30 April , 2016

Carnage In Syria
By Mary Scully

Making a sarcasm out of the ceasefire, Syrian airstrikes in Aleppo for the past six days have killed over 200 people. The bombing is targeting residential areas & according to witnesses, no neighborhood of the city has not been hit. That death toll is expected to rise. Wednesday they bombed a hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF/Doctors Without Borders), killing 27 people including children & three doctors. One of the doctors killed was the city's last pediatrician

Bangladesh: The Wages Of A Noxious Mix
By Fazal M. Kamal

Regardless of whatever entertaining but ineffectual verbiage administration leaders may spew and regardless of the incredibly inane—and entertaining too—stuff law enforcement honchos may regurgitate, the dreadful reality in Bangladesh is that nothing that they declare is of any consequence in stemming the trend of random murders that seems to persist unrelentingly

Australia’s French Connection: The Submarine Saga
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

It was all a funny business, but it is very clear that the Australian relationship with France, at least when it comes to matters of defence, has changed over the years. From being belligerents keen to pursue nuclear testing in the Pacific, to being “cheese eating surrender monkeys” prior to the Coalition of the Confused’s attack on Iraq in 2003, France has stormed into fashion as a military supplier for the Royal Australian Navy

Just Say No To Corporate Rule
By Ron Forthofer

The TPP and other deals such as the currently being negotiated Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will, if enacted, transfer more wealth to the top from the rest of us while further threatening our ecosystem. These deals must be stopped -- our lives and the lives of future generations depend on us stopping it now!

Financial Truancy, “Economism” And Moral Ambiguity In Public Debate Today
By Khaldun Malek

The recent expose’ of the so-called “Panama Papers” brings to light again the morally troubling issue of tax havens and the flight of capital from taxation. The fallout from this, as is now widely known, has had serious political implications. There is already a major political casualty in the form of the former prime minister of Iceland, who resigned amidst allegations of financial impropriety by a member of his family. Politically, the issue remains a highly charged one; even David Cameron, who in recent times was one of the most vocal proponents of reforms to curb the excesses of the financial truancy of both rich corporations and individuals has not been entirely absolved from the scandal

Stop Police-Sponsored Terror Of Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad In Latehar
By Concerned Citizens

During the last few years, villages of Manika Block in Latehar District have been terrorised by Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP), a police-sponsored outfit allegedly aimed at countering Maoist influence. Under this pretext, armed JJMP gangs are roaming in the area and harassing innocent villagers – extorting money, interfering with elections, supporting corrupt contractors, beating up dissenters, and even attempting to siphon off funds from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)

Kashmir: Truth Lost In Propaganda
By Gowhar Geelani

Twirling his grey moustache General (retired) Bakshi said on NDTV’s programme Big Fight (Kashmir On The Edge: What's The Solution?) that the Indian army personnel opened fired on the civilians in north Kashmir’s frontier towns of Handwara and Kupwara only when the angry protesters set their bunker on fire and tried to attack the army. “Should our soldiers be bowing their head to say ‘come on, mob lynch us’ we will exercise restraint?” The audience gave him a rapturous round of applause. The gullible Indian audience thought that the retired army general was speaking the gospel truth. But he was lying

A Conversation With VT Rajshekar, Editor Of Dalit Voice
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

A conversation with Mr VT Rajshekar, editor, Dalit Voice on various issues, Ambedkarite movement and threats that we face today and future of Dalit Voice. VT Rajshekar says that the Hindutva lobby compelled the printer to stop printing it

Now Reservation For Forwards
By Maanvender Singh

The cauldron on the Jat agitation was not even silenced and the Gujarat government has decided to extend reservation on economic basis for the upper castes. In both the cases, the argument is in favour of reservation for the forward or the dominant castes on the fallacious grounds of economic status

Bhopal Action On Narmada: 3-Days Fast Ends With A Pledge
By Narmada Bachao Andolan

The three days Collective Warning Fast (Samuhik Chetavani Upwas) at Bhopal is over. It did draw attention of the State and society (to the extent possible) towards the crisis and corruption in Sardar Sarovar Project. The 35 women, men including the elderly adivasis who went on 3 days continuous fast with students interns and activists, gained strength by raising a voice against utter injustice and challenging the governments of M.P., Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Union

29 April , 2016

Anti-Mining Activist Deba Ranjan Sarangi Speaks Out
By Countercurrents.org

Deba Ranjan Sarangi has been a consistent and passionate voice against injustice both within and outside Odisha. As a writer, film maker and human rights activist, he has highlighted and critiqued policies of destructive development, unbridled mining practices, displacement, police impunity, atrocities on Dalits, Adivasi issues , growth of communal fascism in Odisha, violence on women and farmers’ suicide in the context of acute agrarian crisis. Sarangi was arrested on March 18, 2016, by plainclothes policemen from the Kucheipadar village of Rayagada District, Odisha. After he was released on bail Countercurrents.org conducted an Email interview with him where he speaks of the hidden agenda of mining not just in Odisha but all over India. He also puts forward an alternative model of development for India

The Killing Field And The Incoherent Politics Of Bangladesh
By Taj Hashmi

The latest killings of scores of freethinking writers by “Islamist” or “unknown” assailants are fast turning Bangladesh into a killing field. The latest killings of an atheist blogger, one university professor, and two LGBT activists in Bangladesh have stirred the world outside Bangladesh. Even the UN has demanded prompt probe into the latest killings in the country. However, what we hear from Bangladesh is bizarre, and unfortunate. While the Home Minister thinks people live in absolute safety, the police chief has asked people to make their own “security circles”. Some politicians have already “identified” the killers, said to be BNP-Jamaat activists! Surprisingly, while the Home Minister asserts there is no ISIS in Bangladesh, the Information Minister has confirmed – with absolute precision – there are 8,000 al Qaeda activists in the country

Apple Sales Decline Points To Faultlines In Global Economy
By Barry Grey

Apple Inc., the world leader in market capitalization, reported on Tuesday its first quarterly sales decline in 13 years. The fall in both revenue and profits was worse than analysts had predicted and was led by the first quarterly decline in sales of the company’s top-selling product, the iPhone, since its introduction in 2007. The sharp reversal of the company’s growth trajectory was a reflection not only of stagnation and slump in the real economy, behind the giddy heights on world stock markets, but a warning that vastly inflated asset values are unsustainable and will inevitably come crashing down

Justin Trudeau Is A Climate Denying Monster
By Bill Henderson

Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau thinks that you have to build pipelines to mitigate climate change; that you need to raise revenue by producing fossil fuels to pay for a transition to a renewable energy, post-carbon economy

Closing Manus Island’s Detention Centre
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

It was considered by the Australian Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs to be inevitable and logical. The indefinite detention of 850 refugees and asylum seekers in the Manus Island Detention Centre, a large warehouse for humans seeking refuge from persecution, has been deemed illegal by the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court. Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, has taken the next step in attempting to close down the processing centre

Open Letter To Vice Chancellor Of JNU
By Sanjeev Kumar

Our beloved ‘Vice Chancellor’, first of all I take this opportunity to congratulate you for your act of punishing some anti-national students for their act on 9th February 2016. But I have some grievances which I would like to bring into your consideration

State of Siege: Report On Encounters And Cases Of Sexual Violence
In Bijapur And Sukma Districts Of Chhattisgarh
Press Release

Release of Fact Finding Report by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations (CDRO) and Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) entitled, “State of Siege: Report on Encounters and Cases of Sexual Violence in Bijapur and Sukma Districts of Chhattisgarh”

Changing Nature And Character Of The Indian State In The Post Liberalization Era;
State's Responses Towards The People's Movements In Koodankulam And Jaitapur
By Ajmal Khan A.T

State is becoming more strong in terms of using repressive measures against the discontents from the people as far as most of the people's movements in India are concerned, Koodankulam and Jaitapure are two different examples where state becomes the security agent for both the public and private corporations and agencies. It strongly repressed the discontents that is coming from the people. The needs are requirements of the private capital and the interests of the private players are met with even killing and charging seditions to the most vulnerable sections within the country

Nepal Should Be Proud Of Kanak Mani Dixit Instead Of Putting Him In Jail
Press Release

112 film makers, academics, journalists and artists from India petition for the immediate release of Kanak Mani Dixit

People From Narmada Valley Observe Three Day Fast
By National Alliance of People’s Movements

People from Narmada Valley observed three day fast from 27-29 April in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh with a nationwide support and solidarity from people and other movements through protests, Peaceful demonstration and fast in their region against the corruption in Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Sardar Sarovar Dam oustees, demanding to make Justice Jha Commission report public and accessible to the people as well as to Narmada Bachao Andolan and Narmada Control Authority (NCA), the petitioners in the Madhya Pradesh High Court

28 April , 2016

JNU Students Go On Hunger Strike
By Countercurrents.org

Led by JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, a group of students from Jawaharlal Nehru Univeristy, (JNU) Delhi started an indefinite hunger strike demanding a rollback of the university authorities' punishment for them. Students participating in the indefinite hunger-strike are Kanhaiya Kumar, Rama Naga- General Secretary JNUSU, Shweta Raj, Chintu Kumari, Anant Prakash Narayan, Sraborni Ahmed , Aqsa Asger, Nitisha Kholkar, K. Feyaz Ahmed , Pratim Ghoshal, Anand, Pankhuri Zaheer, Samanth Singh, Sunaina , G. Suresh, Birendra, Awadesh, Sanjeev and Parthipan

The Kanhaiya Phenomenon
By Vijaya Kumar Marla

If you observe Kanhaiya’s speeches and interviews, we can discern a definite direction in which he intends to go. First of all, he says that the lack of unity between the Left and Dalit sections has been the main reason for the rise of Hindutva Right. He was focusing his attack throughout on Hindutva, false nationalism and attack on educational institutions

More Steps Toward WW III
By Eric Zuesse

Also related to the step-up to war, Russia has reported on April 25th, that it's responding to America’s recently announced quadrupling of its troops and armaments in the Baltic republics on and near Russia’s northwestern Black Sea borders, by Russia's sending “more than ten” warships of its own to coastal waters there, for “training exercises,” just as the U.S. troops and weapons are likewise there for “training exercises”, as both sides prepare for an increasingly likely war between NATO and Russia

Arriving In Erbil And Wondering: What Lies Ahead
By Cathy Breen

“Much attention is on Syria and the European refugee crisis. That there are 3.4 million IDPs (internally displaced) in Iraq is unknown. The Kurdish have been very generous, but now they are barely keeping their heads above water. The surge capacity has been reached. If another 100,000 come, it will be unthinkable. Kurdistan has taken more refugees than the E.U., and yet they have to get on their knees to beg for assistance.”

Stories By The Fire
By Cathy Breen

It’s hard to put my feelings into words. "People far from the fire don't feel the heat." Here in Kurdistan I find myself feeling the heat of the fire as I watch so many good people who are being burnt

Did The Arabs Betray Palestine? - A Schism Between
The Ruling Classes And The Wider Society
By Ramzy Baroud

Hajah Zainab wept for two reasons: taking pity on me as I was fighting a deportation order in Cairo – for no other reason than the fact that I was a Palestinian at a time that Arafat endorsed Saddam Hussein while Hosni Mubarak chose to ally with the US. I grew desperate and dreaded the possibility of facing the Israeli intelligence, Shin Bet, who were likely to summon me to their offices once I crossed the border back to Gaza. The other reason is that Hajah Zainab’s only son, Ahmad, had died fighting the Israelis in Sinai

Can Responsibility To Protect (R2P) Preserve Our Cultural Heritage In Syria?
By Franklin Lamb

This month’s Trafalgar Square exhibition in London of a digitally modeled replica of Syria’s 2000 year old Roman Triumphal Arch at Palmyra (Tadmor), which was destroyed by ISIS in October, 2015, is sparking yet further discussion about the rights and wrongs of restoration at ancient sites

Counter Thinking The Medical Industry
By Prof. BM Hegde

Science should learn from nature; neither from the laboratory alone nor try to teach nature a lesson or two. Nature tells us that health is man’s birth right and any deviation from the normal (which is the rule rather than exception, called healthy chaos in science) is being managed by the human immune system. The range of change in blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol or any other of the millions of chemical molecules that humans have ( a single human cell cytoplasm has 10,000 protein molecules: there are one hundred thousand billion cells in all) all been managed properly by the immune mechanism. We have recent increase in diseases now, thanks to our messing up with our life styles and environment

The Kerala Binary: Us And Them
By Anamika Aami

The journey was an introspection of the self. I thought of the way I was afraid on seeing them, how easily I judged them. But then when I started talking, how the fear vanished, how the compassion came, how easily was I able to relate to them, their worries and how their tragedies became my personal tragedies. It was no more ‘them’ speaking’; but ‘us’. And it was beautiful

Sociology Of Kashmiri Nicknames
By Mohammad Ashraf

Kashmiris have a nickname for everyone and everything

27 April , 2016

2016: Is The El Nino Showing Us Where
The Edge Of The Climate Cliff Is?
By Roger Boyd

The last time the Earth had an El Nino event like 2015/16 was in 1997/98. The two events are actually very much alike, peaking at about the same time in the first year and at about the same temperature in the Nino 3.4 section of the equatorial Pacific. We seem to be setting up for the same thing in 2016, as January, February and March have already set new records, with both February (1.64°C) and March (1.58 °C) breaching the internationally agreed “safe-zone” of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial times set in Paris last year

Sanders Backs Obama “Kill List,” Troops To Syria
By A Reporter

Towards the end of a town hall meeting in Philadelphia broadcast last Monday night over MSNBC, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders declared his support for the Obama administration’s program of assassination by drone-fired missiles and its steady build-up of US troop strength in Syria and Iraq

The Failed Cruz-Kasich Pact: Donald Trump And GOP Desperation
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

Having Trump as a candidate for the GOP presidential run may look bad. Having a pact against him within the Republican movement designed to quash his chances to get the nomination looks even worse. It reeks of backroom deals, frustrated officials and failed prospects

Electoral Politics And The Illusion Of Control
By William Hawes

Today, the checks and balances used ostensibly to prevent tyranny are being used against us: even though a high majority (65%) is against government surveillance which violates privacy, and 78% want Citizens United overturned, we are stuck with a broken system and statesmen bought off by corporations. Even though 80% of eligible citizens didn’t vote in the 2014 elections, this year our out-of-touch pundits and mass media puppets prattle on unceasingly about our democracy, still misguidedly believing these candidates represent the will of the people

Number Of Palestinian Children In Israeli Prisons Soars
By Charlotte Silver

Israel has reached grim new highs this year, incarcerating a much greater number of Palestinian children between the ages of 12 and 15, making Dima’s imprisonment disturbing not so much for its novelty but for how routine it is

Sieg Heil Israel: The Zionisation Of Western Democracies Is now Complete
By William Hanna

