2013

Everyday the headlines scream at us, with alarming frequency, of yet another rape. Every 32 minutes somewhere in India, a woman is getting raped. There is certainly a breakdown of the social fabric; large sections of the people are feeling a sense of anomie. Then there is rampant unemployment fuelled with pornography and an increased objectification of women. What is even more horrific is the rising incidence of child-rape. According to the National Crimes Record Bureau, there has been a 336 (…)

The serene and palatial Raza Library in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, that has a priceless collection of historical works in Sanskrit, Urdu, Hindi and other languages, including manuscripts of earliest translation of the Quran was buzzing with activity recently. This sudden flutter in this usually quiet yet invaluable repository was created by the visit of the MoS, HRD, Jitin Prasada.
While some may term it as any other ministerial duty providing lot of photo ops to both the party’s and official (…)

COMMUNICATION
The Draft of the Party Programme of the Communist Party of India sets the task of completing the Democratic Revolution (Introductory Note) or New Democratic Revolution (12.4) and this is repeatedly mentioned in the Draft. Obviously it means that the Revolution is already underway and the CPI has to fulfil the task of taking it forward for its completion. But who started it and how it got going is nowhere clear in the Draft. It has been, however, asserted that ‘it will not be (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Comparative Constitutionalism in South Asia: ed by Sunil Khilnani, Vikram Raghavan and Arun K. Thiruvengadam; Oxford Univrsity Press, New Delhi; 2013; Pages 401.
The book under review is long overdue. The comparison of evolution of constitutionalism in the South Asian countries has not been done in a systematic and structural manner till date. The book in your hand seeks to fill the void. The book is rightly dedicated to the two of the tallest jurists of the region: Neelan (…)

TRIBUTE
by Chaman Lal
The death of Justice J.S. Verma, the former Chief Justice of India and erstwhile Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), on April 22, 2013 marks the end of an important era in the operationalisation of human rights in India.
Despite belonging to the Madhya Pradesh cadre of the Indian Police Service, I had known and admired Justice J.S. Verma from a distance until October 1999, when he joined the National Human Rights Commission as its Chairperson. I (…)

COMMUNICATION
While various aspects of violence against women have been widely discussed in recent times, one very significant reason for the worsening of this problem has not received the necessary attention. The reference here is to the rapid proliferation of liquor vends in most parts of the country, reaching even remote villages. Social activists and women’s organisations have repeatedly warned that this, apart from causing many other problems, is increasing the insecurity of women and (…)

The results of the Karnataka Assembly polls are out: the BJP has suffered a rout losing power in the only State of South India where it had struck deep roots. The Congress has registered a comprehensive victory securing as many as 121 seats in the 224-member House thus setting to rest all doubts that it may fall short of a simple majority of 113. The BJP secured only 40 seats—the same as the tally of the JD(S)—as against 110 it had won in the 2008 election; at the same time its voteshare (…)

COMMENTARY
The Supreme Court has come out with several strictures against the CBI and PMO on May 8 while charging the UPA Government with having changed the ‘heart of the report’ on the investigation into the coal scam. In this situation the continuance of the Union Law Minister, Ashwani Kumar, in his post has become untenable even as the PM is backing him to the hilt. As we go to press, it is learnt that the Congress is getting ready to have him removed despite the PM’s insistence on (…)

COMMENTARY
Observer
The judgment delivered on May 6 (2013) by a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court is shocking and anti-people. Unless the full-Bench of the Supreme Court hastens to correct it, it will lower the prestige of our Supreme Court in the eyes of the world.
The following questions need to be addressed: Who, for what purpose, filed the PIL on the Kudankulam nuclear plant before the Supreme Court? Is the Supreme Court endowed with superior know-ledge about nuclear plants? (…)

The morality of death penalty has again come to the forefront by the latest Supreme Court judgment rejecting Bhullar’s plea for mercy. I am against death penalty as such for anyone. But politicians like Badal, Karunanidhi, Jaya-lalithaa only invoke mercy to suit their political exigencies.
Badal obviously is feeling pressurised by the SGPC and extremist elements in the Akali Dal—if not, then why does he not also ask for mercy for all prisoners on the death-roll? If Badal is genuine and his (…)