Politics – Page 2 – Legal Drift

India’s Cruel Torture Bill

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Statistics

1. Every year number of custodial deaths increase considerably.

2. From 1994-2008; 16,886 custodial deaths were recorded.

3. In 2007-08; 188 and 1789 people died in police and judicial custody respectively.

Definition of Torture

Article 1 of United Nations Convention against torture, 1984 defines torture as:-

Any act by which public officials intentionally inflict severe pain or suffering ( physical or mental) to a person for fullfiling certain purposes like seeking information or a confession, punishment, intimidation or discrimination of the victim.

Indian Position

India signed the UN Convention against torture in 1997 but did not ratify it. Ratification is a process through which countries implement an international convention through a domestic legislation. The government recently decided to table Prevention of Torture Bill 2010 to address the issue. However the bill stands flawed on various grounds.

Definition

The Bill defines torture in a limited sense. It states that if a public official intentionally does an act to seek information or confession from a person by inflicting

(i) grievous hurt to any person; or

(ii) danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of any person it would amount to torture.

Hence if a harm is inflicted on a person intentionally by a public official to seek information only then it would constitute torture.

The definition not only ignores other purposes of torture like punishment and intimidation but also makes infliction of grievous hurt or danger to life a necessary condition. Nevertheless, torture sometimes include abuses like sleep and food deprivation, forceful positions and exposure to intense and continuous noise which are outside the ambit of physical harm or danger.

Further, Section 4 states that intentional infliction of grievous hurt must be coupled with animosity against a group in order to establish the crime of torture. Thus, if a public official inflicts grievous hurt on a person to extract information he would not be liable unless it is proved that he had animosity against a group or community to which the person belonged.

Defects :-

Section 6 states that a prior government sanction is required in order to prosecute a government servant. The section leaves wide scope for partiality and manipulation. A government may be biased towards its own employee. Also, it would be difficult for the victims to obtain such sanctions.

Moreover the limitation clause in Section 5 states that a complaint must be registered within 6 months of alleged torture but fails to recognize that sometimes the victims are subjected to prolonged torture which may last more than the specified period.

There is no provision with regard to self- incrimination. The bill remains silent on the scheme of compensation and thus relies on courts to decide the amount of compensation is such cases. No appropriate review mechanisms to check interrogation practices are established under the bill. There is no provision to provide immediate legal help to those who have been arrested.

The convention states that no country must extradite a prisoner to another nation which has harsher laws than that prevalent in it. The bill fails to recognize this clause of the convention and remains silent on the issue.

Recommendations

1. The definition of torture must be revised to include other purposes of torture like intimidation, coercion, punishment or discrimination.

2. Compensation Schemes must be enumerated in the bill.

3. Proper review mechanisms for interrogation must be established.

4.Clauses like procurement of prior governmental sanction and limited time period to file complaints must be removed.

5 A prohibition on the expulsion, return or extradition of persons to States where there are substantial grounds to believe those persons will face torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment must be added.

6. Immediate legal aid must be provided to the arrested.

7. Other forms of torture which may not necessarily be physical in nature must be included in the definition.

Conclusion

It is unfortunate that after lapse of 13 years the government has come up with an inefficient piece of legislation which doesn’t even recognize the International Convention which was signed by India. The restrictive clauses in the bill would help the perpetrators rather than assisting the victims. The bill must be reviewed carefully and necessary changes must be incorporated.

In the present form the bill is a license to torture rather than a prohibition to inflict harm.

Politics Social Issues

The CRPF will be soon dead

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“Joining CRPF was the biggest mistake of my life. I have realized that the country doesn’t honor its soldiers and it is better to take voluntary retirement after 20 years of service than to be treated as a pawn” says an anonymous CRPF jawan. His opinion reflects the thoughts of thousands of CRPF jawans who have been treated worse than a cattle both by the state and their departments.

Most of the soldiers in the paramilitary forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have lost their faith in the system and think they are being used as scape goats by government in war against the Naxals.

Compared to the army, the paramilitary forces have more to lose than to gain. The job benefits are very low in comparison to the army whereas the chances of death on duty are considerably high.

