targeted as the base for the ruling brahmanical Hindutva fascist regime.

The Kuki-Zo and Naga peasants who inhabit these resource rich forest and hill areas must therefore be displaced and their political assertions and demands disarmed for the sake of corporate loot of natural resources for the interests of imperialists, big Indian corporates and the local Manipuri allies.

At the same time, Manipur has never found itself integrated with even the erstwhile British Raj, let alone the Indian state born in 1947 and has seen movements for national liberation which too have been attacked in the guise of this conflict which the state has promoted as enmity based on ethnic lines.

For the interests of corporatization, the conflict is a necessary act as a means of arming local state-backed militias, an excuse for increased presence of central paramilitary, army and police in the region in the name of ‘quelling the violence’ and ‘restoring order’ as a method of militarization which can thus make the process of looting natural resources easier, as witnessed by the large displacement of peasants.

Just like the Salwa Judum and their successors the District Reserve Guard and Bastar Fighter in Bastar where the Adivasi peasantry too is fighting for their lands, combatting displacement, genocide and a systemic war on people by the Indian state for the sake of corporate loot, state-backed private militias are running amock in the region.

Tribal peasants of resource-rich regions have been struggling against militarization and corporatization and for their jal-jungle-jameen

Just on 30th April and 1st May 2024, the Assam Rifles, part of the Central Armed Police Forces like the CRPF, conducted combing operations in the forest areas near the Kuki-Zo dominated villages of Leisanghpai and Sejang in Jiribum under the guise of capturing a purported militant.

Right after the operation, the villages were found to be burnt to the ground. In the name of securing them for the residents, these villages are cleared of the residents for such operations, allowing way for the private militias to then come in and raze them to the ground, compelling the peasants to leave.

The Adivasi peasantry dominating the 5th and 6th schedule areas, be in Bastar or Manipur, are seeing the most intense militarization for the sake of corporate loot of natural resources, where the tribal peasants across the entirety of such resource-rich regions have been struggling against militarization and corporatization for the sake of their jal-jungle-jameen, as well as for their dignity and democratic rights. Meanwhile the Indian state has propped up veils of ethnic and religious conflicts and is clamping down on all forms of resistance of the people.

Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization (FACAM) expresses solidarity with the people of Manipur and their struggle for the protection of their lands in their fight for jal-jungle-jameen and against brahmanical Hindutva fascism. FACAM urges an end to militarization, including the state-backed private militias in the region and end to any and all plans of rapacious mining operations for the sake of imperialists and big Indian corporates which displace the hill-based peasantry.

*All India Students’ Association (AISA), All India Revolutionary Students Organization (AIRSO), All India Revolutionary Women’s Organization (AIRWO), Bhim Army Student Federation (BASF), Bhagat Singh Ambedkar Students Organization (BASO), Bhagat Singh Chatra Ekta Manch (bsCEM), Collective, Common Teachers Forum (CTF), Democratic Students Union (DSU), Fraternity Movement, Nazariya Magazine, Progressive Lawyers Association (PLA), Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan (MAS), Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI), Vishwavidyalaya Chhatra Federation (VCF)

Courtesy: CounterView

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PUCL has maintained through its statements and public position in the last four years that this divisive piece of legislation is a betrayal of the ideals of our freedom struggle, disregards the inclusive and plural history of India and squarely violates the letter and spirit of the Indian Constitution.  It is illegal, constitutionally immoral and unconstitutional as it makes an arbitrary and discriminatory link between religion and citizenship. The Indian Constitution through its citizenship provisions (articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) and the Citizenship Act, 1955 (before the amendment brought in by the CAA 2019) do not  make religion the basis of citizenship.

However unlike both the constitutional provisions as well as existing statutory provisions on citizenship, the CAA 2019 is a statute which is discrimination writ large. While the aim of providing a pathway to citizenship to ‘illegal immigrants’ is to be welcomed, such a pathway cannot violate the Indian Constitution.  The problematic heart of the CAA 2019 is that it chooses to provide eligibility for Indian citizenship to ‘illegal immigrants’ residing in India from the viewpoint of their religion and expressly excludes from its purview Muslims, while including persons belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community.  Further only those from the above religious backgrounds from three countries, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan can seek the benefits of the law.

Arbitrary, discriminatory

It is important for every Indian to ask, what is the logic of selecting only three Muslim-majority countries and excluding immigrants from the Muslim community?  If one thinks the logic is to create a pathway for citizenship for persecuted minorities, as narrated by the Home Minister in umpteen speeches, this narrative is debunked and exposed by the arbitrary nature of the exclusion of Muslim community and persons from several non-Muslim neighbouring countries from benefit of the law.

