Washington, D.C. (January 4, 2023) – The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), a US-based organisation of the Indian Muslim diaspora, “dedicated to social justice, peace, and pluralism”, has strongly condemned the planned demolition of over 4,000 Muslim homes and dwellings in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, a state ruled by Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The organisation has further urged the Indian Supreme Court, that will hear a batch of petitions challenging the order on January 5, to ensure that the state government is not allowed to continue with its punitive demolitions, which are in direct violation of national jurisprudence on the right to housing being a fundamental right as all international human rights law.

Last month, the Uttarakhand High Court allowed these demolitions while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ravi Shankar Joshi in 2013. Joshi is an individual known for his partisan views in political and public life, besides being reportedly a close sympathiser with the ultra supremacist, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). 

The Uttarakhand high court, while passing an order on Joshi’s PIL, claimed that the families were “unauthorized occupants” living on “encroached” land belonging to the Indian Railways. However, reportds from the ground reveal that residents have been able to prove this claim as blatantly false through sale deeds and copies of leases, which would suggest that they are, in fact,  rightful owners of their properties.

Controversially, the court ordered the demolition drive despite pending appeals against the false encroachment claims by several residents. 

Local authorities have announced that bulldozers will “pounce on encroachers” while overseen by 7,000 police officers and 15 paramilitary groups. Therefore, says the IAMC statement, these forces will likely use violent tactics to brutalise Muslims who attempt to defend their homes.

Thousands of Muslims from across Haldwani city are presently out on tje streets, holding protests, sit-ins, and candlelight vigils, demanding that the demolition of their homes be stopped.

Related:

Spate of Demolitions continue, 44 Muslim families asked to vacate homes: Kushinagar, UP

Bulldozer injustice: this will only stop when a police officer is sent to jail, says Patna HC

‘Stop Bulldozer Raj’ Slogan Echoes at Jantar Mantar

The post Stop demolition of over 4,000 Muslim-owned homes in Uttarakhand: Indian Americans Muslim diaspora to SC  appeared first on SabrangIndia.

IMSD unequivocally condemns the blatantly misogynist decree of Taliban that for all practical purposes has effectively banned women’s education in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban have taken over in 2021, girls haven’t been able to access schools. Although they promised to open girls’ school from March 23rd; the same day they revoked the order. This December on the 20th, there is another edict which debars women from universities. As always, no reasons were cited; neither did they indicate whether this is just a temporary measure. Going by what they have done with schools, the ban appears to be a permanent one.

The IMSD would like to remind the international community that the Taliban, during the negotiations in Doha, had promised not to rollback whatever little gains Afghan women had made in terms of education. Those who were spinning the narrative that the Taliban 2.0 was different from its earlier version now need to explain their continued support to this fanatic group. Those in the Indian Muslim community who were celebrating the Taliban takeover need to ask themselves whether this is the future they envision for half the Ummah. This is the time when the Muslim world should sit up and take notice as to what happens when we empower religious orthodoxies.

We would also like to point out that such anti-women diktats should not be seen as exceptions. The now increasingly marginalized idea that Muslim women should not be educated, has a long genealogy in the Muslim world. The (in)famous Deobandi, Ashraf Ali Thanwi, never wanted women to have even an iota of modern education. Deoband is the spiritual fountainhead of the Taliban; hence it shouldn’t surprise us that its ideological descendants are excluding women from all public spaces including schools and universities. IMSD believes that a fight against the depravities of the Taliban will be incomplete without questioning the very foundational ideas which inform such antediluvian practices.

IMSD stands in solidarity with all the struggling women and men in Afghanistan who are resisting such evil decrees of the regressive Ulama. We welcome the fact that the governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have condemned the Taliban’s regressive step and appeal to the international community to urgently intervene and demand that this grossly violative decision be taken back immediately. We also appeal to all Indian Muslim organizations to outrightly condemn this misogynist action of the Taliban regime.