If we examine the current situation of CRPF, we find that their disillusionment may be justified on various grounds. The problem needs to be seen in context of two major issues :-

1. On-duty deaths

2. Voluntary Retirement Schemes

On-duty deaths

Insurgency is undoubtedly one of the biggest problems in the country. The force is mostly deployed in Naxal effected areas over the last 5 years and has been witnessing the game of life and death everyday. The soldiers are expected to fight insurgents without proper strategic and military support. The encounter with Naxalites is a routine affair for them.

The Naxalites are well aware of the internal areas and they use it to their advantage. They are experts in Guerrilla warfare tactics and successfully trap their prey. Their strategy is to exhaust enemy’s gun power and inflict maximum damage. First, they fire at the security forces and then take a different way to surround the forces from a different direction. The reinforcements which hardly last some hours are soon exhausted in the encounter. The jawans are left to the mercy of the enemy who never spares them. Various other reasons also contribute to the failure of tackling the Naxal issue.

Legal Mirror Politics Social Issues

The ugly truth regarding the Women Reservation Bill

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The Women’s day this year was indeed very special, the parliament passed the Women Reservation Bill with full vigor.

The reservation for women in the political front emerged with the Panchayati Raj Act, 1992 which was passed in Rajeev Gandhi’s tenure. The Act provided for women’s reservation upto 33% in the Panchayats.

Subsequently demands for women’s reservation in Parliament and state legislatures were raised . In 1996, the then Prime Minister H.D. Dewe Gowda promised to fulfill these demands. After almost 13 years; the Women’s Reservation Bill [The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008] was finally passed by Rajya Sabha.

The bill seeks to reserve 33% seats for women in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. One third of these reserved seats would be allotted to the women belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. However, there is no separate reservation for women belonging to the Other Backward Classes (O.B.C’s). Further it is provided that the reservation shall cease to exist after 15 years of its commencement .

The Bill is highly criticized on several grounds :-

1. It seeks to reserve 181 out of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha and 1,370 out of a total of 4,109 seats in the 28 State Assemblies for women. It is argued that the number of seats allotted for women reservation is way too high and hence should be reduced.

2. The reserved seats would be allotted by rotation of constituencies. This means that a male legislator would not be allowed to contest from the same constituency again. Thus infringing his democratic rights to contest elections.

3. The choice of people would be restricted to only choose female representatives.

What is the most bothering aspect of the Bill?

I personally feel reservation does no good to the society. The benefits of reservation almost never percolate down to the lower strata of the society. It is widely http://barefootpuppets.com/priligy-dapoxetine/ observed that some families enjoy the perks of reservation from generations to generations. The people with most miserable conditions usually never get the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of the legislative action.

I’m afraid that the Reservation Bill would serve purposes other than women empowerment. When Lallu Prasad Yadav was caught in the Chara Ghotala, he had to resign and Rabri Devi (his beloved wife) became the Chief Minister of Bihar. She was more like a puppet in the hands of her husband. Lallu enjoyed power without any responsibility those days. It would come to no surprise, if in the years to come we will witness more of Lallus and Rabris in the Parliament and state legislatures. Believe me it won’t elevate the existing position of the women in any way. The legislators will use women as a ticket to ensure their seats in the parliament.

Not only this the “rotation of reserved constituencies” would act detrimental to the public interest. Most of the elected leaders work for their areas expecting that their work would be rewarded by re-election. But debarring them from contesting elections again, may reduce their interest in working for the public benefit.

“The reservation shall cease to exist with 15 years of the commencement of the amendment” is also a dubious clause. It has been witnessed in past that the reservation of ST’s and SC’s (which was originally meant for 10 years) has been extended each time. The same may be repeated for reservation of women as well.

Reservation is no solution for upliftment of women in the society. Being a woman I know what a woman is truly capable of doing. We had Kiran Bedi, Jhansi Ki Rani, Sarojini Naidu, Vijay Laxmi Pundit and many others without any reservation. I would appreciate the presence of more Vijay Laxmi Pundits than Rabri Devis any day.

Judiciary Legal Mirror Politics

Will the quality of justice improve by the creation of National Judicial Service?

