All posts by Nivedita Menon

Democracy, Feminism, Government, Politics, Right watch

Dismantle the structures of sexual violence, NOT the protesters’ tent! Statement by concerned citizens

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On the day that the Prime Minister was inaugurating a new Parliament house, democratic space was being crushed outside.

More than 1150 people including activists, lawyers, academics, former civil servants, artists and concerned citizens have released a statement condemning the brutal police action against the protesting wrestlers and those who had come out in support of their call from all over Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for a Mahila Samman Mahapanchayat today.

We, concerned individuals, are absolutely horrified to see the violence unleashed by the government and police today, to suppress the powerful grassroots support for our brave wrestlers and their struggle against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who stands accused of sexual harassment of women wrestlers stretching back over a decade. The wrestlers have been protesting since 18th of January, 2023. They had given a call to all women’s organisations, activists and all other civil society organisations to join a Mahila Samman Mahapanchayat outside the new parliament building today, i.e 28 May 2023.

Thousands of women from Delhi and nearby states responded to the call.  Fearing the  collective strength of Indian women – the police pre-emptively blocked all border roads, shut down proximal metro stations, and cordoned off roads. This is how scared a patriarchal State is of the sight of the women of India standing shoulder to shoulder with each other. Despite this crackdown, the government was unable to block the flow of solidarity; activists and concerned citizens found ways of trying to reach the protest site. Continue reading Dismantle the structures of sexual violence, NOT the protesters’ tent! Statement by concerned citizens →

Democracy, Politics, Right watch

STOP THIS WITCH HUNT – DON’T MISUSE PMLA AGAINST SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS! Statement by concerned citizens

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Over 500 concerned citizens, democratic rights’ activists across movements, women’s groups, students and academics condemned the misuse of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against scholars and activists, raising constitutional issues and asking for the government’s accountability.

We the undersigned women’s organisations and concerned individuals strongly condemn the continuous and repeated harassment of a number of women activists and intellectuals, by the Enforcement Directorate(ED), under the guise of an inquiry, in Delhi. This is a clear abuse of its extraordinary and draconian powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). As in the case of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), there are increasing instances of the misuse of PMLA, especially against persons who are vocal critics of the government and its policies, and those who raise issues of the poor and oppressed sections of society. The ED is being used as an intimidation tool for political vendetta, where the process is the punishment for the detention of dissenters.

In the course of the last few months, several women scholars and activists have been summoned repeatedly, made to wait long hours, often interrogated without any woman officer present throughout, asked to furnish documents over and over again, in an ED investigation. In a clear case of evergreening the inquiry, the process has become endless. It is quickly turning into a fishing expedition, with all kinds of irrelevant documents and personal information being demanded, such as those about other family members, having no relevance to the inquiry whatsoever. Continue reading STOP THIS WITCH HUNT – DON’T MISUSE PMLA AGAINST SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS! Statement by concerned citizens →

Democracy, Everyday Life, Identities, Islamophobia, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Social Suffering in a World without Support – Report on the Mental Health of Indian Muslims: Bebaak Collective

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Report by Bebaak Collective, December 2022

Bebaak Collective (‘Voices of the Fearless’) was founded in 2013 as an informal association of grassroots activists to advocate for the rights of Muslim women and community. It is a platform for engaging with feminist thought and practice, human rights issues, and the anti-discrimination struggle. It has been working in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. With the rising onslaught against marginalised communities, the Collective has evolved into an advocacy group that strongly adheres to constitutional values and believes that the rights and principles enshrined in our constitution are inalienable from every Indian citizen, irrespective of their caste, gender, sexuality or religion.

Relatives of a victim of the Delhi pogrom 2020 in mourning. Source: The Guardian

Foreword

Mental health and its socio-political determinants are beginning to emerge from a shroud of silence and stigma into public discourse. There are several possible reasons for this, the most visible being the pandemic and the many narratives of suffering it brought to the fore from among the most vulnerable sections of society. Even before the pandemic, the relationship between social disadvantage and the mental health of certain communities and groups (some more than others) has been studied in the Indian context. Some examples of these include the mental health of women, homeless persons, Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi communities, and queer and trans persons. However, the mental health of Indian Muslims has been severely underrepresented and almost invisible within the mental health or development literature in India. Continue reading Social Suffering in a World without Support – Report on the Mental Health of Indian Muslims: Bebaak Collective →

Capitalism, Culture

Decoding Jan Shakti at National Gallery of Modern Art -There is no Schindler’s List! Sandip K Luis

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This post originally appeared on social media and refers to the on-going Jan Shakti exhibition at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Delhi, which according to its description, displayed “works of India’s top artists on themes covered in Mann Ki Baat such as Swachhata, water conservation, agriculture, space, India’s northeast, Nari Shakti, Yoga, and Ayurveda.”

