2014

From N.C.’s Writings
Kashmir: Long Haul
Can the light be at last seen at the end of the tunnel in Kashmir? This question has now come up with the statement by the Union Home Minister that the time to resume the political process in Kashmir has arrived and with the report that Farooq Abdullah has been called by the government to return home from abroad and he has agreed to respond.
It was obvious when Jagmohan was summarily removed from the post of the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir that (…)

Here is what seems to be the historic irony of the coming election season in Jammu & Kashmir: that the “nationalists” should be pinning their prospect of success on a silent collaboration of the “separatists”. A veritable Benzene ring with a double valency bond, what?
But, maybe not quite. Word is that Geelani sahib, always first to sense the shape of things, has already withdrawn his earlier call for poll boycott, realising that this time around the interests of Kashmiris can only be (…)

by Sadhan Mukherjee
The majoritarian approach to our body politic today presages a great danger to our communal harmony. These two words—communal harmony—represent our national ethos which is inextricably linked to our democracy. They constitute the corner-stone of our Republic and its federal structure.
The Constitution of India declares our country as “secular”, “socialist” and “democratic” and all its citizens, irrespective of their communities, castes, creeds or religious beliefs (…)

Almost all people seek to justify their beliefs and actions by invoking the past. They look to the past also to find ways to claim that they are better than others. They speak of past glories, whether real or imaginary, to make the barrenness of the present easier to live with. We think, foolishly, that we are better people because our ancestors did something great or were exceptional. We forget that no past greatness can wipe out the fact that today we are at the bottom of the heap.
If we (…)

The nuclear energy programmes of many countries are either at a standstill or are actually declining. Prominent among these are the USA, Sweden and Denmark, and most recently Germany. The reasons for this are to be found solely in public awareness of the dangers of catastrophic accidents and of long-term risks of continued low-level radiation from normal operation of nuclear installations.
The Departments of Atomic Energy (DAE) of all countries are duty-bound to encourage the use of (…)

The Kabir Kala Manch, a cultural organisation that was formed in Pune, Maharashtra in 2002 in the wake of the Gujarat riots, was in Bangalore on November 21, 2014 for a performance in St. Joseph’s College. The venue was booked days in advance. Yet on the day of the performance, the police of the nearby police station came over to the college and the institution was asked to cancel the show. According to media reports, the request to cancel the show was from the Police Commissioner of (…)

Haryana has once again been in the news for the wrong reasons. The challenge to the authority of the State and judiciary by the self-styled Sant Ram Pal of Satlok Ashram of Barwala (Hisar) had created an explosive situation. It took more than a week of pressure by the huge force of the Haryana Police and Central Reserve Police and persuasion by some local leaders of the ruling party that made him surrender and help in averting an ugly situation. The administration undoubtedly demonstrated (…)

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK
Recently BJP President Amit Shah told a party rally at Kolkata that the leadership of the Trinamul Congress was involved in the Khagragarh (Burdwan) blast and that the Saradha chit fund scam money had been sent to Bangladesh to finance terror activities in West Bengal. On Wednesday (December 3, 2014) the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Jitendra Singh, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the investigations being carried on by the Central probe agencies had (…)

COMMENTARY
Thirty years ago on the night of December 2-3, 1984 the deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide’s fertiliser plant in Bhopal causing a disaster beyond one’s imagination. According to current estimates, some 20,000 people died while the injured numbered over five lakhs.
The enormity of the Bhopal tragedy has been highlighted by noted environmentalists. One of them, Sunita Narain, brings into focus why Bhopal became India’s ‘living shame’. In an article (…)

I am reminded of this whenever I think of the transfer policy of High Court judges being followed by the Supreme Court. No doubt the power of transfer from one High Court to another is to be found in the Constitution. But when in 1963 some amendments were to be made, the then Law Minister in order to remove the apprehension of misuse of power assured Parliament that the transfer of the High Court judge will only be done with the judge’s prior consent.
But in 1975 the High Court judges were (…)