1. A. J. Jawad, IMSD Co-convenor, Advocate, Chennai

2. (Dr) Amar Jesani, Medico Friends Circle, Mumbai

3. Amir Rizvi, IMSD, Designer, Mumbai

4. Anand Patwardhan, IMSD, Documentary Filmmaker, Mumbai

5. Anjum Rajabali, IMSD, Film writer, Mumbai

6. Arshad Alam, IMSD, Commentator, Delhi

7. Askari Zaidi, IMSD, Senior Journalist, Delhi

8. Ashhar Khan, Jaunpur

9. Bilal Khan, IMSD, Housing rights activist, Mumbai

10. Dipak Malik

11. Feroz Abbas Khan, IMSD, Director, Producer, Mumbai

12. Feroze Mithiborwala, IMSD Co-convenoir, Bharat Bachao Andolan, Mumbai

13. Gauhar Raza, Anhad, Delhi

14. Ghulam Rasool Dehlv, Islamic scholari

15. Hasan Ibrahim Pasha, IMSD, Writer, Allahabad

16. (Dr) Indira Munshi, retired professor, Mumbai

17. Javed Akhtar, IMSD, Poet, lyricist, Padma Bhushan, former MP, Mumbai

18. Javed Anand, IMSD Convenor, Human Rights Defender, Mumbai

19. Khadeeja Faroqui, Social Activist, Delhi

20. Lara Jasani, Lawyer, Social Activist, Mumbai

21. Mallika Sarabhai, Activist, Classical Dancer,Ahmedabad

22. (Dr) Manisha Gupte, Social activist

23. Mansoor Sardar, IMSD, Social Activist, Bhiwandi

24. Mohammed Imran, Delhi, New York

25. Muniza Khan, IMSD, CJP,Varanasi

26. Naseeruddin Shah, Actor, Mumbai

27. Nasim Khan, Varanasi

28. Nasreen Fazelbhoy, IMSD, retired professor, Mumbai

29. Neelima Sharma, Theatre, Delhi

30. (Prof) Qamar Jahan, Lucknow

31. Qaisar Pasha, IMSD, Homemaker, Allahabad

32. Qutub Jahan, IMSD, Social Activist, Mumbai

33. Rahman Abbas, Author, Novelist, Mira Road, Thane

34. (Dr) Ram Puniyani, IMSD, Author, Commentator, Mumbai

35. Rashida Tapadar, Civil service coach, freelance writer, Nagaland

36. Rooprekha Verma, former Vice-chancellor, Lucknow

37. Sabah Khan, IMSD, Parcham, Mumbai

38. Saif Mahmood, IMSD, Supreme Court lawyer,Delhi

39. Sandhya Gokhale, Feminist activist, FAOW, Mumbai

40. Shabana Mashraki, Mumbai

41. Shabnam Hashmi, Anhad, Delhi

42. Shalini Dhawan, Designer, Mumbai

43. Shama Bano, Social activist, Varanasi

44. Shama Zaidi, IMSD, Film Maker, Mumbai

45. Shamim Abbasi, Mau

46. Shamsul Islam, Author, Delhi

47. Sheeba Aslam Fehmi, Writer, Commentator, Delhi

48. Sultan Shahin, Editor-in-chief, New Age Islam, Delhi

49. Teesta Setalvad, IMSD, CJP Secretary, Mumbai

50. Vasanthi Raman, retired professor, Delhi

51. (Dr) Vibhti Patel, retired professor, Mumbai

52. Zakia Soman, Co-convenor, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Delhi

53. (Dr) Zeenat Shaukatali, IMSD, Islamic Scholar, Author

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Image: Getty Images

Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) strongly condemns the Iranian State’s obscurantist, authoritarian laws and their murderous enforcement, as also the denial of the citizens’ right to protest.  In this third decade of the 21st century it’s inhuman and barbaric to kill a fellow human being merely for not covering her head.

At the same time, we question the hypocrisy of India’s Muslim clergy in not supporting the Iranian women’s right to choose, an argument it puts forward in the context of the ongoing hijab controversy in India.

A statement issued by IMSD today has been endorsed by nearly 100 prominent  citizens from different cities and different walks of life including Freedom fighter G.G. Parikh, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Zeenat Shaukatali, Yogendra Yadav, Tushar Gandhi . 

The full text of the statement can be read here.

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The South Korean Company POSCO backed out from Odisha due to a long struggle of the local communities. However, the Odisha state Government is allowing Jindal to take over the lands and livelihood of the same local villagers. The struggle for the protection of local resources, livelihood, human rights and environment is going on.