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National Judicial Service has been one of the most political-legal contentious issues in the judicial history of India. The debate has continued for years. On one hand the law ministry and the legislature intends to introduce the National Judicial Service in the country where as on the other hand the judiciary intends to postpone the same.

Why do judges oppose the commission of All India Judicial Service?

There are four basic ways of judicial appointments:-

1. By political institutions (Partially practiced in Italy and South Korea)

2. By judges themselves (Japan, Iraq and India)

3. By non-judge members (Brazil and Most American States)

4. Through Election (Some American States like Washington)

Presently in India, the appointment of district judges is done by the governor on consultation with High Court Judges by the purview Article 233(1) of the Indian Constitution. The Chief Justice of a High Court is consulted by the President before the appointment of any High Court Judge. These appointments are highly politicized and partial in many respects. The lower judiciary is under the dominance and control of the High Court. The district judges have to please the Chief Justice for their promotion as a High Court Judge. The commencement of Indian Judicial Service would surely decrease the power of High Court judges with reference to appointment and recruitment of judges.

When did it start?

The clause related to All India Judicial Service was incorporated in Article 312 (which deals with ALL INDIA SERVICES) by the 42nd Amendment, 1976. The clause specifically provides that Parliament in national interest may create judicial service for one or more states on request of the council of states. The provision clearly states that any post subordinate to district judge would not be included in the All India Judicial Service.

The creation of National Judicial Service is objected on three grounds:-

1. Impairment of Independence of Judiciary

2. Lack of regional language proficiency would affect the delivery of justice.

3. It would be deterrent to the interest of those who have already entered the service.

All the three contentions do not hold water. Appointments and recruitment would not affect the independence of judiciary rather it would ensure the autonomy of lower judiciary. Secondly, it is suggested that the issue of inadequate language knowledge can be easily addressed with proper allotment of states or study of multiple languages can be included as a part of judge-training. Lastly, since it is suggested that only 25% of judges in each state would be drawn from the All-India cadre; the same would not be detrimental to those already in service.

National Judicial System vis-a-vis Civil Services

The judiciary is not considered a lucrative career by most of the lawyers. The profession fails to attract a large number of competent lawyers. This adversely affects the quality of justice in the courts, which further results in delay of justice. In 2009 there were about 53,000 cases pending in SC, 40 lakh with High Courts and about 2.7 Crore in lower courts. The two main reasons for this high pendency of cases are High vacancy in courts and low judges-to-population ratio. In India the current judge-population ratio is 12.5 per million people where as in U.S. it is 114 per million. Presently 23% of sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court, 26% High Courts and 18% of Lower Courts is vacant.

Each year about 200,000 youngsters compete through an examination to enter services like I.A.S or I.P.S. The candidates are selected on merits and competency for a rigorous training of two years. If a similar system is also incorporated in the judicial services, well-qualified and competent lawyers could be attracted to the posts of judges. It would not only increase the judge-population ratio but would also improve the quality of justice.

Legal Mirror Politics Social Issues

Are we prepared to deal with another Bhopal Gas Tragedy? With Civil Nuclear Liabilities Bill its hard to imagine

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The victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, one of the world’s worst disasters are still facing the consequences of the unfortunate incident. The legal framework in 1985 was inadequate to conduct a fair trial of Union Carbide and its CEO Warren Anderson. The U.C.C paid a settlement amount of 470 million dollars to the victims, considering it as its moral obligation. No criminal or civil proceedings were initiated against the notorious Multinational Union Carbide. The decision of Bhopal Gas Tragedy still considered a black chapter in the judicial history of India.

Instead of rectifying the flaws that were observed in the Bhopal Disaster Case, the United Progressive Alliance (U.P.A) government was planning to put forth the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill. However due to the mass opposition from all the sectors of the society, the government had to eventually withdraw its scheduled introduction in the Parliament.

The Nuclear Liability bill was highly criticized on its provisions related to compensation including capping of nuclear operator liability, fixing maximum liability amount and the absence of direct liability of supplier. It is also contended that the maximum liability mentioned in the bill is the minimum liability considered in United States.

