Counterview

By A Representative  Tribal rights activists, legal experts, tribal leaders, former officials and civil society representatives from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have called  for urgent action on tribal land rights, employment and PESA safeguards. They were participating in  roundtable on Constitutional Safeguards for Scheduled Tribes in the Telugu States at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad. Former Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao chaired the deliberations.

By Nava Thakuria*   With the Union government of India having nominated 13 media professionals to fill vacancies in its statutory and autonomous print media surveillance and rights body, the journalist fraternity now hopes for better days ahead in the world's largest democracy.

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan  The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has resulted in approximately 13.3 crore names being struck off draft rolls across states where the exercise has been completed or is underway. More than 71 per cent of these entries fall into the broad categories of voters marked absent, shifted or classified under other headings. Around 2.7 crore were recorded as deceased, while approximately 1.01 crore were flagged as duplicate or multiple entries. A deletion from a draft electoral roll does not automatically amount to permanent disenfranchisement; many citizens can have their names restored through verification, claims, appeals and the filing of fresh Form 6 applications. Yet the sheer scale of the removals demands rigorous public scrutiny.

By Sunil Kumar*  From protests against SIR to the alleged police brutality against women journalists —the question is not just about the vote, but also about citizens’ constitutional rights in a democracy. India is called the world’s largest “democratic country.” Elections here are considered the great festival of democracy. Since the first general election in 1952, adult Indian citizens have had the right to vote. This right makes us feel that the government is “elected by our votes” and that a “government elected by the people’s votes” works for the people. Much has already been written about this. Let us now talk about how the people’s right to vote is being curtailed through SIR. In protest against this curtailment, India’s aware citizens and opposition parties have been on the streets of Delhi since October 2.

By Atanu Roy*  In late September and early October, the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata became an unlikely battleground. On September 27, students of SRFTI clashed with members of the Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat, an organisation that several reports have described as RSS-linked. The students said they objected to the group's programme on their campus and alleged that outsiders assaulted them. The ABGP told a very different story — it claimed students disrupted its event and disrespected images of Bharat Mata and Swami Vivekananda — but offered no substantial evidence to support that narrative.

By Prof Suresh Deman*  There is an old difficulty in writing about political thinkers. Once their followers acquire power, it becomes increasingly hard to distinguish the thinker from what is subsequently said and done in his name. Satish Jha 's Owed to Every Child* attempts precisely that separation.

By Harsh Thakor*  In recent weeks, two open water swimmers from opposite sides of the world have pushed past barriers in endurance sport, showing what willpower can achieve. Each tested the limits of body and mind, and each did it in a way that will be remembered.

By Md. Abu Saim*  The United States' federal debt has crossed $40 trillion. The number is almost impossible to comprehend. To put it in perspective, it equates to roughly $117,000 per American—and it would take nearly 110,000 years to repay at $1 million per day.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Trains have been cancelled, metro services suspended, and announcements issued urging parents, teachers, and resident associations to exercise caution about venturing outdoors. A peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar has emerged as a major challenge for the current regime. People have witnessed such high-handedness before. The methodology is simple: foil the protest at all costs, using every possible means at the government's disposal.