During 2015 some writers understandably suggested that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was beginning to lose its grip on the U.S. government. It was believed that AIPAC’S waning influence was partly due to its “losing big on the Iran sanctions” and failing “to prevent the Iran nuclear deal.” Such optimism that the American people might be getting back has, regrettably, proved somewhat premature with news that the U.S. — at the urging of 83 of the 100 sitting senators is ready to offer Israel the largest aid package in history

Review: “A Lover's Country” By Stuart Rees – Overcoming Zionist Perversion Of
The Mainstream Palestine Narrative
By Dr Gideon Polya

“A Lover's Country” is an important, well-written and eminently readable novel by academic and human rights activist Stuart Rees based on the real life event of the award of the prestigious Sydney Peace Prize in 2003 to Palestinian writer, scholar, legislator and activist Hanan Ashrawi that aroused the ire of the ferocious Australian Zionist Lobby and its Mainstream journalist, politician and academic supporters that dominate media and public life in Australia (and elsewhere in the West) by lying, subversion, perversion, cajoling, censorship, threatening, defamation, litigation and intimidation

Understanding Money And The Economy
Book Review By William T. Hathaway

A review of "The Rocket Scientist's Guide to Money and the Economy" By Michael Sharp

26 April , 2016

Editor Of LGBT Magazine And Friend Killed In Bangladesh
By Countercurrents.org

Xulhaz Mannan, an editor at LGBT magazine Roopbaan, was killed alongside another victim, when unidentified attackers came to their apartment in Dhaka yesterday, posing as couriers. Another person was also injured in the attack The killings come just two days after a university professor, 58-year-old Rezaul Karim Siddique, was hacked to death near his home in the northern Bangladesh district of Rajshahi, on his way to the city’s public university where he taught. Earlier this month Nazimuddin Samad, a Bangladeshi law student who had expressed secular views online, died when he was attacked with machetes and then shot in the capital, Dhaka. Last year, suspected militants killed five secular writers including Avijit Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin and his publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan

China Debt Levels Reach Record High
By Nick Beams

Chinese debt levels have risen to a record 237 percent of gross domestic product, according to a report published in the Financial Times over the weekend, prompting warnings that the country could be heading for a Lehman-style financial crisis or a protracted period of low growth like that which has afflicted Japan over the past two decades

The Real Meaning of Donald Trump 
By Tom Engelhardt

He's a Sign of American Decline (Just Not in the Way You Think) 

RSPO Orders Palm Oil Company To Stop Work
In Shipibo Territory In The Peruvian Amazon
By Forest Peoples Programme

On the 25th April the complaints panel of the RSPO (Round table on Sustainable Palm Oil) issued a preliminary ‘Stop work order’ to Plantaciones de Pucallpa, one of its Peruvian members, whose operations are affecting the territory of the Shipibo community of Santa Clara de Uchunya in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon. The order was issued after the community of Santa Clara de Uchunya filed a formal complaint in December 2015 against Plantaciones de Pucallpa for the destruction of over 5000 hectares of their ancestral forest lands. The complaint cites the devastating impacts on the rivers and forest ecology on which their subsistence livelihood depends, the destruction of community dwellings and the restrictions on community members who wish to access the forest

Marilyn Monroe In Bendigo
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

Even the exhibition captions provide a sense of the elusive Marilyn. This is despite an admission that, “The definitive truth about the life, loves and personal motivations of Marilyn Monroe will perhaps never be revealed.” Hence the pure sadism and voyeurism here: Monroe in a dress (or selected dresses) that women can adore with admiring fancy and men can remove with lust-driven eyes; Monroe in a role that is a prison before the came

The RSS Brahmantva Versus Dalit-Bahujans
By Braj Ranjan Mani

As the most sinister defender of brahmanical social order under the guise of Hindu nationalism, the RSS-BJP knows that the awakening of Dalit-bahujans and their coming together with the Left and other egalitarian forces will herald a chain of events that will end only with the dismantling of brahmanical power. It is this mortal fear that haunts the RSS-BJP, despite being in power, and this explains their digressive madness of ghar wapsi, cow protection, the killings of rationalists and Rohith Vemula, and the drama of nationalism-in-danger alongside organized attacks on JNU and HCU as centres of ‘sedition’ and ‘anti-national’ activities

A Seven-Month Pregnant Christian Lady Drenched With Petrol
By Bajrang Dal In Chattisgarh
By Shubhda Chaudhary

On 23rd March, a church in Raipur had been vandalized by the members of Bajrang Dal where a couple as well as women and children present were attacked. Pastor Dinbandhu Sameli along with his seven-month pregnant wife and daughter Roushni Vidya were attacked by the members, who were carrying pistols, knives and rods. They also wanted to set the church on fire

25 April , 2016

JNU Rusticates Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya; Kanhaiya Kumar Fined
By Countercurrents.org

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration has rusticated Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhhatacharya in connection with an event organised in the campus to mark the death anniversary of Afzal Guru on February 9 where some anti-national slogans were allegedly shouted. While Umar has been rusticated for one semester and a fine of Rs. 20,000 imposed on him Anirban has been declared out of bounds from the campus for five years after July 23, 2016. He has been rusticated till the period of July 15. JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was also charged with sedition and arrested in connection with the incident has, however, not been rusticated. The university authorities have imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on him

Vote Hillary To Stop Don: That’s A Stance Based On Privilege, Racism, Solipsism
By Robert Barsocchini

The lesser evil is to ignore these monsters and their misguided supporters and build a movement to supplant both them and the system of bribery and oligarchy they have helped create, and in which they thrive and fester. In the short term, Hillary/Donald and their cronies will continue to murder and torture worldwide. But in the long term, once we ignore and supplant them with a mass movement that a) has not been dispersed by thinking it has to peter out and support one of them, and b) is dedicated to ending bribery, oligarchy, and US international terror and aggression, then everyone, not just Westerners, will be much better off

Sanders’ Choice
By James Rothenberg

It is the people themselves, acting independently of presidents, congress, and the courts that have forced change to come about through direct action, protests, strikes, and civil disobedience. The disaster for the citizen is to allow him/herself to rely upon either of these two parties or the courts for justice, including the Supreme Court. With a fitting irony these two highly unlikeable candidates, Clinton and Trump, are in their own way the perfect products of a governing system no longer capable of meeting the needs of its people

Meddlesome Empire: Obama And Client Britain’s EU Referendum
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

What has emerged on this presidential tour is a list of political realities. Imperial centres will lecture their irresponsible satellites; hidden power will eventually manifest itself in speech and warning, and the only thing left, irrespective of which side of the debate one endorses, is that Britain is being roasted by the prong of the EU and the strategic thrust of the United States. Either way, a truly sovereign Britain is hardly likely to eventuate

The 28 Pages And Ties Between The United States And Saudi Arabia
By Chandra Muzaffar

There is a powerful case for de-classifying the “28 pages” of the Report of the Joint Inquiry of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate into 9-11 --- regarded as one of the United States’ most sensitive documents --- which has been kept under wraps since 2003. The families of the 9-11 victims are demanding that the 28 pages be made public. A number of prominent present and past legislators are making the same plea. In fact, there is a Bill before the US House of Representatives requesting the White House to reveal the document. Well-known public figures and several NGOs in the US have been campaigning for the release of the 28 pages for some time now

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov - Lenin, The Maker Of The Russian Revolution
By Gaither Stewart

In his work “Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution”, Lenin discusses a vexing Russian pre-revolutionary problem similar to the problem facing American left radicals today. For Russia of that epoch the question was one of timing and tactics: Was the classical Marxian bourgeois revolution leading to a democratic republic as a first step toward the Socialist Revolution necessary, and even possible, considering the pusillanimous nature of the Russian bourgeoisie at the time? Or could Russia bypass bourgeois capitalism altogether and leap directly from backwardness into advanced socialism? Today, more than a handful of people ask: What will be the nature of the long overdue Great American Revolution?

The Future Of U.S-Cuban Relations
By Jack A. Smith

Washington's partial rapprochement with Havana, symbolized by President Barack Obama's recent visit to Cuba, is more advantageous to the United States than the neighboring country it has ostracized, sanctioned and subverted for over five decades

Hundreds Of People From The Narmada Valley To Observe Fast
By National Alliance of People’s Movements

Even today, after the Jha Commission Report, the families who haven’t been rehabilitated have not yet been granted justice or rights, neither have the culprits been punished. The Modi Government has through the Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharastra governments, pulled strings to increase the height of the dam by 17 mts, i.e., from 122 t to 139 mt. The construction of the gates is almost complete. We will not let them complete this and through JalSamarpan will save the valley. It is in this context, that hundreds of people from the Narmada Valley will observe Fast ( ChetavniUpvas) from 27th to 29th April, 2016 in Bhopal

CPDR Condemns The Sacking Of An Upright Dalit Judge By Chattisgarh Government
By Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights

Prabhakar Gwal, Chief Judicial Magistrate during his posting at Sukma has been dismissed by the Chattisgarh government for being a pro-poor and pro-adivasi. A young dalit 2006 batch judge, he became known for taking on corrupt officers and for being a thorn in the flesh of the government and the police. He has now been summarily terminated "in the public interest” by the Chattisgarh government on the recommendation of the High Court. The government has stated that it is "dispensing with any inquiry since it is not possible to conduct an inquiry"

24 April , 2016

Defend Brazil, Dilma!
By Andre Vltchek

The Brazilian people elected Ms. Rousseff democratically. They voted for her so she could defend them, to improve their lives. She should now think about her voters, only about them! What the ‘opposition’ wants to achieve is clear. It is the same everywhere: in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. Right-wingers have already succeeded in Argentina, where they are right now busy dismantling the welfare state. They have to be stopped. The government reasoned with them, for months and years. They opted for this coup. Now force has to be used. As ugly as it may look, not acting would be much more damaging and dangerous

New Direction For Resolving The Middle East Crisis
By Dan Lieberman

Oppression of the Palestinians has moved beyond a cause for the Palestinians and emergency measures to relieve their plight. Countering the severe persecution is an international cause that considers the dangers to all peoples from Israel's posture -- breeding terrorism, nurturing continuous conflagrations in the Middle East, and enhancing the possibility of a nuclear war

The Shame Of Anzac Day: An Aotearoan Perspective
By Kieran Kelly

When the Great War was first commemorated it was in the spirit that we must never let this happen again. Antiwar sentiment was the norm, not least in the RSA. In 1922 if you bought one of the first red poppies sold here, you were donating to an organisation that was committed to peace. Now, I fear, we have forgotten the lessons of two world wars and Anzac Day is increasingly nationalistic and militaristic. This is not a day for pride. Pride is the greatest offence against the memories of the fallen

Condemn The Unconstitutional Termination Of Sukma Chief Judicial Magistrate
By Indian Association of Peoples’ Lawyers

On 14 April, 2016 the Chhattisgarh government dismissed Sukma's Chief Judicial Magistrate Prabhakar Gwal. A 2006 batch judicial officer, Gwal, belongs to the Dalit community and has questioned the manner in which the police have been indiscriminately arresting tribals in the conflict zones of Chhattisgarh. It is in this background, on 8th February 2016, the Sukma Superintendent of Police complained to the District Judiciary against Gwal stating that among other things he has been granting bail to naxal accused and such decisions have “adversely affected the morale of the security forces” and “weakens the judicial process”. It is based on such complaints that Chhattisgarh government dismissed Gwal on the grounds of "public interest" following the recommendation of the Chhattisgarh High Court

Reply To Chetan Bhagat, When Vanity Overtook Your Meekness
By Shahid Lone

Since a few of my colleagues have already sent you schooling manuals pertaining to Kashmir dispute but I am damn sure, you won’t take out your black aviator and merit the things as they are. So, allow me to trespass your valuable time by laying down a few lines of factual considerations there to: In your theatrical and euphemistically open letter to kashmiri’s like me, which rationally lacked kosher concreteness from historical and political frames, shouldered me with a responsibility to make you aware of few facts. Lets analyze your letter in a phased manner

23 April , 2016

Washington Launches Its Attack Against BRICS
By Paul Craig Roberts

Having removed the reformist President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Washington is now disposing of the reformist President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff

Listen Up: Mother Earth Is Calling Us Back
By David Korten

Those of us who succumbed to the false promises of Western consumerism at great cost to our Earth mother, our living Earth family, and ourselves, are Earth’s prodigal children now returning home. We have only begun, however, to confront the implications for how we must now learn to live

Coexisting In Peace And Harmony With Earth's Biodiversity
By Pratap Antony

Our impact on the planet has been so profound that biodiversity (the variety of life on earth), forests, earth, water, air, animals, plants, fungi, micro-organisms, are being consumed faster than nature can replenish them. And due to the speed of our impact and the global scale of our activities on Earths resources over the last 250 years, we have inexorably changed the chemistry of the oceans and the character of our soils and the atmosphere; we now face a worrying scarcity of critical resources

Gagging The Scientists: Britain’s Proposed Rules
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

Has the British political establishment had an atrophying episode on the science front? Suggestions that this might be the case came last week when there were suggestions that a gag of Britain’s scientists might be in the works. The Cabinet Office had busied itself with proposals in February that, if implemented, would prevent organisations from using tax-payer funds to lobby parliamentarians

Movie Review: “Where To Invade Next” By Michael Moore –
Hammer, Chisel, Down For Social Humanism
By Dr Gideon Polya

Michael Moore's latest movie “Where to invade next” is testament to the failure of democracy in One Percenter-dominated America. Moore invades 9 countries to steal their ideas for America e.g. Italy (generous holidays), France (healthy gourmet lunches for school kids), Finland (best education with least schooling), Slovenia (students saved free university education), Germany (worker empowerment and history truth-telling), Norway (humane prisons and no death penalty), Portugal (drug decriminalization works), Tunisia (equal rights for women), and Iceland (female empowerment and jailing of banker criminals). Punchlines: (1) Americans actually first proposed these ideas, and (2) Hammer, Chisel, Down for Social Humanism

The Yemen Conflict: Solutions To An Unnecessary War
By Rene Wadlow

Poverty and the lack of a peaceful political horizon seem to be the continuing fate of Yemen, but violent internal conflict and Saudi aggression may not be permanent. With the start of negotiations, there is a role for NGOs to encourage the efforts in contacting organizations and individuals that might have a positive impact on events. There are many geopolitical and economic interests who want “peace” on their terms. Thus, our role as world citizens seeking a relatively just compromise solution is ever more important

Western Xenophobia, Islam And The Third World
By Jon Kofas

Throughout civilization the process of cultural diffusion that takes place primarily through migration has been the catalyst for societal progress while isolation has been the catalyst for backwardness, decline and fall. Xenophobes and other varieties of racists clinging to the phantom of “purity” in race, ethnicity, and culture fail to recognize this reality tested throughout history across the world, thus inviting the demise the civilization they are trying to preserve

FIFA, Human Rights And Politics: One Step Forward, Two Steps Backwards
By James M. Dorsey