The government is also planning to be a part of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC), which is funded by the International Atomic Energy Association. The convention which is yet to be operational is so far ratified by only four countries amongst which U.S.A is the only country with most of the nuclear installations. The parties to the convention contribute to an international fund which is then utilized to provide additional compensation beyond liability to the member states.

The bill clearly states that a three-tier compensation scheme would be instituted on occurrence of any nuclear accident. The maximum liability enumerated is 300 million Special Drawing Rights (i.e. Rs 2,100 crore). However Russia has fixed no maximum liability in such cases.

Unlike in countries like Germany and Finland, the bill fixes the liability of the operator to mere Rs 500 crores or 109 million dollars. When compared to the inadequate compensation granted in Bhopal gas tragedy (470 million dollars) the amount is found extremely low. It is also argued that capping liability is contrary to the judgment passed in the Oleum Gas Leak case. The Supreme Court in the judgment stated that the liability in such cases must be strict and absolute.

Further, the Clause 17-a of the bill has positioned an indirect and remote liability on the supplier. The right to recourse is only provided in cases of gross negligence or wilful act on the part of the supplier. However it does not include supply of defective articles. Any further appeal in a civil court is disallowed, if it is decided by Claims Commissioner or a Nuclear Damage Claims Commission, which deal with potential nuclear damage claims under the Clause 35.

It is unfortunate that the provisions of the bill are detrimental to the interests of its own citizens. The bill not only infringes upon the fundamental rights of the individuals by debarring their right to appeal and limiting right to recourse. It also enforces a heavy burden on the tax payers of the country. Relying on a convention which is yet to be operational, for supplementary compensation is highly flawed policy decision by the government. The consequences of a nuclear accident would be far more adverse than that of Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The government must reconsider its proposals for the betterment of the society at large.

Politics Social Issues World

Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Afghanistan:

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An Insight Story

“We had a land problem with another villager and it was the 5th year that due to the dispute we weren’t able to work on the field, this dispute had taken the life of my elder niece as well. We spoke to woloswal (district attorney) many times and he said that take the case to Kabul – and sometimes said talk amongst yourselves and reach to some conclusions, we are busy with the ongoing insurgency don’t have the means to settle your disputes.

One day he sent someone maybe a judge to find out about our dispute and he also asked for so many papers and we said we don’t have any papers for this land, its our ancestors lands and we have lived here our whole lives. He said you couldn’t get use this land because you don’t have any documents. No one has documents for their lands in our village, its our lands from forefathers, we don’t need papers to prove this for us.

This year my brothers and I decided that we will seek the assistance of a Talib commander – so we went towards Ghazni and late in the evening located a well known commander near Qarabagh district and asked him to come and help us. He was such a generous man. He came and listened to our situation and then called the villager with whom we had the dispute and put the gun on his head and asked him to say the truth.

The man scared for his life, said that this piece of land doesn’t belong to him at all but he wanted to take advantage of having his land just next to us and especially that the canal comes directly to our fields. He even called in the witness who had witnessed that his father had sold that piece of land to my grand father many years ago. He asked for forgiveness and we all forgave him and the issue was closed. Since then we started planting back in our fields. The Talib commander solved a 5 yearlong dispute in one day. This is what we need”.

A family from a village in Jalrez, Wardak Province. ( December 2009)

Conflict

Disputes, such as the one described above, are typical in Afghanistan, but the mode of resolving the conflict is unique to Afghanistan. If one goes back historically to Afghanistan’s traditional roots, civil and even criminal matters have been resolved through community based structures, called Jirga’s and Shura’s. This has much to do with the absence of a central responsive government more than any other reasons. The past 30 years or more conflict has paralyzed the formal mechanisms of dispute resolution in Afghanistan. In any case, they were fragile and ineffective structures and were not even fair to the people of Afghanistan.

Judicial Reform Projects Afghanistan

Since 2001, millions of dollars were poured into various judicial reform projects. Although access to formal structures have improved a bit, still the system is not responsive nor effective, therefore communities especially in the rural areas prefer their original, quick and effective dispute resolution mechanisms.