The state Government has unleashed severe repressive methods on the activists and local villagers, instead of solving  the problems of people. The Jindal-POSCO Pratirodh Committee, which is spearheading the struggle of the local communities against such severe repression has demanded to release all prisoners immediately and withdrawal of Jindhal, the company which is taking over their lands.

In this context, many writers, artists, human rights activists, academicians, organisations and many well known personalities have demanded withdrawal of Jindhal, protection of the lands and environment of the local villagers and release of the activist prisoners from jail, through a petition to the President of India. They have appealed to the civil society to widen this campaign by circulating the petition and endorsing the same.

The petition can be endorsed through the following link: https://www.change.org/IStandWithDhinkia

We also appeal to you to forward this petition to your contacts and networks in social media requesting for further endorsements.

Petition:

To,

Hon’ble Draupadi Murmu,

President of India.

Respected Madam,

We, the following human rights activists, artists, writers, people’s movements, academicians, cultural personalities, and social organizations, would like to bring to your kind notice the oppression let loose by the Government of Odisha on the people of Dhinkia of Odisha since the last 17 years. This is by holding the sword of displacement almost continually over their heads, by harassing them for protesting, by denying them right to peaceful existence and untroubled perusal of their lives which any govt. is duty bound to ensure to citizens. The Odisha Govt. is blatantly violating their democratic and human rights, including making large scale arrests. There is incarceration of local activists in jail on trumped up charges, restrictions on the right of village people to peacefully protest against their threatened displacement while allowing free movement of and threats to local people by goons of companies. The following are a few key points which are elaborated with the facts.

In 2005, the South Korean steel-making company POSCO was allowed by the State Govt. (BJD) & Central Government (UPA) – despite the unwillingness of the villagers of Dhinkia and nearby locality – to establish its project by taking over their lands. The local cultivation is betel vines, which ensured prosperity and contentment to the local peasantry and big revenue to the Govt. by export of the leaves.The State Government is still run by Mr. Naveen Pattnaik, leader of the ruling party the BJD, which  was ruling the state at that time also. The Odisha state Government deployed its state agencies to grab the land forcefully from the native villagers.To safeguard their ages long possession (of more than 100 years) over the lands and traditional livelihood, the villagers started protesting against the proposed project in masses under the banner of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS).

The State Government being intolerant & furious due to the peaceful yet strong protest against the proposed project, misused its law enforcement agencies against its own people by framing false charges and thus registering more than 200 FIRs which are still pending against hundreds of villagers of Dhinkia for the anti POSCO movement. The conspiracy of the administration, Company & its goons and police brutality then, resulted in the loss of 5 precious lives from Dhinkia Panchayat. Even in the aftermath, the local people remained deeply traumatized, leading even to suicides.

Meanwhile, in the forcibly acquired areas, betel vines, fish ponds, paddy fields were destroyed and other traditional livelihoods were lost. However the protest lasted more than 8 years and ultimately POSCO backed out. People hoped this would bring back long awaited harmony in that area.

But again the State Government (BJD) allowed another project from a company named Jindal Steel Works (JSW). This time, in 2019, there was even more aggression against the unwillingness of the local people. With the same approach by the state Government led by the same Chief Minister Mr. Naveen Pattnaik, there was forceful acquisition of land using state agencies. However this time the approach of the police was very rough and they didn’t spare even women, children and the elderly. The worst police action, which the entire world witnessed, was on 14th January 2022. It was broadcast and published in all forms of news all over the world. The visuals were so disturbing that it baffled the entire country.

Moreover the Governments, both the State (BJD) and the Central (BJP/NDA), ignored the anomalies in the Report provided by JSW to the Environmental Ministry and the Ministry approved the Environmental Clearance ignoring those anomalies. In the process of acquiring the land, so far almost 100 police cases have been registered since 2020, 50-60 people arrested and few released later on bail, though the leader of the Jindal-POSCO Pratirodh Committee (JPPC) Mr. Debendra Swain has been kept in prison since Jan. 14th 2022 along with some other protestors. The protest and its movement have been subjected to police brutality and inhuman torture by Government agencies. Dhinkia village and other nearby villages have already been severely affected due to effects of rapid industrialization in Paradip by either establishment of new industries or upgradation of the existing industries. These effects have already caused loss of lives and livelihoods of people of nearby villages due to exposure to natural disasters caused by environmental & climate degradation and injustice.