World soccer body FIFA’s creation of a watchdog to monitor the living and working conditions of migrant labour employed on World Cup 2022-related construction sites constitutes the second time in a month that Qatar has been warned that it needs to demonstrate sincerity in its reform of the Gulf state’s controversial labour system

The Illusion Of Rights
By John Chuckman

In the United States where construction of a national security state is well underway, the template being that of Israel, a state which despite a stage show of democracy is quite literally more of a security state than the former East Germany

On Coming To Reading Late In Life: Yet Another Letter To Young People
By Romi Mahajan

I came to reading late in life. Certainly “later” than I should have. And I still pay the price for it. Please don’t do that to yourself

Don’t Play Games With Indian Constitutionalism
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava

Uttarakhand developments are not good for the country because Union government loses neutral position, citizens are confused. The SC stays the HC order , what does it mean to a common person? Two authorities two different decisions, common citizens are more confused. Hence the right way is to follow the dictums proposed by Sarkaria commission and the S R Bommai case. Indian constitutionalism needs to be nurtured. Don’t play games with it. B R Ambedkar had said that this article will remain a dead letter word but in fact it has become a soft toy in the hands of the ruling parties which confuse common persons in periodic manner

The Inheritance Of The Congress Socialist Party
By Prem Singh

The current Indian politics has two goals : the defence of our Independence from the onslaught of neo-imperialism and the establishment of a socialist society. This work can only be done by associating with the inheritence of the Indian Socialist Movement, the foundation of which was laid along with the establishment of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934. Without this determination and initiative the celebration of the 82nd foundation-day of the CSP will be merely ceremonial

Nationalism A Real Menace
By Hanzala bin Aman

Today, the kind of nationalism which has gained force all over the world is Religious-backed nationalism. This nationalism has serious consequences which are evident from loss of humanity due to Islamism, Zionism, Hindutva, Buddhist nationalism etcetera. Religion has a stark commonality with nationalism as both encourage ethnocentrism and racism. It, to a very large extent, shrouds the thinking of the mass and helps in very powerful polarization with Nationalism

Bhagwan Das: A Legendary Ambedkarite
By S.R.Darapuri

Remembering Bhagwan Das on his 88th Birthday

22 April , 2016

On This Earth Day Let's Remind Ourselves That We Are
The Most Destructive Species On Earth
By Pratap Antony

We humans though, have been around for a comparatively short while, yet we are making ourselves extinct due to our own activities. In our short existence, we have impacted every corner of the world with smog, with acid rain; by breaking-up habitats and causing extinctions. We have taken the route to deforestation to make more room for ourselves. And, through sheer cruelty and indiscriminate killing, we have disturbed the ecological balance of nature. Birds and animals are dying and gradually getting extinct. Seasons and the soil have been changed harmfully. We are waging ecocide to garner greater power to ourselves. We are cruel without remorse and we hold nature, environmental issues, truth and justice in contempt. We will soon be wiping ourselves out due to man-made climate changes and devastation of food and water supply. And, we also wage war with each other. We are killing ourselves

European Powers On Verge Of New Military Intervention In Libya
By Johannes Stern

The European powers are exploiting the mass drownings in the Mediterranean Sea to expand their military engagement in the region and prepare a new intervention in Libya. Concretely, the EU intends to expand its military mission in the Mediterranean and take action against refugees on the Libyan coast. This was agreed at a meeting of EU foreign and defence ministers on Monday in Luxembourg

Is Hillary Clinton The Democrats’ Richard Nixon?
By Eric Zuesse

Richard Nixon’s similarities to Hillary Clinton are remarkable. Here are 9 of them

I Saw The King Naked First! Let’s Refresh Our Yunus - Memory!
By Omar Tarek Chowdhury

Ten years ago, right after the receipt of Nobel Peace Prize by the King, Countercurrents.org published (December 16, 2006) an op-ed by yours truly headlined ‘Nobel-Man's Un-Noble Corporate Nexus.’ It’s quite amusing to see how many of the information furnished in that decade-old op-ed is being proven correct by the information revealed only days ago by the US-based The Daily Caller News Foundation. That Countercurrents.org op-ed named the names to chart how the Yunus-myth was manufactured, what is his contribution through much advertised microcredit and its linkage with the global capital and corporation. The nexus between the most influential power broker, Muhammad Yunus, and his most powerful friends once residing in the White House are being attested by this breaking news by DCNF of the USA. I invite all readers to revisit that investigative and analytical op-ed carried by Countercurrents, which appears prophetic, below to refresh our Yunus-memory

Catching-Up With Cynthia McKinney… And Looking (Worriedly) Ahead
By Gary S. Corseri

An interview with Cynthia McKinney who served six terms in the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party of the United States nominated McKinney for President of the United States. She was the first black woman to represent Georgia in the House.” McKinney served as a Commissioner in The Citiens’ Commission on 9-11…. In Congress, she advocated unsealing records pertaining to the CIA's role in the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and introduced articles of impeachment against President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice

Anzac Day Memories: The Sullen Child Of History
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

Australian servicemen and women, fighting in distant theatres without knowledge, awareness or understanding – this is the Gallipoli heritage, the inverted idea that being on foreign soil for pre-emptive gain is somehow a good idea. Australian resources have been deployed in what was then Malaya during the Emergency, on the Korean peninsula, secretly in Indonesia, Afghanistan, Iraq, with other theatres. All needing the oddly crafted Anzac image which, let’s face it, was forged in the heat of invading a sovereign state

Given Ultimatum, Obama Forced To Publicly Display Preference
For Saudi Terror-Leader, Money, Over 9/11 Victims
By Robert Barsocchini

Whereas Obama has previously tried in public to downplay his preferences in this area, he has now been forced to display them and has announced to the US population that he sides with Saudi dictator Salman bin Abdulaziz over the 9/11 victims and their families

Yes. ALL Men
By Mickey Z.

Males as a class are the johns, the rapists, the rape apologists, the assaulters, the pornographers, the exploiters, the oppressors, the murderers. And these males are relentless. And they will go to extraordinary lengths to act out their phallocentric fantasies

Journalism, Pro-GMO Triumphalism And Neoliberal Dogma In India
By Coin Todhunter

Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar is a senior Indian journalist. He is also a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington. On the Times of India website, Aiyar recently penned a pro-GMO puff piece peppered with the usual predictable unsubtle claims and smears that many of us have come to expect from the GMO lobby. Aiyar states that India must move people out of agriculture into industry and services. He then asserts GM crops will raise yields but they have been opposed by various NGOs on pseudo-scientific grounds. According to Aiyar, the introduction of GM mustard to India will raise yields by 20-30% and will also reduce India’s dependence on imported edible oil

Obscured American: Anna The Retired Teacher,
Cab Driver And Computer Programmer
By Linh Dinh

A week ago, I talked to someone who taught public school in Little Cambodia, but Anna got there in a very roundabout way. Let’s hear her story

21 April , 2016

2016 World Press Freedom Index:Leaders Paranoid About Journalists
By Reporters Without Borders

Seen as a benchmark throughout the world, the Index ranks 180 countries according to the freedom allowed journalists. It also includes indicators of the level of media freedom violations in each region. These show that Europe (with 19.8 points) still has the freest media, followed distantly by Africa (36.9), which for the first time overtook the Americas (37.1), a region where violence against journalists is on the rise. Asia (43.8) and Eastern Europe/Central Asia (48.4) follow, while North Africa/Middle East (50.8) is still the region where journalists are most subjected to constraints of every kind

Civilians Under Fire As Islamic State Seizes Yarmouk
By Maureen Clare Murphy

Thousands of civilians in Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus are once again in immediate danger as fierce fighting between rival groups has trapped families in their homes, preventing access to food and water. The Palestine Liberation Organization’s envoy to Syria said Tuesday night that Islamic State militants were in control of 70 percent of the camp and were beheading and raping residents

Earth Is Our Mother, Nature Is Our Partner
By Pratap Antony

It is a wonderful world we live in. Or it was. Or it could have been. And it still could be. It is up to us to make the world we live in a wonderful world. Its very simple really. All we need to do to make this happen is to stop assuming that we are in-charge. We, humans, have to come to the realisation that we are not superior to anything else on Earth. Earth and its resources are not at our beck and call. Earth and everything on our planet is not meant to serve our needs. We have to serve Earth

Creating The Future
By John Scales Avery

I strongly believe that we must not allow ourselves the luxury of fatalism, especially today, when our future is darkened by the twin threats of catastrophic climate change and thermonuclear war. We must accept our responsibility for both the near future and the distant future. We must do all that is within our power to make our world one in which our children and their descendants can survive. We must save the environment. We must save plants and animals from extinction

Palestine And Zioinism The Whole Truth
By Alan Hart

Very, very few Jews have any biological/ancestral connection the ancient Hebrews. The Jews are peoples (not a people) from many different homelands; and back in time many converted to Judaism long after the relatively brief rule of the ancient Hebrews, the Israelites. What I am saying boils down to this. The notion that there are two peoples with a valid claim to Palestine is rubbish

At 80, Failed Abbas Is Probed, Derided And Scapegoated
By Ramzy Baroud

Since Arafat’s death in 2004, and his advent to power through a questionable democratic process in 2005, Abbas has worked laboriously to co-exist with the Israeli Occupation but failed to co-exist with his own Palestinian rivals. True, it has been a decade of unmitigated Palestinian leadership failure, but it certainly took more than Abbas to manage that political fiasco. Now, at 80, Abbas seems to have become a scapegoat for a whole class of Palestinians which has worked to manage the Occupation and benefit from it

The Act Of Seeking Forgiveness, One Sorry At A Time
By B.F. Firos

British queen, in whose name all the horrible sins were committed all over the world, and her political progeny owes a series of apologies to India over the truckloads of colonial atrocities. The Indian list of apology-worthy events is pretty long. Expecting a sorry for Gujarat genocide from the globe-trotting Modi will be asking for the moon! May be that Rs 15 lakhs deposit he promised to every citizen's bank account can happen. Never an apology. If Rahul Gandhi can offer sincere apologies to the Sikhs for the 1984 anti-Sikh killings, not an utterance of stilted or insincere words, that can indeed take the burden of guilt off the party’s shoulder

Development: A Noose Around Keralite's Neck
By K.P. Sasi

The total debts of the state is1,35,440.4 crores. If we go by an assumption that an average family in Kerala has four members, then the debt of every family in Kerala is an amount of Rs. 1,59,340 (One Lakh Fifty Nine Thousand Three Hundred and Forty) plus interests on this amount. Most of the farmers who committed suicide so far in India had suffered a debt of only less than 1.5 lakhs (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand rupees). Kerala is on the verge of a collective suicide!

#FreeHandwaraGirl
Petition Campaign

Since 12 April, the 16 year old Handwara girl has been effectively in continuous illegal police custody.Her access to her family and legal team has not only been prevented but also controlled by the state authorities. The continued detention of the minor girl and her family members violates their civil liberty and basic rights too. The continued police detention also means a threat to her physical and psychological well being

The Need To Protest Rapes By Fathers
By Meenakshi Gogoi

Some of the recent news reports of rapes by fathers are here. A Navi Mumbai school girl wrote a letter to her teacher about being raped by her father many times and the mother did do nothing to help her, an 18 year old girl filmed a video to prove rape by her father in U.P, another rape case where the father raped her daughter to stop her from seeing her boyfriend and in Telengana’s Ranga Reddy district last year

The “Kneeling” Touch!
By Mohammad Ashraf

Instead of applying the much touted “Healing Touch” to the suffering people, the PDP has gone for the “Kneeling Touch” to BJP and RSS with disastrous results for the Kashmiris!

Odisha’s Land Degrading At A Rate Of More Than 1,95,000 Hectare Per Year!
By Water Initiatives Odisha

In 2006, Odisha’s leading water and environment watchdog Water Inititaives Odisha (WIO) had warned that many parts of Odisha are already showing symptoms of desertification. The state is ‘developing’ from a drought prone to desert prone region. Desertification is a process of productivity loss of lands. When severe, it leads to permanent damages to land

20 April , 2016

Clinton, Trump Post New York Primary Victories
By Patrick Martin

The result of the New York primary is that it appears more likely that the Democratic and Republican parties will nominate as their candidates the most widely despised figures in modern American political history. An opinion poll published last week found that Trump was viewed favorably by only 24 percent, compared to 65 percent disapproving, for a net negative standing of minus 41 percent, the worst figure ever recorded for a presidential frontrunner of a major capitalist party. Clinton’s numbers were the second worst ever recorded: 32 percent favorable compared to 56 percent unfavorable, for a net negative of minus 24 percent

Empire Files Exposes What Hillary Clinton Really Represents
By Robert Barsocchini

Abby Martin expose of Hillary Clinton is devastating and will further diminish her wavering support among non-oligarch US citizens, relegating her to being elected by the anti-democratic means on which she relies, from kick-backs and slush-funds to hundreds of billions of dollars in arms sales to foreign dictators

US Announces New Iraq Deployments
By Thomas Gaist

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced a further escalation of the US war in Iraq to include deployment of at least 200 additional troops, along with Apache helicopter gunships and artillery. Carter’s announcement, made during an unannounced visit to Iraq, is the latest in a steady drumbeat of US escalations in Iraq and Syria, which now occur on a near-weekly basis. This is despite the fact that current troop levels are already well above the Obama administration’s official limit of 3,870. US forces are increasingly involved in conventional and large-scale ground combat, making a mockery of Obama’s numerous vows to the contrary

Mild Punishment And Exoneration: The Killing Of Reza Barati
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

In February 2014, Reza Barati, architecture graduate and Iranian asylum seeker who found himself in the wars of history, died at the hands of Louie Efi and Joshua Kaluvia in the sordid place of pain known as the Manus Island Detention Centre. The offshore processing facility acts as a meat grinder for Australia’s refugee policies, a costly, cruel mechanism that has little to do with international law and everything to do with sovereign selfishness. It keeps company with another stain of ill-treatment – the Nauru Detention Centre

Iranian Teacher Racially Abuses Ahwazi Children For Speaking Arabic
By Rahim Hamid

A Persian Iranian teacher reportedly punished two Ahwazi Arab primary school pupils for speaking with each other in their Arabic mother tongue last week by forcing them to wash out their mouths with soap and water, warning other pupils that they would face the same punishment if he heard them speaking Arabic or if they were reported to have done so in his absence

‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyan Invisibilises The Linkage Of Caste And Sanitation
And Glamourises Broom Among Scavenging Communities’ – Bezwada Wilson
By Subhash Gatade

An interview with Bezwada Wilson, National Convener of Safai Karmachari Andolan

Kashmir: Killings, Curfew And The Myth Of Normalcy
By Aadil Farooq

As the authorities lifted curfew in Kupwara and Handwara towns after days of demonstrations and subsequent killings, it seems that normalcy has returned to valley. But such arguments whose premises are laid on an ultra-myopic sense are themselves subjected to debate. What we mean by normalcy when the context is Kashmir specific

