Volume 1 Issue 6 The Human Rights Magazine February-March 2003
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A
Battle Half Won!
The right to information being the
nodal link between the right to freedom of speech and expression and the right
to life and liberty, both guaranteed under the Constitution, marks an important
shift in the public discourse. It is this significant shift that now informs public
expectations with regard to any legislation on the right to information.
The
Freedom of Information Bill, 2002
As Passed
by Lok Sabha on 3 December 2002 (Bill No. 98-C of 2000)
A
Long Struggle Ahead
A critique of the Freedom of Information
Bill 2002.
Milestones
on the Right to Information Pathway
An attempt
to trace litigations on the Right to Information that have come up in the Supreme
Court of India.
First Jan Sunvai in Delhi: Right to Information now a reality
A
Model Legislation?
A comparative study
of specific provisions of the Central and State legislations.
Delhi
Citizens Show the Way
Case studies of the journey of
Delhi citizens in accessing information from their State government glaringly
reveal the vital link between Right to Information and the Fight against Corruption.
Goa’s
‘Showcase’ Law on Right to Information
Ten mysteries about the State’s Right to Information law.
Taking
Stock in Rajasthan
The Rajasthan Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan has proved that the common
person is best suited to using the Right to Information to take on a corrupt
system.
Issue Back Cover: The Force behind the Silent Revolution
Freedom
of Conscience, Conversions and Law
The Supreme Court’s decision in the Stainislaus case needs to be reviewed
by a larger bench in the interest of democracy and fundamental rights. Every citizen
ought to have the freedom to choose any religion or reject all religions.
The Locus Standi
This judgement of the Supreme Court validates all the anti-conversion laws in
the country.
Convert
– And be Damned
Ironically,
these ‘anti-conversion’ laws were enacted in the name of controlling
violence, but they are themselves an expression of the ideology that has created
this violence in the first place.
Framing
the Freedom of Religion
A critique of the Orissa Freedom of
Religion Act, 1967
Matter
of Choice
It can be said that anti-conversion laws
are as draconian as the anti-terrorist laws (POTA and TADA). Anti-conversion laws
look at an act of choice (which conversion basically is) as if it were a heinous
crime.
Choosing
your Caste
Can one change the caste one is born to?
The courts seem to suggest in the affirmative.
Homecoming
for the Soul?
Hinduism in its philosophy is not a proselytising
religion… it believes in inner spiritual transformation. How does it react
to reconversions into the Hindu faith?
Conversion
and Personal Laws
How does conversion affect property
rights or rights of spouses. A look at ramifications of conversion.
International
Laws
Religious persecution and the
fight for religious freedom not only goes back to the earliest pages of recorded
history, but is a continuing aspect of the human rights situation in almost every
country in the globe.
Religious
Freedom in the United States of America
In USA even Bible reading over
a school intercom is thus unconstitutional. The court has created a “wall
of separation” between church and state and ordained total neutrality of
the government towards religion in the case of Lemon v Kurtzman in 1970.
Sikhism:
Religion or a Sect?
Hindu fundamentalists insist that
Sikhism is just another sect of the mother religion, while the Sikhs think differently.
Treating
Cults as Culprits
A look at the law on conversions
to new cults and the anti-cult movement in the US and Europe
Falun
Gong – A Chinese Contest
A cult is described by the government
of the People’s Republic of China as a political tool which has collaborated
with overseas and anti-China forces.
Who
is a Jew?
The conversion issue in Israel is an unresolved one, leaving thousands
of immigrants without their civil, political and social rights.
Other
issues:
Religious Conversion
The Tamil Nadu Ordinance
The text of the ordinance promulgated by the Governor on October 5, 2002
prohibiting religious conversions.
The
Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967
Text of
the Act
The
Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 1968
Text of the Act enacted by the Madhya Pradesh legislature in 1968
The
Arunachal Pradesh Act
Enacted by the legislative
assembly on 25 October, 1978.