For some days now, certain videos and photos of PM Narendra Modi, the authoritarian Supreme Leader now ruling one-sixth of the world’s population, have been circulating on social media. He is seen visiting the new exhibition ‘Jan Shakti: A Collective Power’ at NGMA dedicated to his propagandist radio programme Mann Ki Baat.

About a week ago, an uproar, however scattered, erupted on social media when this exhibition, guest-curated by Alka Pande, was opened to the public since the occasion also witnessed the presence and participation of some of the celebrated personalities of the Indian artworld. To name some of them, since they would be recorded in history’s hall of shame – Atul Dodiya, Vibha Galhotra, Riyas Komu, Ashim Purkayastha, G.R. Iranna, Thukral and Tagra, Manjunath Kamath, Jagannath Panda and  Kiran Nadar in her role as the “adviser” to the exhibition. Almost all of these luminaries and “top artists” (as it is reported in the media) again appeared when the PM visited the show, proudly posing for a photo with him.

New Delhi, May 14 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses for a photograph with a group while visiting Jana Shakti, an exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi on Sunday. (ANI Photo)

Continue reading Decoding Jan Shakti at National Gallery of Modern Art -There is no Schindler’s List! Sandip K Luis →

Democracy, Empire/ Imperialism, Everyday Life, Movements, Politics, Right watch

75th year of Nakba – In solidarity with the Palestinian struggle

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Yesterday, May 15, 2023 marked the 75th anniversary of Nakba or the dispossession of the people of Palestine by the Zionist state of Israel. This is the text of a talk delivered at an event organized by India Palestine Friendship Forum.

Stamp issued in 1981

In September 2012,  I had the incredible good fortune to visit Palestine. We stayed in Ramallah, visited and interacted with colleagues at Birzeit University and spoke at a conference organized by Muwatin, a research institute based in Ramallah. We met  a large number of inspiring people who pushed the frontiers of our minds, and we came away humbled and moved by the dignity of a people living through the brutal occupation of their lands by the  Zionist state of Israel, with limitless courage and bubbling sense of humour intact. Continue reading 75th year of Nakba – In solidarity with the Palestinian struggle →

Democracy, Feminism, Religion, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Letter to Consul General, Iranian Consulate, Mumbai: Indian women’s organisations

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The following letter, signed by over 300 individuals from different national and regional organisations was handed over at the  Iranian Consulate in Mumbai by six representatives on September 29, 2022.  It was received politely and acknowledged.

Mr. Abolfazi Mohammad Alikhani
Consul General,
Iran Consulate, Mumbai.

Sir,

We, women and women’s organization from India, are writing this letter to register our horror at the  brutal attacks on the women and citizens  of Iran as they protest the killing of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the Gasht-e-Ershad. These brutal attacks have resulted in and continue to result in further deaths and imprisonments.

These brave women of Iran are demanding freedom from the Morality Police and the State imposing upon them what they must or must not wear and how to wear it; what they must and must not do, or act, or behave. They are rejecting this control. The men of Iran are giving full support and putting their bodies on the line alongside them. The resulting violent repression is heinous and inhuman.

We stand in solidarity with the women of Iran who came out in public to protest killing of Mahsa Amini and to voice their demands for  freedom, equality and autonomy. Continue reading Letter to Consul General, Iranian Consulate, Mumbai: Indian women’s organisations →

Democracy, Everyday Life, Feminism, Politics, Right watch

In solidarity with the Iranian people fighting for democracy and justice: Ayesha Kidwai & Nivedita Menon

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This post is jointly written by AYESHA KIDWAI AND NIVEDITA MENON

On this international day of solidarity with the Iranian people, two feminists from India send you our greetings, in complete awe of your courage, your creativity, your solidarity with one another, your relentless resistance in the face of cruel and brutal repression.