Do You Remember Kunanposhpora
Book Review By Javeed Bin Nabi

The intense lamentable night which the five ladies of Kashmir describes wholly in this book " Do You Remember Kunanposhpora " was full of agony , barbarism , hapless and unheard screams. The authors of the book narrate the agony of that night when Indian army turned themselves into beasts

19 April , 2016

US-Russia Tensions Flare In Baltic Sea
By Jordan Shilton

The Pentagon announced Saturday that it was filing a formal complaint with the Russian Defense Ministry and US Secretary of State John Kerry threatened retaliatory action after two incidents involving US and Russian forces in the Baltic Sea. The Pentagon alleged that a Russian SU-27 fighter jet flew within 50 feet of a US reconnaissance plane in international airspace on April 14, and that a Russian jet and helicopter “buzzed” the Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook as it was conducting military exercises with Poland in the Baltic two days earlier. The two incidents demonstrate once again that Washington’s aggressive military build-up throughout Eastern Europe, in close collaboration with its NATO allies, has brought the entire region to the brink of war between nuclear powers

The Lid’s Off The Petri Dish (Includes A Packaged Meal)
By Priti Gulati Cox

Back in 2014, Narendra Modi’s slogan in his ultimately successful campaign for the prime ministership of India was Achhe Din Aane Wale Hain (Good Days Are Coming.) His party—the right-wing BJP—somehow won a majority on its own with an unprecedentedly low vote share of only 31%. That victory has ejaculated blobs of orange rage with RSS (BJP’s parent organization) and its hindutva-heavies at the core. They’re hurriedly quashing any voices or actions of assertion and inclusion that might raise their heads anywhere along the spectrum of students, Dalits, Muslims and other minority communities, across the country and in occupied Kashmir. At the same time and closer to home, Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” is making its rounds and mobilizing a previously non-organized political support base

Breaking Free From Corporate Shackled Democracy
By Nozomi Hayase

Relationships with psychopaths are like castles made of sand. Over time, they become unsustainable as their parasitic nature eventually begin to kill the host. In the end, the façade crumbles and truth reveals itself. The illusion of American democracy inevitably will dissolve, it is just a matter of when. Meanwhile, the destruction continues. Will we allow this pathological pursuit of power to destroy our world and all that we cherish and hold dear? The power to break free from this shackled democracy is in our hands. We simply have to claim it.

US 2015 Oil Production And Future Oil Prices
By Gail Tverberg

US oil production flattened out in 2015. If we look at changes relative to the same month, one-year prior, we see that as of December 2014, growth was very high, increasing by 18.0% relative to the prior year. Today, there is a great deal of faith that oil prices will rise, if someone, somewhere, will reduce oil production. In fact, in order to bring oil demand back up to a level that commands a price over $100 per barrel, we need consumers who can afford to buy a growing quantity of goods made with oil products. To do this, we need to fix three related problems:- Low wages of many consumers ,World debt that is no longer rising (especially for consumers) ,A high dollar relative to other currencies. These problems are likely to be difficult to fix, so we should expect low oil prices, more or less indefinitely. Lack of oil supply may bring a temporary spike in oil prices, but it cannot fix a permanent problem with consumer spending around the world

What Really Stands In The Way Of Closing Guantánamo 
By Karen J. Greenberg

Can you believe it? We're in the last year of the presidency of the man who, on his first day in the Oval Office, swore that he would close Guantánamo, and yet it and everything it represents remains part of our all-American world. So many years later, you can still read news reports on the ongoing nightmares of that grim prison, ranging from detention without charge to hunger strikes and force feeding. Its name still echoes through the halls of Congress in bitter debate over what should or shouldn't be done with it. It remains a global symbol of the worst America has to offer

Truth Is The First Casualty Of War: Nagorno-Karabakh And Media Misinformation
By Jirair Tutunjian

Considering the deteriorating condition of the profession, it’s no surprise that many of its practitioners did a shabby job in reporting on the early April fighting between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). As usual, East vs. West friction, national and corporate interests (Azeri oil more precious than Armenian blood), carelessness and sheer ignorance played a part in their coverage. And as on other occasions, the conflict was often covered in Manichean terms

Transformation: A Student-Led Mass Political Movement
By William John Cox

If in fact the USVRA has the inherent potential to unify a national, nonpartisan, political movement, and if the People of the United States are prepared to bring about a transformation of their own government, all that is required is a catalyst to bring these elements together. Will the students of America be the spark that ignites the evolution? Answering that question is the most important test the current generation of students will ever have to take, and the grade they earn will be forever marked in the annals of human civilization

My Last Thoughts On The 2016 Election (as if it actually matters)
By Mickey Z.

For the past two decades, my presidential election-related writing could be summed up in one of my favorite phrases: The primary difference between Democrats and Republicans is that they tell different lies to get elected. I had that line polished and ready to shine again… but along came Donald Trump. This time around, there finally is a greater evil component

Obscured American: Shane The Fighter, Heroin Chipper And Ghetto Teacher
By Linh Dinh

In his late 30’s, Shane got a degree in education from Arcadia College. He graduated with honors and hasn’t been in a fight in years. Shane also quit heroin. This is how it happened

Ajit Doval Briefing Against Principle Of Natural Justice
And Equality Before The Law
By Anurag Modi

Chhattisgarh state has been turned into exclusive war-zone; where: adivasi are either killed or implicated in false cases; women are raped; lawyers, journalists and activists helping them are either jailed or hounded out. At this juncture, your briefing with National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, would further worsen the situation. The briefing would set a wrong precedent; as it is against the principle natural justice and equality before the law

Cholesterol Ghost Everywhere
By Dr. B. M. Hegde

Cholesterol should be checked only if there are sound clinical indications. * A mixed diet low in calories and saturated fat should be recommended along with some physical exercise. * It is irresponsible to force public into a costly cholesterol reducing programme without firm scientific evidence. * Do not rely on one reading of the fat profile, check at least five to six times from different laboratories, if the original result was high. * Indian vegetarian diet without much fried foods and other saturated fats and low salt is the ideal one for most people. * Avoiding alcohol and tobacco is as important if not more important than worrying about cholesterol

No Water For Cricket!
By Suraj Kumar Thube

The Indian Premier League jamboree is back and the familiar sight of a sea of blue at the Wankhede stadium was evident in its inaugural match. However, this time around, the most popular image wasn't really about the jam packed stadium or the ever passionate crowd of Mumbai. It was about a few workers watering the outfield days before the match. Water had become the main bone of contention even before the start of the IPL as a PIL had been filed at the Bombay High court against the shifting of all the remaining matches outside the drought hit state of Maharashtra. It becomes imperative at this backdrop to view the merits of this move by the court now that the decision has to be implemented from next month

Kashmir Resistance At A Crossroads
By Adil Beig

Over the past 27 years of resistance, Kashmir has witnessed massacres, rapes, tortures, disappearances, and yet it has stood strong to resist. In the hindsight, though, we know this won’t be the last killing and Kashmir has to prepare to shoulder many more coffins in future; but let not the barbarians snatch us of our beloved ones so mercilessly

Kashmir: ‘More Things Change, More They Remain The Same’
By Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation

Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation is alarmed at how a demand for justice results again in killing of civilians by a trigger happy Government force in Kashmir. The alleged molestation of a 16 year old girl on April 12th by a personnel of 21 RR posted in Handwara, and resultant protests saw abduction and illegal incarceration by Police of the girl, her aunt and father, the killing of five persons in three days of protests, including a woman working in her kitchen garden, followed by strict imposition of S 144 of RPC , and are a grim reminder that ‘more things change more they remain the same’ in Kashmir. Killings are a direct outcome of treating Kashmiris, as people devoid of any rights, including the Right to live in dignity and freedom

Cricket Catharsis
By Imran Khan

If Kashmiries don’t celebrate India’s win, then the smart Indian should give his thought processes a kick and at least try to understand “why?” and “what does it mean?”

Understanding Freedom: The Perspectives From The Oppressed Margins
By Goldy M. George

Recently the Chhattisgarh Nagrik Sanyukt Sangarsh Samiti has been organising an event namely ‘Freedom Festival’ in the state capital Raipur. It wasorganised to commemorate the 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar from 8-14 April 2016. The question is why the question of ‘Freedom’ has been raised in the so-called ‘free-India. The week-long celebration was attended by many scholars, writers, intellectuals, students, youths and activists across the state and neighbouring states too. It consisted of public lectures, panel discussions, debates, performing arts, film shows, and bookstalls

Beyond Constitutional Realm: Article 356
By Afroz Alam

While following the Congress footsteps, BJP government has imposed President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Historically, instead of being used only in times of grave constitutional crises, Article 356 has been randomly invoked to suit the purpose of ruling party at the Centre. This randomness not only creates a deep crisis of constitutionalism but also lead us to a situation rightly called ‘undemocratic’ and ‘authoritarian’

Muslim Women's Rights Movement In India
By Suman Quazi

As long as women are economically independent, much of the injustices of the society and their respective religions can be kept at abeyance. This does not mean that reformation of the Muslim Personal Law is not needed. However plainly reforming laws cannot ever be a comprehensive solution to the plethora of issues that Indian Muslim women are faced with. It is also necessary to embody within these efforts the perspectives of the new class of Muslim women that are educated, conscious and have in them the knowledge to approach these issues more empirically and they represent the class of economically independent and self-sufficient women that I am talking of

Ending The War On Terriers: Pistol, Boo And Judging Hollywood
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

Some get the accommodation of a cruel detention centre, or a savagely punitive fine; wealthy actors, playing on innocence and a lack of malice, fare better. This is exactly what Heard and Depp found: feign and dissimulate in recording a video of apology for their actions, and get off virtually scot-free

18 April , 2016

1500 Families Under Threat Of Eviction In Mumbai
By National Alliance of People’s Movements

In the span of less than a year, the Mangrove Cell of Maharashtra Forest Dept. has evicted more than 4000 families in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai without providing for any rehabilitation. The Forest Department’s actions are rendering more and more families in Mumbai homeless. Around 700 families will be evicted after 23rd April in Cheeta Camp and 800 in Bheemchhaya, Vikroli, Kannamwar Nagar in the first week of May

Saudi King And Princes Blackmail U.S. Government
By Eric Zuesse

Saudi Arabia, owned by the Saud family, are telling the U.S. Government, they’ll wreck the U.S. economy, if a bill in the U.S. Congress that would remove the unique and exclusive immunity the royal owners of that country enjoy in the United States, against their being prosecuted for their having financed the 9/11 attacks, passes in Congress, and becomes U.S. law

Hillary Destroyed Gaddafi And Libya's Free Health Care
And Education Sanders Wants For USA 
By Jay Janson

It would seem Sanders fighting for Americans to have free health care and free education would have tempered his words about a Gaddafi who saw to his people receiving for many years what Bernie wants for Americas. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and the pro status quo Republican candidates opposing her are perhaps already an anachronism, i.e., persons with practices that belongs to an earlier time

Opec Oil And Climate Change
By John Scales Avery

In an amazing display of collective schizophrenia, our media treat oil production and the global climate emergency as though they were totally disconnected. But the use of all fossil fuels, including oil, must stop almost immediately if the world is to have a chance of avoiding uncontrollable and catastrophic climate change

Bangladesh Economy And Regional Geopolitics
By Eresh Omar Jamal

The question is whether after being victims of the divide and rule strategy and being played off against each other for so long, can we all finally think for ourselves and figure out that cooperation is our best way forward? Eresh Omar Jamal asks

A Reply To Chetan Bhagat’s Open Letter To Kashmiris
By Aejaz Ahmad

Dear Chetan, you were ‘awesome’ in your fictional world. The world out there is not the handiwork of your fiction. Awake and arise, please don’t fictionalize real history. It is not your job. Please continue to write more fictional works, but not your ‘choice based and agency denying whimsical history’, because, being patriot, you have been dishonest in your letter. And patriots don’t speak lies; they acknowledge both their positives and negatives

Hepatitis Outbreak In South Kashmir
By Sheikh Umar Ahmad

It is medical negligence in tandem with administrative shielding to Public health Engineering department that paved the way to this outbreak. The appearance of Hepatitis in south Kashmir in the form of recurrent episodes will turn this area into virtual graveyard with more & more people being getting affected with this disease. Whether it is inexperienced supervisory staff, contaminated drinking water supplied or government’s failure to curb the cause, the state authorities with out any delay must come forward to have a look at the situation and research the growing concern

16 April , 2016

Hottest March On Record As Earth Keeps Hurtling Past Temperature Milestones
By Deirdre Fulton

Adding "yet another month to a new mountain chain of extreme global temperature peaks," March 2016 was the warmest since at least 1891, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Not only that, but, as February did, March broke the previous record by the greatest margin yet seen for any month. Compared to the 20th-century average, March was 1.07°C hotter across the globe, according to the JMA figures, while February was 1.04°C higher

Nauru, Suicide And Punishment
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

It sounds tedious, but the point is no less awful. Nauru has ceased being a country, a state of any worth. It has assumed value as only one thing: a (non)processing centre for asylum seekers and refugees Australia does not want. A camp designed for criminalising rather than exempting; for condemning rather than assessing, has become the cruellest exemplar of modern treatment and disposition to the refugee

Restoring Our Cultural Heritage In Syria —The Debate Over
Why, How, When, By Whom, In What Order, & Who Pays? Intensifies!
By Franklin Lamb

The intensifying international debate over how best to restore and protect our shared global cultural heritage in Syria is positive, relevant, essential and constructive. And it is quite likely that this discourse will bring new safeguards for saving our past for our future

Ally - My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide
Book Review By Jim Miles

Reading a work that would obviously be very pro-Israel sets up an anticipatory set of expectations and Michael Oren’s account of his term as Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Ally - My Journey Across the American-Israeli Divide, certainly met those expectations. In fact it exceeded them, providing an analysis of the relationship that when parsed throughout the work perhaps says something somewhat different than was intended. Or maybe not, as one method of his critical writing involves simply denigrating the person/argument that is not in agreement with his own

Are We A Hindu Rashtra?
By Samuel Dhar

If screaming, 'Bharat Mata ki Jae' is the test of nationalism, many of us are not. India has always been a Patriarchal Community. Vedic folklore supposes Bharat, a male, to be the founder of the Nation known by his name. A million dollar question is : "From where does the word 'Mata' get attached to Bharat?" Our Bharat shall not become a Hindu Rashtra, simply by contorting and perverting its meaning and establishing an association with a called religion

15 April , 2016

One More Civilian Shot Dead In Kashmir
By Countercurrents.org

One more civilian was killed and five more were injured on Friday as angry residents clashed with security forces amid simmering anger over four similar deaths since Tuesday in a tense but curfewed Kashmir Valley. The protestors were demonstrating outside an army camp in Natnusa village of border district Kupwara when soldiers opened fire to stop them from marching in. Five protestors were injured, one of the them died in a hospital later. Police identified the deceased as Mohammed Aarif, a resident of the north Kashmir district which has been at the epicentre of fresh unrest in the valley

US Corporate Tax Cheats Hiding $1.4 Trillion In Profits In Offshore Accounts
By Patrick Martin

A report issued Thursday by the British charity Oxfam found that the 50 largest US corporations are hiding $1.4 trillion in profits in overseas accounts to avoid US income taxes, much of it in tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The biggest tax dodger is technology giant Apple, with $181 billion held offshore. General Electric had the second-largest stash, at $119 billion, enough to repay four times over the $28 billion GE received in federal guarantees during the 2008 Wall Street crash. Microsoft had $108 billion in overseas accounts, with companies like Exxon Mobil, Pfizer, IBM, Cisco Systems, Google, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson rounding out the top ten

British Conservative Breaks Ranks, Opposes TTIP
By Eric Zuesse

Britain’s former Secretary of State for Trade & Industry (1990-92, under Margaret Thatcher and John Major), and current Conservative MP (Member of Parliament), Peter Liley, did it when he blogged on April 3rd at the Conservative Party’s website “Conservative Home”: "The more closely I look at it, the more parts of it worry me. Conservatives who believe in free trade should be very wary about endorsing TTIP. And both the Leave and Remain campaigns should look very carefully at its implications for our EU membership."