Current Scenario

However, while analyzing the long-standing conflict of Afghanistan, one can see that the power dynamics of the actors in the communities has changed so that warlords hold the power. This power dynamic fueled by community power brokers enjoying a feudal culture, has contaminated these traditional structures with other features of conflict, from drugs to Taliban control. Local Jirga’s and Shuras are mostly dominated and driven by political factions, warlords, guns and money. Therefore, these structures cannot be called people’s structures for resolving disputes, but most of these, are platform for exercise of non-state actors monopoly over rural communities. Although there are a number of studies carried out in various provinces in Afghanistan to prove the effectiveness of these structures, there credibility as people’s consented decision making bodies still remain a valid question.

Understandably, after the national elections and establishment of an elected central government, such parallel structures need to be either abolished or merged into the formal judiciary system of the country. However, unless the insurgency and ongoing armed militancy is stopped it is hard to imagine that rural communities will get access to government judicial structures. In the cases that they do get to court it is unclear whether they will get proper resolutions from these government judicial systems. Since those systems are corrupt, ineffective and time consuming nature.

The government of Afghanistan attempted establishing connecting frameworks between the Traditional Dispute Resolution mechanisms and the formal judicial system since last year, calling for a National Policy on Traditional Dispute Resolution Mechanisms. But the fate of this policy is now unclear since there is a new Minister of Justice who is not in favour of bolstering the informal justice system.

In the past few years, debates around supporting and strengthening the Traditional Dispute Resolution mechanisms have dominated the rhetoric for justice in Afghanistan, especially by the international experts of the subject. Some of them disqualify any efforts to promote formal judiciary while others are advocating for linking both systems and increase the formal system’s efficiency. This discussion isn’t only about solving national or communal disputes but is about legitimacy of an Afghan state; promoting any parallel structures mean creating other state regimes eventually.

To solve the problem, the discussions on Traditional Dispute Resolution Mechanisms should not be categorized as a ‘rights issue’ only but as a structural challenge. While the biggest challenge of these structures that violate basic human rights of every individual remains much of concern. There have been a lot of studies that portray how women and children are sacrificed and oppressed by these structures. Just adding women into the Jirga’s system or providing them with trainings on human rights issues cannot alter such oppression.

Any rapid generalized analysis of Traditional Dispute Resolution mechanisms will reveal the fragility and inconsistence of these structures as well. The members are not the same every time in any village, nor they are trained in any of legal or investigative skills, or hardly a literate member can be found in the Jirga’s that can read and write. There are no set rules but decisions are taken contextual however, they do refer to previous decisions from the same place or other places if that meets the conditions of the context. The decision is usually made by the most powerful individual present in the Jirga and easily accepted by the rest and the victim at times the accused person has no voice in most of the instances but is considered to be embarrassed and silent in order to be forgiven.

What must be done?

Afghanistan needs institutions before any rights are promised to its citizens. Having a progressive constitution does not resolve community disputes and issues when even the parliament isn’t able to interpret the constitution objectively. Rule of law requires enforcing mechanisms that people can trust and only then state judiciary can be trusted by the local population. If the formal judiciary system is responsive enough, no other culture can prevent people from seeking justice, because it is the victim can understand the value and definition of justice.

The efforts should also be directed towards integrating the Traditional mechanisms into the state judiciary system with the paradigm of state being constitutionally precedent on the customary laws. However, no matter how ineffective the state judiciary, it should not be equally juxtaposed with the Traditional Dispute Resolution mechanisms, as the latter will easily replace the former.

Legal Mirror Politics Social Issues

Another Flawed Law – Communal Violence Bill 2009: Harms the Victims, Protects the Perpetrators

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After the mass opposition by all spectrums of society over the Communal Violence Bill 2005, UPA government has re-introduced the bill with 59 amendments. Unfortunately it hardly makes any structural changes. It has been highly criticized on certain grounds. The bill treats communal violence as a law and order problem but fails to recognise its threat to the socio-economic basis of the society.