Watching the panel discussion on Jadaliyya on the ongoing struggle of the Iranian people against the authoritarian regime, we were struck by the complexity of the arguments being made. The struggle is not against Islam, and it is not about hijab everywhere and at all times. What we are witnessing in Iran is reflected all over the world wherever there is resistance to the gendered ways in which all states control populations – whether by compulsory conscription in wars the people have no interest in, or by making the hijab central to the reason of state – in Iran by compulsory veiling, in France and in India by compulsory unveiling of the Muslim woman; or in the USA by denying autonomy over their bodies to women by criminalizing abortion. Continue reading In solidarity with the Iranian people fighting for democracy and justice: Ayesha Kidwai & Nivedita Menon →

Culture, Democracy, Feminism, Right watch

Feminist reflections on the brave women of Iran: Ayesha Kidwai

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Guest post by AYESHA KIDWAI

Women in Iran cast off their hijabs and occupy the streets.

Looking at these women in this photo, I think of what feelings they struggle with at this moment.

How many emotions populate this picture? Courage, triumph, feelings of being exposed, fear, the sense of a point of no-return being crossed…

But one knows they have found the one thing that will carry them beyond this moment—the long, deep embrace of sisterhood.

Inquilab Zindabad is not only said with clenched fists, it’s said with interlinked arms and bodies curved into each other. Continue reading Feminist reflections on the brave women of Iran: Ayesha Kidwai →

Capitalism, Education

Why no Admissions this year in Central Universities? JNUTA statement

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Did you even know this? That there have been no admissions this academic session so far, to any Central University,  as the results of the new UGC mandated centralized Common Universities Entrance Test (CUET) are yet to be announced as late as September 2022, when the academic session was to have begun in July/August. The UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar (who ran JNU to the ground in his extended tenure) has tweeted that results for the Undergraduate courses will be announced latest by September 15th. The exams for Postgraduate  courses were conducted only this month!

And I dare you to find a single news item that reports the CUET as the large scale massive failure it is. At best you get bland information such as that undergraduate admissions are about to begin in Deli University this month and that classes are expected to begin on October 20th.  No questioning of why there has been a three month delay already and even now everything is only “expected”!

And again earlier this month, as late as September 2022, the National Testing Agency informed Central Universities it will be unable to conduct the Common Test for the Ph.D programme, and the universities will, at this point, START the process of conducting these exams themselves.

The first time in India admissions to universities were severely delayed was due to the Covid virus in 2020-21, but different universities had different processes and could accomplish admissions by the end of the year. In the last year too there was delay, but as universities were still holding different entrance text exams,   universities differed in when they managed to complete admissions in 2021. This academic year, however, when there are no pandemic induced closure of any university, the situation is the worst ever, due entirely to a targeted human endeavour to destroy India’s public university system, by imposing an unmanageable, centralised examination that lakhs and lakhs of students all over the country must take for admission into universities.

That this disaster for public universities and for two generations of students is not making  the news, let alone the headlines, says much about the state of the media in India today.  That nobody will be held accountable for this national disaster is almost unbelievable except that  we have had to to believe so many unbelievable developments in our unfortunate country since 2014, that perhaps the destruction of public universities seems minor in comparison?

Please take a look at the detailed critique provided by the JNUTA.

Continue reading Why no Admissions this year in Central Universities? JNUTA statement →

Democracy, Education, Feminism, Government, Movements, Politics

SL Govt – Stop Labeling Student Protestors and Activists as Terrorists! South Asian Feminists

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Statement released by feminists from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Fiji, Malaysia and India, August 27, 2022

We are a group of feminists writing to call urgent attention to the extra-constitutional attempts of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to suppress dissent. Lacking a popular mandate, hunting down student protestors and activists, including a LGBTIQ activist has become a central strategy of the political élite to retain power. The latest move by the GoSL is to brand three student leaders and the student union they represent, the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF), as ‘terrorists’.

Wasantha Mudalige, Convenor of IUSF, Galwewa Siridhamma thero, Convenor of the Inter-University Bhikkhu Federation, and Hashan Jeewantha, a student activist, were among the 20 arrested on August 18, 2022, for participating in a peaceful protest led by the student movement. All three of them are prominent student leaders who have been at the forefront of struggles for socio-economic justice in Sri Lanka, particularly against numerous ongoing attempts to dismantle free education. Continue reading SL Govt – Stop Labeling Student Protestors and Activists as Terrorists! South Asian Feminists →

Literature, Politics, Religion, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Why remember Partition? And what to remember? Ayesha Kidwai

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AYESHA KIDWAI reflects on the injustice done to Bilkis Bano on the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, by the release of the 11 convicted rapists (who raped her during the Gujarat carnage of 2002, and killed her 3 year-old daughter), by way of her translation of Krishn Chander’s short story written in 1948, entitled Ek Tawaif ka Khat, 

Our readers would remember that Ayesha has had translations posted here on Kafila earlier, some into Hindustani from English. Now you can visit her site to read all of her translations as and when she posts them there.