The Slow Bleed: Fukushima Five Years On
By Vincent Di Stefano

The melt down of three nuclear reactors at Fukushima in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami of 11th March 2011 seems to have quietly slipped out of our collective awareness - as quietly as the cauldrons of radioactive elements that were once within the active cores of the reactors invisibly bleed into the groundwaters and seawaters of the region. This event has become yet another minor detail in the distorted mosaic of ruin that mirrors the latter days of a civilisation in free-fall

Value Our Children, Instead Of Money
By Lionel Anet

The present is the future in its formative stage. That process is universal and is always adhered to as that’s nature. Life only thrives from the present activities, which are evaluated in the future, and that future tends to be imagined from the past. But today’s evaluation of the future is highly fragmented as a result of the reductionist method used by scientist and society. Study to do with life’s future, to be useful, must be holistic. The most important thing we need to ponder, and be as accurate as we can is the future we are creating today, so we are back to the beginning. What sort of future are we making?

The Cuckoo That Won't Sing: Sustanaibility And Japanese Culture
By Ugo Bardi

If the historical example of Japan counts for something, we may be heading in the right direction and the age of planetary civil wars may end one day or another. So, if we can wait long enough, one day we may hear the cuckoo sing

“Poor” G7 Just Cannot Disarm Yet!
By Andre Vltchek

They met in Hiroshima, Japan, in the first city on Earth that had been subjected to nuclear genocide. They were representing some of the mightiest nations on Earth: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States – the so-called Group of Seven (G7). And at the end of their encounter, they called for “a world without nuclear weapons”. Read carefully the names of these countries, one by one! For decades and centuries, the world has been trembling imagining their armed forces and corporations. Lashes administered by their colonial rulers have scarred entire continents, tens of millions were enslaved, and hundreds of millions killed, billions robbed

Should Asia Pacific Lead The World With Robust Roadmap
For Sustainable Development?
By Bobby Ramakant

Although the governments of UN member countries had adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015, a lot more work needs to be done to deliver on these promises by 2030. Thirty-six Asia Pacific nations had met in Thailand for Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) but largely failed to agree with consensus on a regional roadmap to achieve these promises by 2030. The window of opportunity is not closed yet - Asia Pacific nations still can demonstrate leadership on implementing SDGs by agreeing on an ambitious plan to move forward

The Pleasure Of Walking In Istanbul,The City Of Orhan Pamuk
By Vidyadhar Date

One of the great joys of being in Istanbul is the ease with which you can walk. On the famous Galata bridge there are walkways on both sides which are so wide, one initially feels disoriented. Some motor car may come from behind, you feel. But that is only for some time. After that you leave behind the constant fear, the trauma caused by the motor car-dictated pattern of India’s roads. Even in the countryside in Turkey there are wide roads exclusively for walking. I walked some 3 km from the town of Selcuk to the ancient Greek city of Ephesus, on one such road

Discrimination Against Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle Continues At IIT Madras
By APSC IITM

On Commemorating the 125th Birth Anniversary of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, APSC had organized a seminar on 14th of April, in which Prof. Ram Punyani delivered a speech. Shortly before the seminar could begin, the security personnel of around 7 who were at the entrance of the auditorium, refused to allow people who didn't have an IIT identity card as per order of Dean. No such rule have been followed any of the institute lecture but the Dean enforced the rule "Outsiders are not allowed for IITM lecture" to APSC event with intention to stop the program. The students shifted the venue and conducted the event in open place

14 April , 2016

Reimagining Dr. Ambedkar's Legacy On His 125th Birthday
By P Victor Vijay Kumar

Ambedkar never had extensive dreams about the Parliamentary Democracy and the Constitution in which he was part of. Many stereotype Ambedkarites confound that unimpeachably following of constitution as the ‘only’ path of emancipation he has suggested.He penetrated into the functioning of Parliament Democracy in administrative and advisory roles to continuously perforate it, but not be part of it.His enormous ideological mightiness coupled with formidable rally of masses behind him fashioned the main stream majoritarianist ( Brahminist) forces remain as frail witnesses failed to diminish his vigour. Thus, Ambedkar never remained as just a ( Bourgeois ) Democrat ( limiting to just voicing for changes of improvement) or a Liberal ( limiting to reformative attitude ) but a fighter, anti-majoritarian protagonist and a pioneer human rights philosopher

Ambedkar And Parliamentary Democracy
By Dr KS Sharma

At the concluding session of the All India Trade Union Workers Study Camp held in Delhi from 8th to 17lh September 1943 under the auspices of the Indian Federation of Labour, Dr.Ambedkar said "as the autocracy of Despotic Sovereigns was replaced after a long and bloody struggle by a system known as Parliamentary Democracy, it was felt that this was the last word in the frame of Government. It was believed to bring about the millennium in which every human being will have the right to liberty, property and pursuit of happiness. It is therefore a matter of surprise that there has been a revolt against Parliamentary Democracy although not even a century has elapsed since its universal acceptance and inauguration". It is already past Sixty Five years since this remark was made and it is true even to this day

A Posthumous Sedition Case On Dr. BR Ambedkar?
By MK Adithya

These are the days of champions of “nationalism”, whatever it may mean to them, and of votaries of sedition cases on all and sundry. Not only those in government and ruling party, many in the opposition, as also a frenzied section of the media are carrying on a crusade against who they believe are anti-nationals. In this context, a few glimpses of political life of Dr. BR Ambedkar are worth recalling

Bhim Yatra .. So That There Are No More Killings
By Subhash Gatade

As it is evident all the glitter and glow would not be able to hide the penetrating questions being raised or the devastating criticism it is being subjected to. All the claims of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan notwithstanding , it will have to answer the simple query raised by Bhim Yatra that manual scavengers are still being 'killed' in dry latrines, sewers and septic tanks and for them how fictitious all these promises of 'Clean India' look

Handwara Sexual Assault And Killings: The Minor girl And Her Father Detained
Press Release

The family of the victim has appealed for immediate release of the minor girl and the father of the victim and has sought legal assistance. The State under the garb of law and order is ensuring that all access to the family of the victim is denied so as to ensure protection to the armed forces personnel and seek to further distract from the crimes that have been committed – from the sexual assault to the killings. Any suggestion that the State is seeking to “protect”’ the minor girl and family must be rejected in the circumstances of this case and the actions of the police. Any protection, if necessary, must be provided at the residence of the victim and not at the police station

The Logic Of Murder In Israel: A Culture Of Impunity
In Full View Of The Entire World
By Ramzy Baroud

"Whether he made a mistake or not, is a trivial question," said an Israeli Jewish man who joined large protests throughout Israel in support of a soldier who calmly, and with precision, killed a wounded Palestinian man in al-Khalil (Hebron). The protesting Jewish man described Palestinians as 'barbaric', ‘bestial', who should not be perceived as people. This is hardly a fringe view in Israel. The vast majority of Israelis, 68%, support the killing of Abdel Fatah Yusri al-Sharif, 21, by the solider who had reportedly announced before firing at the wounded Palestinian that the “terrorist had to die.”

The Case Against Glyphosate
By Colin Todhunter

On 13 April, the EU Parliament called on the European Commission to restrict certain permitted uses of the toxic herbicide glyphosate, best known in Monsanto's 'Roundup' formulation. The resolution falls short of an outright ban called for by many and also calls for the renewal of the licence for glyphosate to be limited to just seven years instead of the 15 proposed by the Commission

A Dictionary of Euphemisms for Imperial Decline
By William J. Astore

Here are just a few: collateral damage for killed and wounded civilians (a term used regularly since the First Gulf War of 1990-1991). Enhanced interrogation techniques for torture, a term adopted with vigor by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the rest of their administration (“techniques” that were actually demonstrated in the White House). Extraordinary rendition for CIA kidnappings of terror suspects off global streets or from remote badlands, often followed by the employment of enhanced interrogation techniques at U.S. black sites or other foreign hellholes etc

India-US Military Cooperation “Robust And Deepening”
By K. Ratnayake

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Indian counterpart, Manohar Parrikar, announced Tuesday that Washington and New Delhi have “agreed in principle” on a “logistics exchange agreement” under which the US military will be able to routinely use Indian bases and ports for resupply, repair, and rest

13 April , 2016

POSCO Must Publicly Announce The Withdrawal, Return The Occupied Land, Restore The Ecosystem And Withdraw False Cases
By POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti

Many people think that the recent National Green Tribunal order means that POSCO has withdrawn and it is time for celebration. We would like to clarify here that though the recent hearing in NGT has enlightened us about POSCO’s confusing mindset but we are disturbed to know about its unwillingness to publicly declare its intention about the project and its future. Therefore, we demand the following: 1. POSCO be forced to make formal announcement to completely withdraw from the project from Odisha immediately. 2. The government should hand over the all land occupied for POSCO to the villagers immediately and recognise their land as per the FRA 2006. 3.The government should stop all types of repression to our people and withdraw all false and fabricated criminal charges against our villagers immediately. 4 The government need to replant the trees in our sensitive coastal areas where more than two lakh trees were indiscriminately cut down by the Government for POSCO. 5. Proper and adequate Compensation should be paid by the government to the widows and children and the injured family members attacked by POSCO goons in the year 2008 and 2013

The Three U.S. Criminal Laws Clinton Broke With Her Email:
Why Are ‘News’ Media Hiding Them From The Public?
By Eric Zuesse

Whereas Ms. Clinton obviously is a crook (in this matter if not for any other), what can we say about the U.S. national ‘news’ organizations? They are not violating any criminal law by hiding this crucial information from the public. But what they are doing is even more heinous than what she did. With a ‘news’ media such as this, we can only continue to be deceived into electing and even re-electing people such as George W. Bush who during 2002 and 2003 lied this country into the disastrous and unwarranted and illegal invasion of Iraq. And, if that’s not a heinous national ’news’ media, then what is? This is, before so many primary elections for the U.S. Presidency. Not allowing the public to know the truth. It’s as bad now as it was in 2002 and 2003. It’s a dictatorship. That’s what we have, with a press like this

Obscured American: Robert The Chef
By Linh Dinh

It’s not right. I came into the Friendly Lounge at 11:45AM, parked my bony ass there for three hours, and saw nobody. In the 90’s, I heard an exasperated crack whore kvetch, “Don’t nobody want a blow job no more!” It’s gotten much worse. In 2016, it’s, “Can’t nobody afford a beer no more?”

On Baba Saheb's 125th Birth Anniversary Let's Remember
What He Said About The Hindutva Gang
By Shamsul Islam

The RSS is terribly busy re-writing history these days. It will be more appropriate to call it guillotining of history, as these are facts and realties of history which are being sacrificed in this process at the altar political ambitions of the Hindutva gang. So far this creativity was restricted to the works and words of Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and Sardar Patel but of late Baba Saheb Ambedkar appears to have become the latest victim of malafide manufacturing of history by the flag-bearers of Hindutva. Dr Ambedkar becomes a newest victim of RSS game plan being presented as a leader in league with K.B. Hedgewar and M.S. Golwalkar defending the cause of Hindu Rashtra in India

Of Handwara Killings And Beyond
By Dr. Fayaz Ahmad Bhat

The police have already come with the video of the girl who was allegedly molested by army personal. The video has been circulated by police on social media sites suggests that police have in advance given clean chit to army personal and they are prepared to put onus on the shoulders of youth. The first question is what police want to show by circulating video of the girl? Does law permits the circulation of the statement an allegedly sexually molested woman? A closer examination of the video shows that the girl was not speaking her own words

Tears Don't Dry In Kashmir
By Mary Scully

The story of what happened yesterday in Handwara, Kashmir (a town about 70 km/37 miles from Srinagar) is undisputed, even if inadequately reported. Two young men were shot dead, & several others, including a 70-year-old woman, lie in hospital with critical injuries after Indian occupying troops opened fire on unarmed protesters who were protesting the molestation of a young girl by an Indian soldier who followed her into a public toilet

Speak Up, Women! Question The ‘Progressives’
By Nisha Biswas

The tasks for democratic forces, for the progressive women’s movement are clearly laid out: To fight in all fronts, not only against the State but also against patriarchy in all its manifestations, anywhere and everywhere. It is this conspiracy of silence that is to be shattered in all spheres of life – private, public and political. Therefore women speak up! Anywhere, everywhere, anytime and every time!

12 April , 2016

Washington Continues To Destroy Latin American Reformers
By Paul Craig Roberts

Currently, Washington is conducting operations against Latin American presidents who tried to represent their own peoples instead of American business interests and Washington’s foreign policy. Washington is trying to unseat and indict President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, President Evo Morales in Bolivia, President Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and President Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. Washington has succeeded in getting the president of Argentina, Chistina Kirchner, out of office, and is now seeking to have her indicted. To round off its attack on Brazil’s reformist political party, Washington is orchestrating crimes with which to tar and indict Rousseff’s predecesor, Lula da Silva

Libya War, Empire’s Worst Mistake
By Farooque Chowdhury

A ruined Libya still lives in the US politics. There’s still no escape from the country devastated with imperialist intervention. It was, as is claimed, a failure in planning. But is it a failure in planning or “something” else? The oil-rich land is now reined by anarchy, and actually is not a single country

Re-Tooling The U.S Asian Neocolony, The Philippines:
A Dispatch From The "Belly Of The Beast"
By E. San Juan, Jr.