Needless to say that the present invasion of Jindal on the resources of the local communities is also a blatant violation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), since this law recognizes the rights of the local communities and other forest dwellers.

In this context, we appeal to you to intervene so that the protests of Dhinkia villagers to save their Land, Lives & Livelihoods are considered legitimate and to ensure that the Governments (both Union & State) act immediately. We therefore request you to take the following steps immediately for the welfare of the local people, environment and precious human rights of the local villagers.

1. Cancel the proposed JSW project at Dhinkia.
2. Stop police brutality against the villagers of Dhinkia and targeting of the protestors by all means.
3. Cancel the Forest Clearance given to JSW and return the Forest land to villagers as per Law.
4. Cancel the Environmental Clearance granted in favor of the proposed project.
5. Settle the forest rights of the people in an unbiased manner without hostile environment as per Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
6. Provide the legitimate land records to the landless people of Dhinkia.
7. Take strict action against the police officials involved in police brutalities that caused physical & mental trauma to thousands of villagers including children, women and elders.
8. Quash all the false & fabricated cases registered against the villagers starting from protests against POSCO to JSW which are roughly around 300.
9. Release all the protesters including their leader Mr. Debendra Swain from prison.

With Regards,

List of Initial Signatories:

1. Anand Patwardhan, Film Maker
2. K. Satchidanandan Poet, Writer,  Former Secretary, Kendra Sahitya Akademi
3. Lalit Vachani, Filmmaker, University of Göttingen
4. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Former Cabinet Minister
5. Binoy Viswam, Former Forest Minister, Government of Kerala
6. Advocate Ansar Indori, NCHRO, New Delhi
7. Annie Raja, General Secretart, National Federation of Indian Women
8. Madhumita Dutta, Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, USA
9. Dr. Sandeep Pandey, General Secretary, Socialist Party (India)
10. Prof. Anjali Monteiro (Retd.), Film Maker, Researcher, Educator
11. Prof. K.P. Jayashankar (Retd.), Film Maker, Researcher, Educator
12. Kavita Srivastava, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

13, Sunlam, President, Madhya Pradesh Kisan Sangarsh Samiti (MPKSS)

14. Malini Subramaniam, Independent Journalist

15,  Maj Gen Dr. Sudhir Vombadkare,  (Retd)

16. Dr. Ram Puniyani, National Solidarity Forum

17, N.D.Pancholi

18. Dr.Gabriele Dietrich, Pennurimai Iyakkam,T.N. and NAPM
19. Leo Saldanha, Environment Support Group
20. Susmit Bose, Musician
21. Dr. John Dayal, Journalist, Author & Researcher
22. Meena Menon, Journalist
23. Bijaya k Panda, National Convenor, Bharat Jan Andolan
24. Advocate Ansar Indori (National Secratary,NCHRO)
25. Binu Mathew, Editor, Countercurrents.org
26. 26, Amudhan RP, Film Maker
27. 27, P. Baburaj, Film Maker

28. Antonella Visintin, Member of Oikotree movement and Glam commission of the Protestant Federation
29. Meera Sanghamitra, NAPM
30. National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
31. Vijayan M.J, Delhi Solidarity Group
32. William Stanley, Oikotree Movement
33. Brinelle Dsouza, Academic and Activist
34. Rev. Dr. Susan E. Davies, United States of America
35. 35,  Pervin Jehangir
36. Prafulla Samantara, Lok Shakti Abhiyan, Recipient of Goldman Environmental Prize for Asia, Bhubaneswar