Here is the link to Ayesha Kidwai’s site.

Here we publish her preface and an extract from the translation. The whole story may be read on her site.

PREFACE BY AYESHA KIDWAI

There have been many in India and Pakistan (and what eventually became Bangladesh) who have always remembered the Partition of 1947. They remembered it as it the long Partition of India drew out, because they bore the marks of it on their bodies and in their families, they remembered it as they were in Parliament trying to build a state that would never face such a terrible event of rupture ever again; they remembered it even when they apparently appeared to forget it, because the only way to not let the events of terrifying trauma — of the looting, abduction, sexual violence, exile and murder— overshadow the present and the futures that had to be built. At every stage in the last 75 years, there have been people in both countries who have taken instruction from the horrors of the long Partition to interrogate what must not be done, what was must be changed, what must be erased.

Continue reading Why remember Partition? And what to remember? Ayesha Kidwai →

Culture, Education, Feminism

The anxiety of the Bengali bhadralok and the modern woman: Why does the body matter?

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Guest Post by PANCHALI RAY

A few months back, an impressive essay in one of the leading newspapers cited macro data to argue that the rapid decline of women’s labour force participation stemmed from their disproportionate household responsibilities. Widely shared on social media, intellectuals and activists lamented Indian men’s lack of participation in social reproduction and care work, which compelled women to drop out of the labour market. However, gender blind methodology or macro scale data collection often leads to ironing out of nuances. Thus, what the authors missed (or the data collectors), was patriarchy in the public sphere, which more often than not, pushed women back into their homes: lack of opportunities and occupational mobility, gender-based occupational segregation, gender wage gap, lack of infrastructure (access to creche, toilets), sexual harassment, and the incredible policing of women’s bodies and lives.

Nothing proves this  more than the recent case of a professor being forced to resign from a premium university in Kolkata over bikini-clad photos she posted on her private Instagram account. Continue reading The anxiety of the Bengali bhadralok and the modern woman: Why does the body matter? →

Democracy, Government, Islamophobia, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

The Gujarat Politics of Remission: People’s Union for Democratic rights

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Image courtesy Times Now

Statement by People’s Union for Democratic Rights

The controversial garlanding of the recently released 11 individuals, by members allegedly belonging to the VHP on August 16, 2022, raises a pertinent question: why were these individuals released? Obviously, the fact that they had been in prison for well over the mandatory 14 years made them eligible for availing the remission policy of the state government.

It is a settled principle within remission policy that the pre-mature release of convicted prisoners must fulfil the goals of rehabilitative or reformative justice. For this reason, remission is not an automatic process available to all convicts who have served 14 years; instead, there are clear criteria for eligibility. While the report prepared by the state government’s committee formed after the Supreme Court’s judgment of May 2022 is not available, it is reasonable to ask how the 11 individuals fulfilled the criteria. Continue reading The Gujarat Politics of Remission: People’s Union for Democratic rights →

Democracy, Government, Islamophobia, Law, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

गुजरात में हुए सामूहिक बलात्कार और हत्याओं के 11 दोषियों की समय से पहले रिहाई को तुरंत रद्द किया जाए!

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For complete list of signatories and statement in English, see here.

न्याय के लिए बिलकिस बानो के 20 साल के संघर्ष  में हम उसके समर्थन में एकजुट हैं

हम मांग करते हैं कि सामूहिक बलात्कार और हत्या के 11 दोषियों की समय से पहले रिहाई को तुरंत रद्द किया जाए!

न्याय के लिए संघर्ष  कर रहे सभी बलात्कार पीड़ितों पर इसका अत्यघिक नकारात्मक और बुरा असर पड़ेगा !