The only former Asian colony of the US, the Philippines is synonymous only with Paquiao the Boxer, Miss Universe, or some terrifying volcano or typhoon such as Yolanda/Haiyan. And despite nearly three million Pinays and Pinoys in the US, potential votes for the coming May elections—now the largest Asian-American migrant group from one Asian country (the Chinese come from all over the world, not just China), Filipinos tend to trail other Asian in their civic interventions, unless wealthy Filipino doctors or businessmen trumpet their tithe to local candidates. We are really neglible, though many persist in claiming to be 200% American

The Population Problem:Should The Pope Tell people
To Stop Breeding Like Rabbits?
By Ugo Bardi

In this post, Ugo Bardi argues that overpopulation is a complex problem that has to do with human choices at the level of single families. It is not impossible that such choices will eventually lead to a stabilization of the world population at a sustainable level. It has happened in some historical cases, such as in Japan during the Edo period

Odisha: Hunger Striking Prisoners Demanding Speedy Trials In Critical Condition
By Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee

Ashutosh Soren, Kishore Jena, Kamlakanta Sethi, Rabi Dulai, Chandrabati Tukruka, Ranjit Sana and another, falsely accused in 5 cases pertaining to a 2008 series of Maoist attacks in Nayagarh district, including a raid on the local police armoury, are on hunger strike since March 30th, and their condition is most serious at the moment. 12 prisoners, 7 in Bhubaneswar Special Jail and 5 in Bhanjanagar Sub-jail of Ganjam district of Odisha, in incarceration for a period of 3 to 8 years as undertrials launched an indefinite hunger strike since March 30 and 31, respectively, demanding an end to the deliberate procrastination going on in their trials in spite of clear directions from the Odisha High Court to conclude them long before

Why Kobad Ghandy Should Be Released On Bail
By Dr. P.S. Sahni

Kobad Ghandy has invoked his constitutional right to speedy trials; he had been on a peaceful hunger strike in 2015 within the jail premises against the harassment by the authorities. It is not just Kobad Ghandy who is on trial; it is the Indian judicial system too, which has to innovate and find a creative legal solution so that Kobad Ghandy is set free on bail and gets the best treatment for his fast deteriorating health. After all what would be achieved if Kobad Ghandy dies in jail without proper treatment? Would it end Maoism? – That is the philosophical question

The Tainted Game of Cricket And The Water Crisis
By Vidyadhar Date

There have been serious protests in Brazil against the use of millions of litres of water for a golf course in Rio for the forthcoming Olympics amidst a severe drought in the area. U.S. President Obama was met with strong protests when he played golf and holidayed in the midst of a severe water scarcity in California last year. Water shortage is a much more serious issue in Maharashtra this year than in the U.S. or Brazil. But look at the infantile reaction in a section of the media to the suggestion that the IPL cricket matches be shifted from the state because of the unprecedented drought. Some journalists in extreme servility have bent before the powerful and rich cricket lobby to ridicule the demand. One journalist even mocked suicides of farmers and poured scorn on devoted activists

New Trends In Indian Muslims
By Shahul Hameed MM

"India’s Muslim Spring: Why is Nobody Talking About it?" By HasanSuroor provides a new insight to the governments, media and the public with regards to the Indian Muslims

11 April , 2016

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseyuk Resigns
By Eric Zuesse

On Sunday, April 10th, Arseniy Yatseyuk, finally officially resigned, though his actual service as Ukraine’s Prime Minister ended in the very closing days of December 2015. He had been selected by U.S. President Obama’s agent on Ukraine, Victoria Nuland, on 4 February 2014, to lead Ukraine as that country’s new Prime Minister — to lead it as soon as the Obama-planned Ukrainian coup overthrowing Ukraine’s democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych would be completed (which happened 22 days later). As this reporter had noted on 15 January 2016, “Yats” (as Nuland affectionately called him) had been effectively ousted from power by Petro Poroshenko

US Deploys B-52s For Bombing In Syria, Iraq
By Patrick Martin

The US Air Force sent B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf Saturday and plans to use them for bombing raids on targets in Iraq and Syria, according to the Pentagon and the US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East. An undisclosed number of bombers will be stationed at Al Udeid air base in Qatar

Obama Deceives World Over State Terrorism, Non-state Terrorism,
Apartheid Israeli Nuclear Threat And US Nuclear Terrorism
By Dr Gideon Polya

American President Barack Obama recently hosted and addressed the 4th Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) that is aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism. However an endlessly mendacious Obama ignored the failure over long-term storage of nuclear waste, the unconscionable US Alliance dispersal of depleted uranium in US war zones around the world, and the massive reality of state nuclear terrorism in which Humanity is existentially threatened by the nuclear terrorism of 9 nuclear weapons states, specifically (with upper estimates of nuclear weapons in brackets) the US (7,315), Russia (8,000), Apartheid Israel (400), France (300), UK (250), China (250), Pakistan (120), India (100), and North Korea (less than 10)

Jakob von Uexküll And The World Future Council
By John Scales Avery

Jakob von Uexküll and the World Future Council remind us that the threat of climate change is an extremely severe emergency. Quick action is needed or else our future will be lost

Capitalism And Global Agribusiness:
From Ford To Monsanto, It's For Your Own Good
By Colin Todhunter

In capitalism, private commercial entities are legally obliged to maximise profit, thereby serving shareholder interests ahead of any notion of the public good. According to the description of liberal democracy in textbooks, the state will act to protect the public interest. What is missing from the term ‘liberal democracy’ is the word ‘capitalist’. In capitalist liberal democracies, the state serves the interest of private capital, first and foremost, and does its best to convince the public that commercial interests and the public and national interest are one and the same

The Disneyfied Narrative Of The International Criminal Tribunal
For The Former Yugoslavia
By Milan Djurasovic

Pinocchio and Little Red Riding Hood still believe in the impartiality of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). I have yet to meet either a partial or an impartial Serb that shares their sentiments. Toward the political bazaar in Hague the Serbs feel what has been hurled at them by the institution’s creators since the early 1990’s—disdain, occasional profanity, and boiling resentment. Those are the only self-defense tools available to the tired citizens of a small, impoverished country

What Do They Know Of Cricket Who Only Cricket Know?
By Ali Abbas

Three incidents that happened lately remind us of the importance of the question that CLR James asked. Gayle dancing with Afghanistan team after they beat his team, Sachin playing cricket with William and Kate , Harsha Bhogle being sacked as a commentator from IPL

Prafulla Samantara Attacked By Vedanta Goons
By Campaign for Survival and Dignity(CSD) Odisha

On 6th April 2016 PrafullaSamantra was assaulted by about 10 goons of Vedanta Company while he was returning from a meeting from Village Masiput inKoraput district. He said that the hired goons of Vedanta company tried to kidnap him forcefully but failed as the villagers rushed to the spot after getting information

Sri Lanka : Why Investigations Into Mass Graves Failed So Far
By Basil Fernando

Every mass grave is a symbol of the grave yard of criminal justice in Sri Lanka

India: MNREGA Budget Cut In The Times Of Drought
By Asian Human Rights Commission

The devastating that has hit India is affecting more than half of India’s 676 districts. Welfare schemes, like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) end up as the only way out for millions of rural poor to subsist. And, the government now wants to deny them even that. The Supreme Court of India observed the same while hearing a petition by Swaraj Abhiyan, an activist group, which sought relief for drought hit regions in the country. The Court examined the data provided to it by the union government and curtly told the government that the funds allocated for MNREGA are not enough to alleviate the rural crisis, worsened by the drought that is affecting more than 10 states

09 April , 2016

Lebanon: Now It Is Being Forced To Collapse
By Andre Vltchek

Lebanon cannot stand on its feet, anymore. It is overwhelmed, frightened and broke. It stands on the frontline, facing the ISIS in the east and north, a hostile Israel in the south and the deep blue sea to the west. 1.5 million (mostly Syrian) refugees are dispersed all over its tiny territory. Its economy is collapsing and infrastructure crumbling. The ISIS is right at the border with Syria, literally next door, or even with one foot inside Lebanon, periodically invading, and setting up countless “dormant cells” in all Lebanese cities and all over its countryside. Hezbollah is fighting the ISIS, but the West and Saudi Arabia apparently consider Hezbollah, not the ISIS, to be the major menace to their geopolitical interests. The Lebanese army is relatively well-trained but badly armed, and like the entire country, it is notoriously cash-strapped. These days, on the streets of Beirut, one can often hear: “Just a little bit more; one more push, and the entire country will collapse, go up in smoke.”

Western Powers Press Ahead With Plans For New War In Libya
By Marianne Arens

Five years after NATO's Libya war, Italy, the EU and the US are in the advanced stages of preparations for the next military intervention. The Western imperialist powers want to establish their own military bases in Libya in order to control the country's massive sources of oil and natural gas, and secure an important gateway to Africa

Iran And Russia Join The Global Alliance To Preserve Syria's Endangered Heritage
By Franklin Lamb

It is known that ISIS has been increasingly using social media so as to cut out the middleman and sell artifacts directly to buyers. Preference is given to US dollar transactions, while transactions conducted over the Internet involve the same financial institutions as are involved in transactions for the purchase of weapons and ammunition

NATO Causes Refugees, Then Uses Them As Excuse For More Invasions
By Eric Zuesse

The refugee problem in Europe is caused by the enemies of the European peoples, and these enemies are the aristocracies of the U.S., the EU, and the GCC

Palestine: A Roadmap To Apartheid
By Jim Miles

The idea of apartheid and the concept and actions of BDS are fully linked because of the South African experience. The documentary Roadmap to Apartheid (2012) by Ana Nogueira and Eron Davidson highlights the parallels between what happened in South Africa and what is happening in Palestine. Beyond the parallels, the commentators from South Africa indicate that Israel is worse than their situation actually was, and - perhaps more revealing - is that the two countries worked together on military and security resources, up to and including nuclear weapons

Where Are Marx And Lenin When We Need Them?
By Paul Craig Roberts

There is no reason for a person to have thousands of millions of dollars. The money elevates the political power of individuals over the power of the electorate. Indeed, the money becomes the electorate. The money is used to purchase political control, which destroys representative government

When RSS Comes To Srinagar, There's A Reason To Worry
By Abdul Majid Zargar

Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) has announced that it will hold a public rally in Srinagar somewhere in the middle of this year. It has already held a full public parade in Jammu on 22nd October 2015 flaunting arms & weapons in full public view. There should be no cringing about it as our own so-called mainstream politicians, acting more as merchants than governors, have brought this fascist organization to our door steps. One political party kissed it in Delhi & the other hugged it in Srinagar

Dalit Politics Needs A New Radical Alternative
By SR Darapuri

Today country needs such a political platform which is committed for liberation of dalits as well as whole society with an alternative pro-people policy framework, democratic value- system as well as politics. Vision of AIPF (All India Peoples Front) is to develop precisely such a political platform. All India Peoples Front (Radical) is a mass political platform dedicated to the goal of ushering in a humane society free of exploitation and alienation. It stands committed to end the present exploitative and unjust social and economic order. It envisions the establishment of a social and economic order which is people- centric and eco-friendly; which is inspired by the principles of equality and solidarity; and which ensures a life of dignity for all

An Invitation For An Ongoing Dialogue And Reflection About Art And Society
By Sukant Khurana

Previously I had enjoyed interaction with some people from this bunch who had liberated art from galleries and taken them to street, in one of the first street art events in India that I got to know of after my relocation to India in 2014. I would encourage people to visit such exhibitions, starting with Pratibimb – Reflections held between April 10 to April 16 Apr 10 at 5 PM at Lalit Kala Akademi Rabindra Bhavan, 35, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi, India 110001 and several more to come in coming days. Beyond participation in a particular event or not, the most important thing is to get involved in a dialogue to celebrate the multitudes in society and art, ones that have been explored and ones that remain to be explored

08 April , 2016

Another Secular Blogger Killed In Bangladesh
By Countercurrents.org

Attackers in Bangladesh wielding machetes killed a liberal blogger on Thursday, the latest in series of murders of secular activists. Postgraduate law student Nazimuddin Samad, 28, was attacked as he was returning from a class at his university in the capital, Dhaka. Three or four men attacked Samad with machetes and then shot him after he fell to the ground. Samad was critical of radical Islamists and used to campaign for secularism on Facebook

Four People Killed In Bangladesh Protesting A Coal Power Plant
By National Committee on Bashkhali Killing

Four people, including two brothers, were killed at Gandamara village in Banshkhali upazila, Bangladesh during a demonstration against the construction of a coal-based power plant there

Waiting for Allah’s ‘Bichar’ (Justice): A Despairing Note On
Bangladesh’s Politicized, Inept And Corrupt Criminal Justice System
By M. Adil Khan

In recent times Bangladesh has witnessed a rising spate in cases of unsolved rape, murder, kidnapping, enforced disappearances of political opponents, extrajudicial killings, plunder of national assets etc. etc. As a result people have lost faith in the government in general and its criminal justice system in particular such that most now believe that police and the criminal justice system is more of a source than solution to their safety and security

I’m A Former President Of The Jewish Society. BDS Is Not Anti-Semitic
By Keziah Berelson

As a Modern Orthodox Jew, a recent graduate from the University of Edinburgh and a former President of the University’s Jewish Society, (2012/13), I congratulate the student body’s decision to pass a motion of BDS. This is a victory for minority rights and democracy at the University. BDS is a non-violent campaign called for by over 170 Palestinian civil society organisations which use the methods of boycott, divestment and sanctions from institutions and companies who benefit from and contribute to Palestinian oppression in order to pressure the Israeli state to operate within the boundaries set by international law

Global Tax Havens or Havens For Dirty Money
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Gabriel Zucman, the author of the 2015 book “The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens,” estimates that $7.6 trillion is stashed in tax havens. This amounts to 8 percent of the world’s personal financial wealth. The author believes that if all of this illegally hidden money were properly recorded and taxed, global tax revenues would grow by more than $200 billion a year

US Seeks To Develop Close Military Ties With Sri Lanka
By Vijith Samarasinghe

The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet Flagship, USS Blue Ridge, arrived in Colombo on March 26 for a five-day visit, with 900 sailors on board. This is the first time in five years that a US navy vessel has docked in Colombo. Marking the event, the Seventh Fleet command said the visit aimed to “build new ties and promote peace and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.” Part of the US Pacific command, the Seventh Fleet is the largest of the US Navy and conducts “forward deployed naval operations in support of US national interests in the Indo-Asia Pacific area.” Far from being a symbolic gesture of goodwill between the two nations, the ship’s visit is part of the close integration of Sri Lanka into the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia” directed against China

 

HCU In Custody - Part 1

The events at the University of Hyderabad on March 22 following the return of Prof. Podile Appa Rao as its Vice Chancellor have been well documented. 27 people including students, faculty and an independent documentary maker were arrested by the police, and subsequently charged with various criminal sections including Damage to Public Property, Causing Hurt with a Dangerous Weapon, Rioting and Criminal Intimidation. Accounts by reporters and others who met the arrested individuals suggested arbitrary arrest and unlawful treatment by the police amounting to police brutality in some cases. In this video, the first of a series, some of those arrested recount their own experiences in police custody

