Volume
1 Issue 2 The Human
Rights Magazine
June-July 2002
|
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Conquering
Peace
Given the socio-economic indicators of both
countries, the people of India and Pakistan need a war against developmental
backwardness.
Ayodhya
Dispute: The Lengthening Shadow
Beginning with the first court case in 1885,
the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute continues to traumatise the nation.
The
State has no Religion
There are hardly any decisions of the High Courts or
the Supreme Court which have come down heavily on communal parties. The judgments
are generally full of pious sentiments and the lofty ideals of secularism but
lack practical measures penalizing religious fundamentalists.
‘In
the name of investigation a farce was carried out’
In
November 1984 within the first week after the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi
more than 3,000 Sikhs were brutally murdered on the streets of Delhi. Despite
the passage of 18 years, the horrific massacre continues to haunt our consciousness,
as does the absence of justice for the kith and kin of the victims.
‘The
damning verdict of clean chit’
Justice Wadhwa’s report on the murder
of Graham Staines and his two sons let the nation down.
A
‘Special’ Case
There are too many ‘might-have-beens’ in
this one instance of a former Police Commissioner forced to stand in the dock
for his actions during a communal riot
Srikrishna
Commission – the Roll Call...
Details of Officers against
whom an FIR has been lodged, but no arrest suspension or dismissal, and more from
the Sriktishna Report, Action Taken Report and Maharashtra Government’s
affidavit in the Supreme Court.
The
Case for Banning the VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS
In the context of the prolonged
and horrific violence in Gujarat, there have been numerous calls for the VHP and
Bajrang Dal to be banned. For some people, evidently, the well-documented role
of these organisations in planning, inciting and perpetrating systematic attacks
on Muslims seems an obvious reason for outlawing them.
Bans
- Silencing Dissent?
Banning
dissent seems the easiest way out but what will it do for the freedom of speech
and association?
Dealing
with the Killing Fields
The International Criminal Court will complement the
jurisdiction of national systems, not supercede it.
Helpline
maadhyam shows the way to fight sexual harassment
An
Insult to Judiciary
Extracts from former Chief Justice
of the Rajasthan High Court A.P. Ravani’s petition to the
NHRC
A
New Beginning for India’s Tribals
How Father
Stanny Jebamalai is using legal aid to help establish a grassroots human
rights movement among tribal peoples in western India.
‘Gujarat
cannot and must not become the future face of India’
Extracts
from recommendations made by various fact-finding teams that visited Gujarat post-Godhra
Flouting
the Law - Government Style
The Gujarat situation presents an excellent example
of how the state authorities have connived to ensure that laws are undermined.
No doubt the Godhra incident led to an outrage but it was not a case of the authorities
being overtaken by events or there being inadequate police force.
Is
Narendra Modi Guilty?
Is the Gujarat Chief Minister guilty of violating international
humanitarian laws.
Issue back cover – Oppose Indo-Pak War
Other issues:
dalits
Dalits
Need Land, not Rhetoric
There is no point in offering dalits a set
of rights that they cannot enjoy due to lack of economic power. If one has to
critically examine the six fundamental rights and other provisions meant to protect
the interests of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), they have not proved useful in realizing
the objectives for which the provisions were included in the Constitution.
disability
The
Invisible Minority
A potential workforce of 60 million is being prevented
from contributing to the nation. The biggest mistake our policy makers and decision
makers have made is to have looked at disability as a welfare issue whereas it
was, it is and it should rightly be a development issue, a progress issue and
to my mind, an economic issue.
Last
among Equals
Who will challenge the social prejudice and bureaucratic
apathy that are the biggest handicap for the disabled?
environment
Shifting
Environmental Risk: Obliterating the Human Face
Environmental improvement is not only
a technological question - that of reducing pollution and cleaning up. It extends
into basic issues of resource usage, the interdependencies this creates and the
manner in which they are distributed.
refugees
Fleeing
to a Second Home
The human rights dimension of refugee protection pervades
the entire continuum of refugeehood, from displacement to flight, to asylum, to
durable solutions.
education
Mockery
in Disguise
The 93rd Constitutional Amendment Bill is supposed
to establish the right to education but ends up taking away even the existing
rights
judiciary and polity
Contempt
and Punishment
A critical look at the Contempt Power of Indian Courts
The
Writing on the Wall
The role of people's representatives in governance
is gradually diminishing only to yield to 'experts' and 'stake holders' like businessmen
women
A
House Divided
Legislation
against dowry-related violence needs to be implemented with sensitivity.
state repression
In
Search of the Right Attitude
The Police continue to function
in the colonial past, not keeping pace with citizens’ democratic aspirations
A
Rational Sentencing Policy
The NDPS Act has finally become humane.
The
Many Faces of State Repression
For the people of Rajasthan, state
repression is an old and continuing story.
globalisation
Access
to medicines
The Doha Declaration of WTO goes beyond the mere issue
of patented medicines
nuclear power
Of
Nuclear Technology and ‘Chalta Hai’ Attitudes
An interview with Dr. Surendra Gadekar
children
Operation
Child Justice
Among all those who are vulnerable
to human rights abuse, children are at the most risk.