The definition of communal violence given under the bill is not comprehensive and includes any scheduled offence under Section 19. Instead of the word communal, ‘sectarian’ must be employed. The ‘Schedule’ only list outs a number of IPC Sections and few Sections of other Acts. The schedule is erroneous in its very nature. The Sections 6(3) and 8(2) of the Explosives Act, 1884 listed in the schedule do not exist at present. Section 6 of the Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991 and Section 7 of the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988 does not define any offence. They only prescribe punishments for contravening the provisions of Section 3(2) and Sections 3 to 6(3) of their respective Acts.

Although the punishment for offences related to communal violence has been enhanced, offences are restricted to penal statutes only. It doesn’t include provisions related to sexual violence, social and economic boycott, segregation, discrimination and communal writing in textbooks. Moreover the fines enumerated in most of these acts are considerably low and even twice the amount may not serve the purpose. It must define these offences and punishments vividly.

Under the bill, the State can declare certain areas as communally disturbed areas. However Section 55 empowers the Central Government to give directions to the States to take immediate measures to curb communal violence. If such directions are not followed the Central Government may declare any area within the State as a ‘communally disturbed area’ by a notification. It may also deploy Armed forces on a request from State Government. But the bill is quiet on what would be done if the State Government does not request the Central Government to deploy the Armed forces or opposes such deployment in the State. No immediate relief is provided in these situations. There would be considerable lapse of time in the issuing of directions by the Central Government to the State which would affect damage control adversely.

Review committees and Special Investigation teams may be constituted by the states. The State governments have wide discretionary powers in these matters. The accountability of such committees has also not been laid down. It does contain provisions related to witness protection by providing punishment for threatening a witness and by concealing their identity.

The bill also states that Women police officers must be provided by state to record any information relating to the commission of a scheduled offence committed against women or children. However it is silent on sexual offences which form a major portion of communal offences. It also contains no provisions related to compulsory inclusion of at least two women members in the state, national and district council.

The Special courts may be established or abolished by the states in any communally disturbed area. The states have wide jurisdiction in this regard. It may prove detrimental to national interest as happened in Gujarat riots and Bhagalpur Case. To avoid such situations these courts must be monitored by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Their decision must be time bound and the public prosecutor to be appointed must not belong to the state in which communal violence has taken place.

It does provide compensation to the victims on basis of the nature of the offence, the motive, the economic status of the offender and the claimant but there is no uniform scale of compensation for death, injury, rape and destruction of individual and religious properties during communal riots. The state holds no responsibility or liability in cases of destruction of religious properties. There is no provision granting ex-gratia payments to the victims. The right of reparation must be clearly stated and must not be left on the discretion of state governments. Information must be provided at every stage of proceedings. Right to legal representation of their choice, counselling, rehabilitation etc must be included.

The District Magistrate and competent authority may take preventive measures. They can order to deposit, search, detain and seize of arms & ammunition in communally disturbed areas. They may even prohibit certain acts or even control the conduct of persons in such areas. Punishments may be imposed for loitering near prohibited areas. A person may also be punished for being in possession of arms without license, assisting offenders, giving financial aid for the commission of certain offence or even for threatening witnesses. Even public servants can be punished if they act in a mala fide manner. But the political leaders, administration and police officials neither have any mandatory nor are they accountable for their reckless actions.

The Public Officials must be debarred from their jobs if the offence is proved. If the Special Court observes that the D.M. and S.P. could have prevented such situation by taking an advance action, they should be held responsible. If media is found irresponsible or misreporting a fine must be imposed on the news agency. Public recognition must be given to people who help in the relief measures. The law must protect and not harm the interests of the public.

Politics Social Issues World

Taliban Leader Captured !!

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Suspect In Attempted Airplane Terror Bombing Arraigned In Detroit

Taliban: This originally means students; has become a synonym of terror. The Shariat law prevails in the reign of the Taliban. They forbid pork, wine, music, lobster, cameras, pool tables, masks, chess, nail polish and many other things. Taliban laws were not only draconian and inhuman in nature but were found sometimes contrasting to Shariat. They encouraged the production of opium (for export reasons) but opposed the production and consumption of hasheesh or alcohol.

It is alleged that Pakistan was one of the major sponsor of Taliban. It had not only provided arms and finance to the same but had also provide them military equipment, recruiting assistance, training and tactical advice. However Pakistan had always denied such relations. Recently United States had threatened Pakistan that its financial aid would be ceased if it continued supporting Taliban.