The Undemocratic Means Of A Democratic State
By Muneeb Yousuf

Even after six decades of turmoil and violence, Kashmir is witnessing a new form of violence that seems to be much more potent and lethal. Several recent reports have suggested that more educated youths have joined militancy which has serious consequences on the polity and stability of Kashmir. India has considerably and continuously failed in providing a healthy and peaceful environment which an "integral area" deserves

07 April , 2016

Noam Chomsky And OthersPut Forward 'Ideas For Going Forward'
In This Crisis-Ridden World
By Countercurrents.org

The world is facing a Titanic moment. Either humanity comes together as one and save the Mother Ship Earth or we go down without a trace! The major crises we face are ecological crisis manifested in global warming/climate change, soil degradation, water crisis, over all environmental damage, war perpetrated by predatory capitalism which could eventually lead to a nuclear winter, resource crisis, health, education and economic crisis etc. Race/caste and gender/sexuality justice are other major issues that need urgent attention. A group of intellectuals including Noam Chomsky, academics and activists have come forward with a document called "Some Possible Ideas For Going Forward"

Global Military Spending Increased In 2015
By Thomas Gaist

Spending on weapons and other military costs grew by more than one percent in 2015, marking the first year of growth in total military purchasing by governments worldwide since 2011, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found in a report published Tuesday. Total military purchases reached $1,676 billion in 2015, or nearly $1.7 trillion, consuming some 2.3 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), SIPRI found

Non-Violent BDS Should Be Welcomed, Not Condemned
By Ramzy Baroud

A thousand Israelis and their supporters gathered in Jerusalem’s International Convention Center on March 28 at a conference aimed at combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). The conference was a display of “fear, paranoia, anger and determination,” as described by Antony Loewenstein, and featured top government officials, members of the oppositions and a strange conglomerate of guests, including celebrity has-beens like Roseanne Barr

The World And Israel: Complicity In Zionism's Crimes And Why
By Alan Hart

When I add to that what Prime Minister Golda Meir said to me in an interview for the BBC's Panorama programme - in a doomsday situation Israel would be prepared "to take the region and the world down with it" - I think that only one conclusion is invited. The complicity by default of Western (and other) leaders in Zionism's crimes will be never ending because Israel is, as it has long been, a nuclear-armed monster beyond control

The Media Still Got It Wrong When It Reports On The Role
It Played In The Rise Of Trump
By Shaik Ubaid

The media has finally started to focus on its own role in the rise of Donald Trump. The focus is still not sharp though. The question should be not on whether the media made Trump but it should be on whether the media helped create a climate which made the rise of Trump probable. For, if the latter is true then there will be more Trumps. The Wisconsin primary has kept the hope that Trump could be prevented from the nomination but the alternatives are not better. The moderate majority in the GOP stand no chance in the primaries where mostly the diehard core care to vote. The core has now become Islamophobic and xenophobic

Book Review : Violent Conjunctures In Democratic India
By Suraj Kumar Thube

Without discarding the importance of previous scholarly works, Amrita Basu contributes to the existing literature by arguing that it is imperative to focus on the role social movements and civil society organisations play in reconfiguring India's political system. The central theme of the book is to study the linkages between party, social movements and the state in order to understand the convoluted nature of Hindu nationalist militancy in various states. The author argues that a closer, robust relationship between these three entities create situations for inciting violence on a larger scale

Anarchy, Thy Name Is “Kashmir”!
By Mohammad Ashraf

There is hardly any section of Kashmir society where rules and laws are obeyed. It is a virtual free for all everywhere

06 April , 2016

Panama Papers: Iceland PM Gunnlaugsson Resigns
By Countercurrents.org

In the first instance of a prominent politician taken down by the 11.5 million documents leaked in the Panama Papers, Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson resigned on Tuesday after fully 10 percent of Iceland's population rallied in protest of his wife's secret, offshore shell company holding millions

Boys II Bums
By Linh Dinh

A third of Americans under 35 now live with their parents, and half of them spend half of their incomes servicing debts. You’re not likely to get married if you’re living with mom and dad, that’s for sure, but soon enough, we will see three generations under one roof again, out of economic necessity. We will also see more couples with their kids all in one room. Poor people worldwide already live this way, and we are poor

Clinton Opposes Transferring Government’s Costs More Onto Rich People
By Eric Zuesse

Hillary Clinton opposes fixing Social Security by taxing rich people more; she wants it to be done by cutting benefits to the recipients

Saving Hillary’s Life
By Mickey Z.

Here is a hypothetical question:

Q. If I knew in advance it was Hillary Clinton whose life was in danger on that NYC street corner, would I have risked potential bodily harm to save her?

A. Yes, I would.

Q. What would you do?

A.

Viva la Producción! Urban Farming In Cuba
By Josh Gabbatiss

Urban agriculture is a big deal in Cuba. Food gardens – termed organopónicos – make up 8% of land in Havana, and 3.4% of urban land across the island. The country enjoys unprecedented levels of self-sufficiency, with small, local operations producing 90% of all its fruit and vegetables

Ending Human Violence Is A Task For Each Of Us
By Robert J. Burrowes

Do you think that ending human violence is impossible? Do you believe that even aiming to do so is unrealistic? Well, you might be right. But you might also be interested to know that there are a lot of people around the world who are committed to trying. And, if you think the aim is worthwhile, you could be one of them

To A World Impacted by Terrorism
By Emma Tobin

There are so many ways to counteract terrorism; education, interfaith dialogue, and intercultural dialogue are some of the ways that I’ve learned about while being in Morocco. Those most at risk of becoming religious extremists are those who are both impoverished and uneducated and who feel angry or wronged by their country or fellow citizens

Fight The Esblishment
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

Now is the time for thinking Americans to withdraw their participation in an election where disruptive candidates are replaced with establishment ones. Otherwise our delusional democracy prevails. We the people need a political revolution. Otherwise, with awful economic inequality condemning millions of Americans to economic prison, violent revolution should not be ruled out. Not in a nation with widespread gun ownership. After all, our corrupt political system presents a type of oppressive government for which the Second Amendment may offer the ultimate solution. Time is running out. This may be the year for seeing whether or not we can vote – or not vote - our way to a democracy we once thought we had

Modi’s Visit And Saudi-India Relations
By Sazzad Hussain

Modi’s visit to the kingdom is significant so far as Indian Muslims are concerned. The monarchy which endorses and exports a brand of Islam that homogenizes Muslims across the world at the cost of local diversities has been a matter of concern for a nation of pluralistic culture and inclusive society like India. Therefore a multitude of questions and apprehensions remain following the Prime Minister’s visit to Riyadh and on the India-Saudi relations in the changing world order

5000 Slum Residents Hit South Mumbai’s Streets Demanding Housing Right,
Basic Amenities And Scientific Waste Management System In The City
By National Alliance of People’s Movements

Slum residents from all over Mumbai threatened by illegal forcible eviction and annoyed by lack of basic amenities in slums, marched from Carnac Bunder to Azad Maidan, Mumbai on 5th April, 2016 in a huge rally demanding housing right to be ensured with all the basic amenities. Slum residents also demanded the scientific shutting down of the Deonar Dumping ground and a scientific waste-management system in the city

Free Speech In 2016: First Quarter Reporter
By TheHoot.org

The first quarter of this year has been a significant one for issues related to free speech. Apart from the turbulence in February over the sedition cases filed at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the arrests of students, and the allegations regarding doctored videos, the period saw an overall increase in the number of sedition cases filed, recorded the murder of one journalist, saw increases in attacks on journalists and media property, saw a number of defamation cases filed against the media and the political class, and logged many instances of censorship of different kinds, affecting the media, the arts, as well as ordinary citizens. This period also saw significant legal developments which affect the climate for free speech, at the level of the supreme court and the high courts

Puttakota Killing Of Adivasi Farmers By Greyhounds Police
By The Human Rights Forum

The Human Rights Forum (HRF) demands that Greyhounds police personnel responsible for the killing of two adivasis Ganga Madkami (40) and Ganga Podiami (33), on the afternoon of February 21, 2016 in the Puttakota forest area of Koyyuru mandal in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh be booked under relevant penal sections of the law and criminally prosecuted

05 April , 2016

Millions Starve As Ethiopia Rejects Eritrean Ports
By Thomas C. Mountain

As famine stalks millions of Ethiopians, and aid ships wait forever to unload at Ethiopia’s port of Djibouti, offers of free use of Eritrea’s Red Sea ports fall on deaf ears in Addis Ababa.According to Oxfam between 50% to 90% of Ethiopia suffered all or major crop failure due to the latest, greatest drought. Desperate for food aid to be unloaded, aid agencies are begging the Djibouti port authorities to work faster, but the port of Djibouti is small and creaky and completely unable to keep up with the desperate need. All backlog of food aid would be cleared up quickly if Ethiopia will only use the Eritrean ports, an offer repeatedly made in the past during droughts to no avail. The question has to be asked, what kind of government sits back and allows tens if not hundreds of thousands of its own people to die of starvation because of some political dispute with its neighbor?

For Your Own Good! Embedding Transnational Agribusiness And GMOs
Into African Agriculture Under The Veil Of Philanthropy
By Colin Todhunter

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has just released the report For your own good!, which outlines the GMO industry’s expansion across Africa. The report focusses on non-commercial traditional crops, such as cassava, sorghum, sweet potato, pigeon pea, cowpea, banana and rice, which corporations are attempting to genetically modify and roll out under the guise of philanthropy

Panama Papers Spark Populist Anger In Iceland
By Lauren McCauley

Foretelling the kind of public backlash other ultra-rich tax dodgers can expect following the weekend release of the so-called Panama Papers, tens of thousands of Icelanders rallied in Reykjavik on Monday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson

Panama Papers: Denials Expose More Than The Original Exposure
By Farooque Chowdhury

Denials issued after the exposure by the now-famous Panama Papers expose more about the world of property, its political power and power of its legal arrangements. The entire episode that has now got exposed is nothing but a confirmation of properties’ power, its play with instruments called law, which is enacted only to secure property, and the ethical and moral standing, a zero from people’s point of view, the property holders hold on. The historic revelations, biggest in the history of leaks, once again confirm earlier findings about super-rich

Syriza Government Carries Out Mass Deportation Of
Refugees From Greece To Turkey
By Robert Stevens

Protests continued in Greece over the weekend as the Syriza government finalised the mass deportation of Syrian refugees to Turkey, where they are to be herded into concentration camps. The refugees are being deported from Greece to Turkey as part of the recent European Union/Greece/Turkey deal to hermetically seal off the “Balkan route” to desperate refugees fleeing the war zones of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and North Africa

Six Year Anniversary Of WikiLeaks Collateral Murder; A Celebration Of Free Speech
By Nozomi Hayase

This iconic film continues to remind us of all those who risked their lives for free press and also of the power of free speech; that our collective engagement with the truth can set frozen images into motion. By seizing the present, we can intervene in the course of that one fatal day and alter the running footage of the past, bringing each person one step closer to self-determination of their own future

Will Lebanon Be 'Handed Over' To The ISIS?
By Andre Vltchek

Now that the ISIS has been pushed away, further and further from all key strategic locations inside Syria, the question comes to mind:if finally defeated, where is it going to go next? Its fighters are, of course, in neighboring Iraq, but Baghdad has also been forging a closer and closer alliance with Russia, and the terrorist groups may soon not be safe there, either. By all accounts, the easiest place for the ISIS to expand is Lebanon

Open Letter To 'Head Chopping' Billionaire Baba Ramdev
By Shamsul Islam

At the outset I must congratulate you for making big strides so far as your personality is concerned. You have really become a MARD; MAN in capital, now. On June 6, 2011 afraid of Delhi police you ran away in female attire from Ram Lila ground, leaving hundreds of your followers at the mercy of Delhi Police. But now as press reports from Rohtak, Haryana disclose you are courageous enough to chop heads of millions for not chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'

By Raising "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" Slogan Controversy RSS Lays
A Trap For Muslims And Leftists
By Dr. Shaik Ubaid

The pluralist nature of Indian society is facing its gravest threat in history. The time is now for people of conscience, whether progressive or religious, to find common ground in safeguarding the freedom of millions of Indians and of their future generations. This is the true litmus test of patriotism

Tolerating The Intolerance
By Gazi Hassana

If the current NDA regime foresees itself ruling 10-15 years down the line, the leadership should take note and deal with the grave issues comprehensively. Government should be tolerant of the views of its citizens be it criticizing its policies or initiatives. It should not be infringing on fundamental rights of its citizens

People's Film Maker Sarat Chandran Remembered
Press Release

Sarat Chandran commemoration was held under Youth Spring Fraternity at Hira Centre here at Kozhikode. He was like a good spirit in many popular social protest gatherings. Sarat’s efforts in documenting popular protests and making it available for the public were beyond comparisons. He was also an active protestant in in Kerala’s green protests

04 April , 2016

The Panama Papers: Bachan, Aishwarya Rai And Over 500 Indians In The List
By Countercurrents.org

A year-long investigative effort by around 400 journalists from more than 100 media organizations in over 80 countries have yielded the Panama Papers, an unprecedented look at how the world's rich and powerful, from political leaders to celebrities to criminals, use tax havens to hide their wealth. over 500 Indians figure in the list. From film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to corporates including DLF owner K P Singh and nine members of his family, and the promoters of Apollo Tyres and Indiabulls to Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani. Two politicians who figure on the list are Shishir Bajoria from West Bengal and Anurag Kejriwal, the former chief of the Delhi unit of Loksatta Party

Dr. G.N Saibaba Granted Bail By Supreme Court of India
By Committee For The Defence And Release Of Dr. G.N Saibaba

Rejecting all the arguments presented by the Defence Counsel, the Judge asked them why they wanted to torture a person like this. “Do you want a pound of flesh”, he asked

Towards An Australian Republic
By George Venturini

A republican constitution for Australia could look like this

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth:
A Nuclear Armageddon in the Making in South Asia
By Dilip Hiro

Undoubtedly, for nearly two decades, the most dangerous place on Earth has been the Indian-Pakistani border in Kashmir. It's possible that a small spark from artillery and rocket exchanges across that border might -- given the known military doctrines of the two nuclear-armed neighbors -- lead inexorably to an all-out nuclear conflagration. In that case the result would be catastrophic. Besides causing the deaths of millions of Indians and Pakistanis, such a war might bring on “nuclear winter” on a planetary scale, leading to levels of suffering and death that would be beyond our comprehension