36. Srikanta Mohanty, Secretary CPIML, Odisha State Committee
37. Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh, Pune
38. Dr Walter Fernandes, Director, North Eastern Social Research Centre
39. Sailen Bhattacharya, General Secretary, ECL COLLIERY SHRAMIK UNION
40. Shamsul Islam, Author
41. Central Executive Committee, AIKMS
42. Dr.Suhas Kolhekar,(Maharashtra), National Alliance of People’s Movements
43. Prakash C. Jha, Independent Researcher
44. K.Padma, Advocate, Visakhapatnam, Andhrapradesh
45. Tara Murali, Architect, Chennai
46. Dr. PM Tony, Director, Social Research and Training Centre, ATC, Namkum, Ranchi
47. Justice Coalition of Religious – West India
48. Jan Swasthya Abhiyan – Mumbai
49. Aruna Rodrigues, Sunray Harvesters
50. Pradip Pradhan, Convenor RTI Odisha State Committee
51. Arundhati Dhuru, National Alliance of People’s Movements
52. Sathish Reginald Samuel, Secretary, ECODAWM
53. Ranjan Solomon
54. Sadananda Sahu, Advocate and Trade Union Leader, Raurkela, Odisha
55. Dr. B Karthik Navayan, Advocate, High Court for the state of Telangana
56. Lelin Kumar, Writer and  Journalist of Janabadi News Weekly .
57. Manu, Researcher
58. Shalini Gera, Advocate, High Court of Chhattisgarh
59. Sonu P. Yadav
60. Nadita Narain, Delhi University
61. Nisha Biswas, Kolkata
62. Madhuri,Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan
63. Pradip Sahu,CSD , Odisha
64. Biswapriya Kanungo,Adv Odisha
65. K.P. Sasi, Film Maker, Writer, Cartoonist
66. Antony Raju, Bangalore
67. Neelima Sharma (Theatre)

The post Petition: Stop Repression Against Villagers In Dhinkia, Odisha appeared first on SabrangIndia.

We, the undersigned, are deeply saddened and shocked by the brutal attempt to assassinate acclaimed writer Salman Rushdie, during a literary event in Chautauqua, western New York. We strongly condemn this heinous act and express our solidarity with the writer.

Salman Rushdie has been under the shadow of death threats for decades for what he once wrote. The call to kill him was, by itself, a condemnable move against freedom of expression. The fact that Rushdie was spending many years of his life in hiding, unable to experience even the simple comforts of life, yet was active in writing, reveals his passion for creativity. The present incident was intended to completely silence the writer, and to punish him for what he wrote. This despicable act, we see, as a great crisis faced by creative pursuits in recent times.

The attack on Salman Rushdie, who is a man of peace, and dealing only in words, is yet another example of the violent intolerance of dissent that is dangerously gaining momentum. We think, it is the need of the hour for writers, artists, art-lovers and readers to protest against this dastardly act and its dangerous implications.

Wishing Salman Rushdie a speedy recovery and a quick return to writing.

Statement issued by the Chinta Ravindran Foundation.

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The  August Tree Festival will be held from 15th to 31st August, 2022 all over India. The participants of the festival will go outdoors and observe 166 common tree species. The festival has 2 challenges – to observe more than 200 trees and as many Ficus trees as possible during the 17 days of the festival. One school and one  individual will be declared the winners of each challenge based on a lucky draw of all participants who finish the challenges.

Even though we know climate change is real, understanding its impact is an ongoing task. One simple way of documenting this impact is by observing the seasonal changes in trees around us. As seasons change, so do the trees around us. Different kinds of trees in India produce flowers, fruits and new leaves or shed old leaves in particular seasons. This seasonal behaviour  forms the basis for studying the impact of climate change on trees, and by extension on the lives of all other organisms dependent on trees. Tropical trees are diverse owing to the geographical and climatic diversity of India. This diversity makes it tricky to study the response of trees to climate change as each kind of tree behaves differently in different parts of the country. This is where citizen scientists can help – by observing trees in their neighbourhoods across the country..  SeasonWatch, an India-wide citizen science project is collating this information  to understand  the impact of climate change in India.

SeasonWatch organises quarterly tree festival events as a way of reaching out and inspiring citizen scientists  to contribute observations on the trees around them. The ongoing August Tree Festival (15-31 August 2022) is one such event. About organising the festival, Sayee Girdhari, the SeasonWatch project coordinator, says, “For the tree festival, people from all over India will be simultaneously observing trees for a few days. Interacting with people and encouraging them to share their findings with us is rewarding. Through these festivals, we hope to make treewatching as mainstream as birdwatching.”