हम भारत के सर्वोच्च न्यायलय से इस फैसले को जो कि न्याय पर एक गंभीर आघात है, को पलटने की मांग करते हैं

हम भारत के सभी नागरिकों को अपील करते हैं कि वे इस अन्याय के खिलाफ और बलात्कार पीड़ितों के समर्थन में खड़े हो

15 अगस्त 2022 की सुबह, 75वें स्वतंत्रता दिवस पर राष्ट्र को संबोधित करते हुए भारत के प्रधानमंत्री ने महिला अधिकार, गौरव और नारी-शक्ति के बारे में बात की। उसी दिन दोपहर में ‘बिलकिस बानो’, एक महिला जो उसी ‘नारी – शक्ति ’ की मिसाल के रुप में पिछले 17 साल से न्याय की लम्बी लड़ाई लड़ रही है, को पता चलता है कि वे लोग जिन्होंने उसके परिवार के लोगों को मार डाला, उसकी 3 साल की मासूम बच्ची का कत्ल किया, उसके साथ सामूहिक बलात्कार किया और फिर उसे मरने के लिए छोड़ दिया, वो सभी जेल से बाहर आ गए हैं और आज़ाद हो गए हैं। किसी ने उससे उसके विचार नहीं पूछे या उसकी सुरक्षा के बारे में जानने की कोशिश नहीं की। किसी ने उसे नोटिस भी नहीं भेजा, किसी ने नहीं पूछा कि एक सामूहिक बलात्कार की पीड़ा से निकली महिला को अपने बलात्कारियों की रिहाई के बारे में सुनकर कैसा मेहसूस हुआ। Continue reading गुजरात में हुए सामूहिक बलात्कार और हत्याओं के 11 दोषियों की समय से पहले रिहाई को तुरंत रद्द किया जाए! →

Democracy, Government, Law, Violence/Conflict

Justice for Bilkis! Appeal to Supreme Court to restore faith in the justice system on 75th anniversary of Independence

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FULL TEXT OF STATEMENT IN ENGLISH AND COMPLETE LIST OF SIGNATORIES AFTER THE SUMMARY BELOW.

FOR STATEMENT IN HINDI SEE HERE

20 years after horrific gang-rape and mass murders in Gujarat, about 6000 citizens speak out in support of Bilkis Bano’s continuing struggle for justice!

Demand the revocation of the premature release of 11 gang-rapists and mass murderers in Gujarat.

Appeal to the Supreme Court of India to undo this grave miscarriage of justice. Call upon citizens to stand with all victims of rape against such an injustice.

Coming together to express their shock and horror at the pre-mature release of 11 men convicted of gang-rape and mass murder, about 6000 ordinary citizens, grassroots workers, movements and organizations working for the rights of women, for human rights, peace, secularism, against caste oppression, for disability and queer rights and other peoples’ movements, activists, eminent writers, historians, scholars, filmmakers, journalists and former bureaucrats and many more, came together to say:

“On  the morning of August 15, 2022, in his Independence Day address to the nation the Prime Minister of India spoke of women’s rights, dignity and Nari Shakti. That very afternoon Bilkis Bano, a woman who embodied that ‘Nari Shakti’ in her long and daunting struggle for justice, learnt that the perpetrators who killed her family, murdered her 3 year old daughter, gang-raped and left her to die, had walked free.”

Continue reading Justice for Bilkis! Appeal to Supreme Court to restore faith in the justice system on 75th anniversary of Independence →

Democracy, Ecology/Environment, Government, Movements, Politics, Right watch

The flag is ours! Azadi bhi!

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Students, journalists, writers, poets in jail on trumped up, false charges

Three potent symbols  – the Azadi slogan, the Constitution and the National Flag – have formed the core of the battle against Hindu Rashtra and capitalist expropriation over the last decade. Continue reading The flag is ours! Azadi bhi! →

Democracy, Right watch

Solidarity for the Prisoners of Conscience in India – Statement in Support of Teesta, Sreekumar & other Human Rights Defenders in India

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260 prominent human rights activists, intellectuals, journalists, artists and community leaders from all over the world strongly condemned the arrest of eminent human rights activist Teesta Setalvad and R.B. Sreekumar , Sanjiv Bhatt (already in prison for over 18 months) as well as journalist and fact checker Mohammed Zubair in India. The newly launched broad-based alliance, Solidarity for the Prisoners of Conscience in India, had appealed for this show of solidarity. 

Statement in Support of Teesta, Sreekumar & other Human Rights Defenders in India

We the undersigned, concerned citizens of the world, and representing various human rights organizations, condemn the arrest of veteran human rights leader, Teesta Setalvad and other Human Rights Defenders. These are Prisoners of Conscience in India, and all such prisoners must be freed.