An IMF Plot, Greece, EU And BREXIT
By Jon Kofas

On 19 March 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission team for Greece held a meeting on how to force Greece into further austerity measures. These would entail deeper wage cuts, more social security cuts, higher taxes and more rapid conformity to IMF-EU policies intended to transfer capital from the middle class and workers to wealthy Greek and Western creditors. The conversation between two IMF officials (Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s European Department, and Delia Velkouleskou, IMF Mission Chief for Greece) and an EU official was recorded and someone managed to pass it on to WIKILEAKS. In essence, the IMF representatives were essentially plotting a strategy to force Greece to accept harsher conditions of austerity after five years under such failed policies

Financial Oversight And Colonialism In Puerto Rico
By Matt Peppe

While restructuring Puerto Rico's debt is imperative and would help temporarily alleviate the humanitarian and economic crisis that has been well underway for a decade, it would be a band-aid that would not even address the fundamental issue at its root. Proposals to deal with Puerto Rico's debt problem without ending colonialism are distractions from the U.S. government's ongoing exploitation and subjugation of the Puerto Rican people

03 April , 2016

Donald Trump And The Collapse Of The Western Empire
By Ugo Bardi

In this article, Ugo Bardi argues that the ascent of Donald Trump in the US presidential race is a symptom of the ongoing breakdown of society, in turn caused by the loss of control generated by resource depletion

Execution Of Palestinian Exposes Israel’s Military Culture
By Jonathan Cook

It might have been a moment that jolted Israelis to their senses. Instead the video of an Israeli soldier shooting dead a young Palestinian man as he lay wounded and barely able to move has only intensified the tribal war dance of the Israeli public. Last week, as the soldier was brought before a military court for investigation, hundreds of supporters protested outside. He enjoys vocal support too from half a dozen cabinet ministers, former army generals, rabbis and – according to opinion polls – a significant majority of the Israeli Jewish public. It is worth reflecting on this generous act of solidarity

The Globalisation Of Bad Food And Poor Health:
Sustainable Development or Sustainable Profits?
By Colin Todhunter

The proportion of deaths due to cancer around the world increased from 12 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2013. Globally, cancer is already the second-leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. In India, government data indicates that cancer showed a 5 percent increase in prevalence between 2012 and 2014 with the number of new cases doubling between 1990 and 2013. The incidence of cancer for some major organs in India is the highest in the world. Reports have also drawn attention to rising rates of breast cancer in urban areas, and, in 2009, there was a reported increase in cancer rates in Tamil Nadu's textile belt, possibly due to chemically contaminated water

In The Mind Of A Pessimist
By Suraj Kumar Thube

Can truth have multiple interpretations? Can all the interpretations be called as truth? Can multiple interpretations retain their autonomous right amidst an ocean of a homogenous truth? How are multiple incidents different than multiple interpretations and with whom does truth feel as a stronger virtue? Trying to reminisce on the callous and cavalier approach of the Indian middle class toward the downtrodden of the society in general, these questions tend to get consigned to a spatial and temporal stage of oblivion

Sardar Sarovar Affected Adivasis Get Land For Land
In Nandurbar After Three Decades
By National Alliance of People’s Movements

NBA exposes the NCA's Claims of Complete Resettlement and Rehabilitation of SSP Affected Families

Release Human Rights Defender Prabhat Singh
By William Gomes

On 26 March 2016, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, denied release on bail for human rights defender Mr Prabhat Singh and referred him to judicial custody in Jagdalpur Central Jail, pending investigation into his case. He has been held in detention since his arrest without warrant on 21 March 2016

West Indies Celebration In Kashmir, What Happened Next?
By Yasir Altaf Zargar

Kashmir has always seen many uncertainties. And the current uncertainty is proving how the situation Kashmiri’s has to face. The beef ban, attack on Zahid and now the attack on students inside universities and colleges is making sense of fetid environment. The politics has taken thousands of lives. The so called nationalists should refrain attacking others, it is an individual’s choice what he should celebrate and what he shouldn’t. The choice should be confined up to the person only

Mumbai Meeting For Justice For Rohith Vemula Draws Large Crowd,
Raises Important Questions
By Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, Mumbai

On 22nd April, the Mumbai Joint Action Committee for Social Justice organised Convention of People’s Resistance with the theme ‘Rohith Vemula’s Murder and Questions Thereafter: through People’s Resistance towards Azaadi’. The programme was enthusiastically attended by around two thousand people including students, professors, intellectuals, artists, activists and others and addressed by students from different universities all across the country and writers and activists like Arundhati Roy,Prakash Ambedkar,S.Q.R Iliyas (Umar Khalid’s father),Teesta Setalvad and Soni Sori (through video message)

02 April , 2016

US Deploying Additional Armored Brigades To Russian Border
By Thomas Gaist

The United States Army in Europe plans to significantly bolster its military presence in Eastern Europe, US European Command officials said on Wednesday. By February 2017, the US military plans to maintain a “permanent footprint” of three combat brigades stationed on the continent. The deployments will include 250 combat vehicles, including tanks, armored personnel carriers, Bradley and Paladin Fighting Vehicles, howitzers and thousands of troops

More Than 500 Film Makers, Writers, Artists And Activists
Demand Release Of Deba Ranjan Sarangi
By Concerned Citizens

We the undersigned film makers, writers, professionals in the area of art & culture, academics, activists and social organisations are deeply shocked to hear about the arrest of independent documentary film maker, writer and human rights activist Deba Ranjan Sarangi. We strongly condemn the arrest view it as part of an overall strategy of the Indian State to curb freedom of speech, freedom of expression of artists, writers, film makers and cultural personalities. We also condemn it in the context of the overall suppression of dissent and suppression of human rights defenders in the era of strong facilitation of the forces of communalism and globalisation by the Indian State and in particular, by the Odisha government

What Does Hiroshima Have To Do With Donald Trump?
By Mickey Z.

ISIS, says Donald J. Trump, “is probably why I’m No. 1 in the polls.” His formula is frighteningly simple and frighteningly… well, frightening. “They're chopping off our heads in the Middle East,” Trump ominously reminds us. “They want to kill us. They want to kill our country. They want to knock out our cities.” So, when faced with such an enemy, would the Republican frontrunner consider the nuclear option? “I don't rule out anything,” he promised. Meanwhile, a March 24-26, 2016, poll found that 50 percent of respondents (registered voters of both parties) supported Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States

Pakistan Abandons Plans To Reform Controversial Blasphemy Law
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Pakistan government has abandoned plans to amend the country's blasphemy law following protests in its capital Islamabad that left the city paralyzed for almost four days. The Sunni Tehreek group descended on the capital on Sunday, March 27, to denounce the hanging of police officer Mumtaz Qadri for the 2011 murder of Governor Salman Taseer. Hundreds of protesters rallied for days in Islamabad before ending their sit-in on Wednesday after gathering assurances from the government

Syria: Kurdish Initiatives On The Rise
By Rene Wadlow

On March 17, 2016, the “federal democratic system of Rojava” (a Kurdish term for northern Syria) was proclaimed officially. Some 150 representatives of Kurdish, Arab, and Assyrian (largely Christian) groups met in the city of Rmellane in north-east Syria and voted in favor of the union of three 'cantons' largely populated by Kurds − the cantons of Afrin, Kobani, and Jezireh

Why Is Lebanon Holding Hannibal Gaddafi Hostage?
By Franklin Lamb

As of this week, following his arrest on December 15, 2015, Hannibal Gaddafi, one of seven children of Moammar Gaddafi and his Widow Safia Farkash, has spent, without a scintilla of evidence that he violated any Lebanese law, nearly 16 weeks wrongly incarcerated in a Beirut jail

Darul Uloom Falls For The Polarizing Agenda Of Hindutva Brigade
By Shamsul Islam

Those Hindutva organizations which have recently found 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' as a slogan to prove one's loyalty to India, never-never chanted it during the British rule. In fact, the slogan of freedom fighters was JAI HIND. When we have National Anthem, National Flag, Democratic-Secular Constitution and Jai Hind dear to Indians 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' is only a diversionary tactic so that the Hindutva rulers can divert attention from serious issues like poverty, hunger, price-rise, unemployment, rising violence against women & Dalits, loot of public bank money by money-bags. It is sad that Darul Uloom by such decrees is only facilitating the polarizing agenda of Hindutva brigade

Love The Country
By Gurazada Appa Rao

This is to remember and celebrate Gurazada in his 110th year and his all-time great poem DESA BHAKTI, written 1910, which is highly relevant today in the context of debate on nationalism, patriotism and sedition

01 April , 2016

Rape And Institutional Murder Of A Minor
Dalit Girl In Rajasthan
By The Bangalore coalition for Justice for Delta Meghwal

On March 29th,2016 the dead body of Delta Meghwal, a 17 year old Dalit girl from a village in Barmer district of Rajasthan was found in the water tank of the Jain Adarsh Teacher Training Institute for girls in Nokha, Bikaner where she was studying. According to the FIR filed by her parents, there were only 4 girls at the hostel as all the other girls had gone home and had not returned by then. On the evening of 28th, at 8 pm, she called her father and told him that their Warden Priya Shukla had sent her to the PT Instructor Vijendra Singh's room, with the excuse of cleaning the hostel (this shows the clear collusion of the warden in the case). There, Delta was raped by Vijendra Kumar Singh, the PT teacher. The Institute , in an attempt to cover up the incident, took written apology from both her and the PT Instructor with a statement that this happened with mutual consent. The usual strategy of victim blaming was used in the most brutal manner against a 17 yr old girl

Pakistan’s Military Expands Its Power In Wake Of Lahore Terror Attack
By Sampath Perera

Pakistan’s military has seized on last Sunday’s terrorist atrocity in Lahore to implement its longstanding plans for an “antiterrorism” offensive in Punjab, the country’s most populous province, and to further strengthen its authority over the country’s civilian government

The Wounded Phoenix Of Palmyra
By Franklin Lamb

Eyewitness accounts from the scene this morning (3/30/2016) confirm that the Syrian Army has liberated all parts of the city of Palmyra (Tadmor) including all of the ancient city, from 10 months of occupation and destruction by ISIS. The Syrian army spokesman explained that the city, home to some of the most extensive ruins of the Roman Empire, would now become a “launch pad” for operations against ISIS strongholds in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, further east across a vast desert. Syrian state media announced yesterday that Palmyra’s military airport was again receiving air traffic

New Veteran-Led Campaign Challenges Islamophobia
By Brian Trautman

Violence against American Muslims is growing faster than at any time since 9/11, with assaults on Muslim individuals and their places of worship having tripled since the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks. The hate propaganda and political demagoguery observed in the current presidential election season has fueled Islamophobia and contributed to the sharp rise in hate crimes. Many public figures, social commentators and members of the media tragically conflate terrorism with Islam, despite the lack of credible evidence pointing to any connection between the two. Sadly, it is quite possible that the anti-Muslim responses to the terror attacks in Brussels from Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and others may have incited more Islamophobia and put Muslims at greater risk of victimization

Brussels 2016: Fall-Out For Europe’s Muslims
By Iftikhar H. Malik

Muslim media, mosques, family structures and certainly the institutional hierarchies have to assume fresher and dynamic steps to help Muslim majorities become stake holders rather than turning into suspects, or mere onlookers. Most Muslims know that the perpetrators are often the criminal elements that, for their own retribution, seek radical laybys and in the process may undertake extreme and brutal means to ventilate their own personal frustrations. Apart from issues related with identity and of generational nature, a recourse to proactive and non-coercive policies—both domestic and external—will certainly go a long way in deterring some younger Muslims from self-flagellation and its attendant human costs

Obama’s Fakery, ‘News’ Media’s Suckery
By Eric Zuesse

How can it be that the same news-medium that reported, on 22 April 2015, that the Obama Administration allows countries it signs trade-pacts with to murder their trade-union organizers and insists upon continuing to permit those murders, has now also reported on 24 March 2016, "The Obama Administration Just Took A Huge Step On Worker Safety: It’s known as the silica rule, and it’s a big frigging deal”? This new Obama-Administration ‘rule’ won’t even be enforceable, but that ‘news’ medium failed to notice that this ‘big frigging deal’ is actually only a con by Obama — nothing more than empty words and promises, nothing at all that’s likely to be enforceable

Why The Supreme Court Of India Should Enlarge Prof. G.N. Saibaba On Bail
By Dr. P.S. Sahni

On 4th of April, 2016, the Supreme Court of India is scheduled to hear the bail plea of Prof. G.N. Saibaba, lecturer, Ram Lal Anand College, Delhi University and who is presently lodged at Nagpur jail.There is an apparent apprehension that if enlarged on bail, Prof. Saibaba would jump bail and flee the country or otherwise influence material witnesses – both these assumptions are unfounded. Far from fleeing in the physical sense Prof. Saibaba is wheelchair bound and is not even able to stand on his own feet. Besides there is not even an allegation against him that he has ever tried to influence witnesses

Stop Harssing Bela Bhatia
By William Nicholas Gomes

On 26 March 2016, death threats were made against human rights defender Ms Bela Bhatia during a demonstration close to her home in Jagdalpur. Participants in the demonstration demanded that the human rights defender be put to death, accused her of being a Naxal terrorist and questioned her landlady and neighbours

Crying For Bharat Mata
By Swapnil Dhanraj

The recent imposition of the slogan “Bharat Mata Ki jai” is another attempt to ignite deep communal tension and separatism in the name of nationalism. The shocking suspension of a MLA , Waris Pathan in Maharashtra for not chanting “Bharat Mata Ki jai” indicates that communal nationalism is in play. Such kind of enforcement for chanting particular slogans or forceful nationalism has ended up creating schism rather than uniting people for the so called cultural nationalism of the BJP. To quote Romila Thapar nationalism has to be inclusive of all communities and it has to be secular. It cannot be determined by any single identity such as religion, language. So what we need today is creation of egalitarian conditions where every person can think and speak fearlessly without any governmental imposition

Jashn-e-Azaadi By Whom And For Whom
By Anoop Patel

An open letter to Organisers and speakers of the event “Jashn-e-Azaadi” on 28th March, 2016 on the birth anniversary of Prof. Bipan Chandra...

A Deeper Look At Manusmriti To Understand
Why Students At JNU Burned It In Protest
By P Radhakrishnan

On 8th March this year, a few students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, including former and current members of ABVP (AkhilBharatiyaVidyarthiParishad) burnt a copy of the Manusmriti to “protest against ‘derogatory verses‘ in the Hindu religious text”. After being served a show-cause notice by the Vice-Chancellor of the University, three of the students have stated that there was nothing wrong in their actions. In response to the VC’s question, the author has presented an excerpt from his book ‘Religion, Caste And State’

Gender Bias And Discrimination: Modernity VS Tradition
By Dr. Fayaz Ahmad Bhat

I do not want to give an impression that in traditional and simple societies women had no issue and there were no gender bias and discrimination. However, my point is that modern western ideologies are not free from gender bias and discrimination and any blind follow and copy paste may result loss of space which women were occupying in traditional societies

A Beginning, Not The End!
By Mohammad Ashraf

Sometimes accidents in life do not end it but rather give a new beginning for a more active and purposeful life