Nature Conservation Society Nashik (NCSN), a collaborator of SeasonWatch shares their experience about a  previous event – April Tree Festival – saying, “Nature Conservation Society of Nashik has been monitoring trees  for the past 2 years. We have been participating in Tree festivals and from this year we have initiated a year-long project to document seasonal tree patterns of 32 tree species of Maharashtra’s first Conservation Reserve – Borgad. During the April Tree festival we organised an Instagram live with Sayee as an awareness session in Marathi. We are encouraging the members of Nature Conservation Society of Nashik to participate in tree festivals by observing trees around them. We have planned to involve school children in the August Tree festival as well.”

Dr.Geetha Ramaswami, the project lead of SeasonWatch and a participant of the tree festivals adds, “I had fun during the April tree festival because I got the opportunity to compare the trees I have been monitoring over the past three years in April. I had coincidentally taken photos of the same tree in April 2021 and ‘22 and it was amazing to see how nearly identical the tree looked!

Let’s collect more data on trees all over India through your contribution.

To find information about this event in Hindi, Gujarati, Bangla, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam, download pdf from here – https://bit.ly/3PpmI15

For more information about the press note, please contact Sayee Girdhari (sayee@ncf-india.org)

This press release is brought to you by the Nature News Network. If you want to receive occasional updates and press releases about cutting-edge research and initiatives in the field of wildlife, ecology and conservation in India, please add your contact here – bit.ly/connectcomms.

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Even as the entire country unites to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of our Independence on the 15th of August, yet once again the BJP-led Government is hell-bent on weaponsing its agenda of hate, by marking the 14th of August as “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day”. Let not a day of national mourning and introspection, be abused and exploited to further the politics of hate and create the Partition of our hearts and minds. Indians across communities must resist this nefarious design.

Undoubtedly the tragedy of Partition shrouded the euphoria of our hard-earned freedom. The Partition was an unparalleled human tragedy that has inflicted deep scars on the very soul of our nation. 75 years later it still evokes passions and a deep sense of hurt in those who directly suffered due to the tragedy and collectively too. The Partition resulted out of the confluence of Hate and political ambitions, as well as the British Colonial policy of divide and rule. Yet it was the common Indian masses who had to suffer due to the greed of a few. One should never forget the savage conse quences of the tragedies of the past but the wounds of those tragedies must not be exploited to further fuel hate and division, but in fact must be treated with care, love and healing. Keeping the wounds festering, makes the body gangrenous and only leads to further withering away of the society, even as it serves the political greed of a few. They do not care about the human cost of perpetuating hate. The Commemoration of “Partition Remembrance Horrors Day” on August 14 is a very subtle disguised attempt to perpetuate hate, keep the wounds festering and earn political dividends. The insanity fuelled by hate resulted in the tragic vivisection of our motherland and along with the displacement of millions of people and massacre of a million, which also consumed the life of Mahatma Gandhi, our Bapu.

On this 14th August, let us all come together and join in prayers for peace, love, equality, justice and unity to prevail and defeat Hate and it’s hordes, to truly commemorate the tragedy of partition and pledge that all of us will work to ensure that India or humankind never have to live through such a tragedy ever again. Thus let us all unite to defeat hate and it’s divisive hordes and work to spread the message of love, humanity and the unity of our country.

We indeed welcome the fact that the SGPC, has called for a day of rememberance of the victims of the Partition, The victims of Partition were Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, all ordinary Indians. In keeping with the ancient spirit of India, a nation that was reborn on the 15th of August 1947 after the great sacrifices of our freedom fighters, let us all pray for salvation for their souls and pledge that we will not allow such a tragedy to occur ever again.

Dr. G G Parikh, Medha Patkar, Tushar Gandhi, Yogendra Yadav, Dr. Sunilam, Feroze Mithiborwala, Guddi S L, Arundhati Dhuru (NAPM, Uttar Pradesh), Sandeep Pandey (PeaceActivist), Meera Sangmitra (NAPM, Telengana), C. R. Neelkandan (NAPM, Kerala), Chinmay Mishra (Writer, Journalist, MadhyaPradesh), Alok Shukla (Chattisgarh Bachao Aandolan), Vishwas Utgi (Sanyukt Kamgar Kruti Samiti), Gautam Bandhopadhyay (Gandhi Vichar Foundation, Chattisgarh)

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org/

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