Today Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the group’s No. 2 leader behind Afghan Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, who is a close associate of Osama bin Laden, was captured in Karachi. His arrest is certainly the great victory for the Americans. The tussle between U.S.A and Taliban had gained momentum after the 9/11 attacks. Although the mastermind behind the attacks Osama Bin Laden was never caught, the United States had declared a war against terror. It is believed that his arrest would cease the Taliban operations for some time. America is grateful for the support of Pakistani intelligence agency but still believes that the same could be arrested much earlier. They believe that Pakistan had given covert support to Taliban Leaders in past. The U.S. warning and the situation faced in Swat valley are probably the reasons for I.S.I support to America. Taliban has denied the news by saying it’s a rumour spread by “foreigners”. Even if the same is true, the position is still unclear under which law would be Baradar tried. Whether he would be tried under the law of Pakistan or United States? In past Taliban leaders have been tried under the U.S. law probably the same would be done in this case too.

While it is proclaimed that Baradar confession may lead to arrest of other Taliban leaders. It is also true that his capture would not damage Taliban’s working. He was a member of Taliban Shura. He performed mainly political work. This would definitely affect the organization on psychological level but would not affect it in totality. Obaidullah Akhund, a leader of same stature was also caught in 2007 with the help of Pakistani agencies. The other reason which supports the argument is that in Afghanistan if a leader dies or is captured it is a setback to the whole tribe. Baradar belonged to Popalzai Durrani tribe (which was against Taliban).

Taliban has been a growing force which is becoming powerful day by day. They have their allies all over the world. They not only misguide youth on basis of religion but also buy children for these purposes. The youth is conditioned such that they become human bombs. It is manipulate the pious term “Jihad” and transform it into “terror”.

Politics Social Issues

Valentine One Day International on 14 Feb – Lovers vs Hindu Politicians

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Sunil Behl, a call centre employee was searching a perfect gift for his valentine. Unfortunately he wouldn’t meet her on 14th February as he got scared of the Hindu extremists. Well his fear doesn’t seem to be so unreasonable.

Every year all news channels showcase a debate featuring Hindu Protagonists, MTv VJ’s and Directors like Mahesh Bhatt. The issue is often left unresolved. The Bajrang Dal speaker well dressed in a formal suit alleges “This is not our culture. We strongly oppose it. It is the exhibition of vulgarity and obscenity.” But isn’t wearing pants something we borrowed from the west. And yes gifting valentine day cards, teddy bears, roses etc is not vulgar. It is a well known that lovers visit restaurants, pubs, parks, hotels and clubs all the year long. But on 14th February the number increases considerably.

In India public display of love is considered a taboo. It comes under the ambit of obscenity. If the couples cross their limits and involve in anything ‘vulgar’, then the police can always charge them for the same. But isn’t urinating in public areas also obscene? Hasn’t Bajrang Dal thought about calling this act as exhibitionism of vulgarity? May be it hasn’t because that may outrage a considerable number of people.

Isn’t it absurd that we have a right to vote but we don’t have a right to decide whether we wish to celebrate Valentines Day or not? I completely agree that Valentine’s day celebrations are highly commercialized. It is definitely a marketing gimmick used by corporates to make some extra money. The idea has been very successful in the past. Roses, cards, gifts, Bouquets, cakes, balloons and every symbol of love is not only marketed but also sold at extremely high prices.

It’s true that Indians were alien to the day until recently. But what is the harm in celebrating a day which brings joy to the faces of your loved ones? With the advent of globalization, liberalization and privatization the country has transformed completely. Whether we admit it or not, we have adapted many things from the west and vice-versa. Celebrating their festivals is a part of cultural assimilation and evolution. If Sri Ram Sena or Hindu Mahasabha differs in their opinions regarding the celebrations, they can propagate the importance of Indian Culture. By no means have they had the privilege to forcibly get the couples married or declared brother and sister. Our culture has never supported discouraging the beliefs of others. While Aurangzeb forced people to convert the Akbar was tolerant in his policies. Obliviously the latter was conferred the title of being the Great.