It is a well-known fact that there are religious and non-religious persecuted people found in India’s entire neighbourhood including China, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal, who too should have been considered, if the intention of the law was indeed to provide succour to persecuted minorities in the region. It should be pointed out here that over 100,000 Sri Lankan refugees of Tamil origin who fled racial persecution in Sri Lanka, (many of whom are Hindu by religion) and a large proportion of whom have been residing in camps in Tamil Nadu for over 40 years. These stateless Srilankan Tamils have been seeking citizenship in India with several generations born and bred in India. They are arbitrarily ignored by the 2019 amendment to the Citizenship Act which considers only persons from the above 3 countries. Moreover, the community that has faced the worst religious persecution in South Asia, being the Rohingya Muslims who have faced military crackdowns over decades, and over the years more than 1.5 million have been forced to flee Myanmar and rendered refugees, are also excluded from the ambit of the law.

It bears noting that people persecuted in Pakistan include the Ahmadiyyas  who are considered heretics and are not allowed to adopt and practice their religion. The only reason they are excluded from the benefits of the law is they claim to be Muslims, albeit persecuted Muslims.  In Bangladesh the LGBTQI community has  been subjected to relentless persecution, but no LGBTQI person can claim the benefit of this law. They stand excluded because the benefit of the CAA 2019 is only on the basis of religion.

The benefit of CAA 2019 is not on the basis of persecution which is a constitutionally permissible ground of classification, but on the ground of belonging to a religion. This prima facie discriminatory piece of legislation goes against the core value of secularism enshrined in the Indian Constitution and also violates Article 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution, under which the protection by the State of persons, both citizens and non-citizens has been underscored. Therefore discrimination against persons solely on the grounds of religion is unacceptable.

Imminent threat of NPR-NRC

As the Home Minister of India indicated, the CAA should not be seen in isolation but as part of a  chronology, with it being followed by the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).  First the NPR, being the register of all persons residing in a place, is to be prepared, which is to be followed by the NRC process under the Citizenship Rules, 2003. For conducting NRC, the Local Registrar is empowered to verify and scrutinise the particulars collected of every family and individual and identify those having ‘doubtful’ citizenship, to send for further enquiry. In an empowerment of third party vigilantism, the rules give the power to anyone to ‘object to the inclusion or exclusion of certain names’, from the first list.

The NPR and NRC process will create two categories of citizens in India, Citizens and Doubtful citizens. Those who are not included in the NRC upon failure to provide sufficient documentary proof, could be rendered without citizenship and essentially treated as foreigners or stateless. Depending upon the kind of proof of citizenship required, a threat of detention will hang over the heads of many millions who do not have the documentation required to prove citizenship.

CAA ignores religious and non-religious persecuted people of China, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal

The NPR and NRC process gives the Local Registrar unprecedented and unchecked power to target certain communities and individuals. Based on the animus the state has shown towards Muslims there is also a legitimate fear that this power will be exercised with a discriminatory intent. The NPR and NRC will adversely affect not only Muslims who do not have documentation, but also other categories of persons without documents such as single women, LGBT persons estranged from their families, divorced women, homeless people, tribals or poor people. The fears around the NRC are not abstract as seen from the experience in Assam NRC of 2018 which required citizens to prove their citizenship based on documents. The process resulted in 1.9 million Indians being struck of the citizenship rolls, with more than sixty percent of those who were declared non-citizens and illegal migrants being Hindus.

The NPR and NRC process will entrench the discrimination embedded in the CAA. Persons from communities eligible under the CAA will be able to take benefit of the law and apply for citizenship, meanwhile persons belonging to the Muslim community who have been excluded from the benefit of CAA, will be rendered remediless and termed “infiltrators” who cannot be given citizenship under the 2003 amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955. Those whose citizenship is considered doubtful will potentially be deprived of their right to vote and be subjected to a process of deportation as foreigners. As it is extremely unlikely that any neighbouring country will accept these detainees, they will be indefinitely detained in camps. Thus the animus towards the Muslim community which is at the heart of the CAA/NPR/NRC has serious implications for the future of the Indian polity.

Public opposition ignored

The law has seen overwhelming public opposition. Massive and peaceful protests and sit ins were held in 2019-2020 after the law was passed by citizens, youth from across universities and led by Muslim women from all over the country. The protests focussed on raising awareness about the discrimination and uncertainty of existence Muslims would have to face in their own land of birth and that of their ancestors, if unable to produce requisite documents.

In Delhi, the assertive Muslim youth who coordinated the peaceful and democratic protests, ended up in Jail for exercising their constitutional right to expression and assembly. Several youth have been unjustly and falsely implicated in the communal violence in Delhi in February, 2020 in which 54 persons were killed, with more than 21 being booked under UAPA.  The message sent out to the people was that they should be prepared for reprisals if they challenge the Government’s decisions even through constitutional means by exercising their right to protest in opposition to discriminatory laws that violate the Preambular promise of equality and secularism.