June 25, 2022 marked the 47th anniversary of the dark era of an Emergency in India, when a government hijacked the whole edifice of the state. The ruling party and its leader treated the state as their personal estate. It was the imposition of a highly concentrated apparatus of power on a fundamentally free and federal society, and the turning over of this centralized apparatus for personal vengeance and pursuit of raw political power. It was one fell swoop overtaking the whole country, spreading a psychosis of fear and terror. Continue reading Solidarity for the Prisoners of Conscience in India – Statement in Support of Teesta, Sreekumar & other Human Rights Defenders in India →

Culture, Democracy, Right watch

Letter to Chief Minister of Karnataka: Concerned citizens

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Letter to CM of Karnataka by by a group of concerned citizens based in Karnataka

June 24, 2022

To Shri Basavaraj Bommai,  Chief Minister of Karnataka

Sub: Concerns about peace and harmony within Karnataka and the urgent need to restore the state to a “sarva janangada shantiya thota”

Respected Chief Minister,

We have been trying to secure an appointment with you through your office for over a month. We wished to present this letter to you in person. Since we have not succeeded in our efforts, we have decided to issue it as an open letter since we believe that it concerns matters of public importance. We consider it our duty as citizens to bring our concerns and suggestions to your attention. We hope you and the government you head will take due note of it.

The letter follows:

We are a group of concerned citizens from different walks of life based in Karnataka who, like lakhs of fellow citizens, are deeply disturbed by recent developments in the state that threaten to destroy the peace, diversity and pluralism for which Kannada Naadu has long been known and admired. We believe it is our duty to bring our concerns and suggestions to your attention for corrective action. Continue reading Letter to Chief Minister of Karnataka: Concerned citizens →

Government, Identities, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Letter to UP Administration: Women’s groups, democratic rights organisations and concerned citizens

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Statement by women’s groups, democratic rights organizations and individuals

Shri Ajay Singh Bisht, The Chief Minister, UP

Shri Avnish Kumar Awasthi, Secretary, Home, UP

Dr Devendra Singh Chauhan, DGP, UP

Shri Ajay Kumar SSP, UP Police

We, the undersigned women’s organisations, democratic rights groups and individuals, write to you to strongly condemn the attempts of the Uttar Pradesh police to take into custody civil society activists who have been active in the anti-CAA struggle on the false and completely unsubstantiated claim that they were “masterminds” of the protests that happened in different parts of the country on June 9-10, 2022.

These protests were followed by police action in which several people have been injured. The police have unleashed bulldozers to demolish the homes of activists in a brazen and illegal manner. Police have filed cases against a number of people and sought to detain them and members of their families. Instead of compensating those whose houses have been unjustifiably demolished, your administration continues to take the same illegal path of throttling dissent. Continue reading Letter to UP Administration: Women’s groups, democratic rights organisations and concerned citizens →

Democracy, Government, Law, Politics, Right watch

CCG Open Statement on the Sedition Provision in the Indian Penal Code

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Statement by Constitutional Conduct Group

We are a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services who have worked with the Central and State Governments in the course of our careers. Our group has no affiliation with any political party, and we, as its members, believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India.

On May 11, 2022, a chorus of appreciation greeted the Supreme Court’s interim orders on a batch of cases which had challenged the constitutionality of the sedition provision contained in Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).  The Supreme Court’s order was an interim one, viz. to keep in abeyance this section and all related pending trials, appeals and proceedings until further orders.  While we would, like others, wish to applaud this decision of the Supreme Court, we feel that, at present, it deserves only a muted cheer.   Continue reading CCG Open Statement on the Sedition Provision in the Indian Penal Code →

Decolonizing Theory, Government, Law, Right watch

The Hindu deity as juristic person – A dangerous path, yet again: Rahul Govind

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Guest post by RAHUL GOVIND

Gyan Vyapi Mosque and Kashi Vishwanath  Temple (Image courtesy Indian Express)

The present controversy over several religious sites threatens to tread yet again the path that led to the communal mobilization, riots and destruction of the Babri Masjid. The popular press also repeats several legal arguments without always analysing their import. In the present cases, just like in Ayodhya, a key point that we hear time and again is that when it comes to the Hindu deity’s property, such property is perpetual and therefore even if a temple was destroyed centuries ago, the legality of the Hindu deity’s property remains unimpeded, thereby becoming the basis of a reclamation. It is therefore important to understand the legal concept of the Hindu deity’s juristic personality. Continue reading The Hindu deity as juristic person – A dangerous path, yet again: Rahul Govind →