The government’s optics in notifying rules for implementation of the law on 11th of March, 2023, the first day of the holy month of Ramzan for the Muslims, communicates a harsh message of intolerance to a minority community facing the brunt of humiliation on a daily basis with increasing communalism . The notification of the law, which comes around the eve of the Parliamentary elections of 2024, indicates that the ruling party at the centre is promoting divisive politics which will fray the bonds that bind India together.

PUCL strongly condemns this  deeply polarising  decision that has been taken  just weeks from the election and demands that the law be repealed. PUCL has filed an urgent application to stay the implementation of the law in the Supreme Court and challenge the rules notified to implement CAA 2019. PUCL will continue to work to raise awareness of how  discrimination in citizenship laws  is the beginning of the end of the constitutional idea of India.

— Kavita Srivastava, President, V Suresh, General Secretary, PUCL

Courtesy: CounterView

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Prepared prominent women rights leaders Prof Mridula Mukherjee, Dr Syeda Hameed, Anjali Bhardwaj, Navsharan Kaur, Mainooma Mollah, Koninika Ray, Ritu Kaushik, Minakshi Singh, Leena Dabiru and Shabnam Hashmi, the declaration exhorts women of the country to “speak up for your rights, come out on the roads and march for dignity”.

Adopted at a a gathering of 3,500 women at the Kittur Fort, Karnataka, the declaration wants women to speak aloud about injustices, malnutrition and hunger that that their children face, highlight the rising prices, unemployment and the poverty, demand accountability and fiscal responsibility from the Government of India, government, and insist on punitive action against the perpetrators of sexual assaults and rapes.

Also asking women to raise voices to protect their land, water and resources, stand up for our fundamental rights of freedom of speech, expression, worship and citizenship, and their right to constitutional remedies to enforce these fundamental rights, the declaration insists upon using “the traditional Indian way of the freedom movement”, to “unite and vociferously voice dissent non-violently.”

Called “I am Rani Chennamma Too!”, and initiated by Anhad, a Delhi-based human rights group, Karnataka Rajya Mahila Dourjanya Virodhi Okkuta played critical role in the campaign. Several women’s groups and independent citizens joined hands “to commemorate 200 years of this revolt against oppression and to carry forward the legacy of struggle for women’s equality, equal and appropriate political representation, social justice and an equal society”, said a media communique.

Speaking at a media conference while releasing the declaration in Delhi, speakers said, Rani Chennamma was one of the first women to lead a revolt against British rule in India. A fearless warrior, she stands tall as a symbol of resistance, embodying a love for freedom and self-respect, against the British rule. This year 2024 marks 200 of her revolt against British imperialism in 1824.
The Kittur Declaration is a promise to highlight the atrocities, the injustice, the repression and the tyranny of this regime. Women said that the last decade has seen an unprecedented erosion of our democratic institutions, they added.

Said transparency activist Anjali Bharadwaj, “The Central Government is misusing its power to curb the rights of the citizens. Only nine families of India have 50% of wealth and this is possible only when the government is fully backing these families. They are passing such laws and rules which will benefit them. These 9 families have bought all the media houses. The situation of the people is getting worse and worse”.

“In every aspect of our lives our rights have been diluted. Our Parliament and our judiciary have been weakened; the tana-bana of our social fabric torn asunder; our economy shattered; our education system and health system corporatized and privatized; Our farmers betrayed; Our lands snatched away; New labour laws deny the rights of the workers; Our women have been attacked and assaulted; our children are malnourished; the LGBTQIA are under intense pressure; and at the same time … State powers have increased and the people silenced”, she added.

Navsharan Kaur, speaking on the situation of women in the agriculture sector, said, “The situation of these women is getting worse day by day. The rampant change in land use from agriculture to commercial have further deprived women from agricultural activities. In Punjab only 1.5% women have ownership of land and if the incentive has to reach them they need to own the land.”

“Atrocities on women are increasing day by day. In Ghaziabad one can see blatant use of police force to harass women. Is important that we take the Kittur Declaration to wherever we can”, lamented Meenakshi Singh.

Rit Kaushik referring to the Kanpur incident, in which a teenage girl was gangraped recently, said, “This incident compelled the teenage girls to commit suicide as they could not bear the pressure. The women who are involved in political activities are in real meaning desh bhakts.”

Syeda Hameed, speaking about the country’s freedom fighters, said, “Our freedom fighters are getting demeaned and how their struggles are getting forgotten. I appreciate the women who drafted the Kittur Declaration. This Declaration is very important.”

“It is important that we continue our conversation without fear. The Kittur Declaration will be translated into various languages and released in all the States in the next few weeks. I request the media to take this message far and wide. We should speak more and loudly so that the fascist forces get defeated,” said Shabnam Hashmi.

Leena Dabriu talking about the need to protect the Constitution, said, “Slowly in the last 10 years one after another the democratic and judicial structures are getting demolished. It is necessary that all of us should unite together to protect the Constitution.”

Courtesy: CounterView

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