Oppression would only drift the people away from their own culture. Moral Policing should be curtailed to its own limits. Insulting lovers in public is not at all “cultured”. If these groups have a problem, they should convince the masses. Every year they gain publicity out of it. I seriously believe that Sena has time and again outraged the modesty of a woman in public on this day which is in no sense moral. Preservation of culture can never be through force. Culture is something we follow because we strongly believe in that. Practises which were not adaptable with time have become history. These Talibans need not direct us about what has to be done on what day.

Bollywood Cricket Politics Social Issues Sports

Mumbai is a Metropolitan, Not a Religious Playground for Politicians – Pakistan IPL Players Controversy and Shah Rukh Khan Comments

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Shah Rukh Khan’s support to the Pakistani players in IPL bidding made him face a lot of trouble. He was not only threatened but also targeted by the Shiv Sena. He was alleged to be a traitor and was dared to speak in favour of Pakistani players in future. He stood up for his beliefs and refused to apologize. Fortunately people from Bollywood and elsewhere have now started recognizing their right to speech.

When Shiv Sena recommended Shah Rukh to live in Pakistan instead, this infuriated not only his admirers but also his father who was a freedom fighter and had played an instrumental role in the Quit India Movement. Shah Rukh’s father (Taj Mohammed) was one of the few Muslims who decided to leave Pakistan and settle in India. It is both ironical and shameful that Shiv Sena which had played no role in the Indian Freedom Struggle assumes that it has power to deport citizens of India to some other country.

The question is not on inclusion of players but its on whether an individual has a right to express his opinion or not. Democracy protects this right but may be Shiv Sena fails to recognize the true meaning of democracy. They believe that restricting and instructing people would serve their purposes and goals. They are the Taliban who have not attained absolute power till now. They employ every method to threaten, fright and manipulate people. They are least concerned about the development of the state as if they were they would have been more instrumental in issues that really mattered to the state like conditions of farmers etc. But they waste their energies in deciding which society, festival, group, religion, celebrity and film to target. They wish to seek limelight with everything they can.

Mumbai was not built in a day. The city has contribution from various communities and these communities lived in harmony with one another until such groups infuriated the feelings of hatred amongst them. Isn’t Shiv Sena promoting communal tensions and disturbing peace of the nation. If they have a problem with non-maharashtrians then Ambani’s, Bachchan’s, Birla’s etc would all have to leave the state. Ironically 50% of the economy of the state comes from the non-maharashtrians and if they evacuate the state would be in a huge financial loss.

Historically Maratha’s were not essentially against the Mughals. Instead of looking at the struggle between the two as a Hindu and Muslim fight it should be looked as a battle for power and state power. But Shiv Sena has always projected themselves as the protector of Hinduism and Maratha but they fail to understand that a protector never dictates.

The plight of Maharashtran’s and their unemployment must be definitely taken into considerations. There are various universities and organizations which ensure that the natives are not deprived of the opportunity to work or study. Ensuring jobs to Maratha’s is a good gesture but taking away the jobs of Non-Maratha’s is not a solution. India is a culturally diverse and homogeneous society ; demarcating cultural boundaries would not help anyone. Jinnah demanded a land for Muslims and Pakistan was formed. Are we ready to witness the emergence of MARATHASTAN? I’m sure we wont even like to imagine that.

Promoting culture and heritage is one thing and imposing it on others is another. What Shiv Sena is doing is the latter. If I’m forced what to wear, what to watch, what to eat or even what to speak it would only lead to oppression. Mr Thakeray has a right to suggest but he has no right to oppress.

Every individual has a right to decide and it can not be taken away by dogmatic powers like Shiv Sena. Gone are the days when Bihar was only for Bihari’s, Rajasthan only for Rajasthani’s and Maharashtra only for Marathi’s. We are Indian’s and will remain Indian’s no matter what Shiv Sena believes or propagates. Our Constitution has conferred this right upon us and no one can deprive us from the privilege of being a citizen of the country. By weakening the social thread of the country, the Thakeray’s are only helping the terrorists. They may intend to project themselves as protagonists but their actions have benefited only the rivals. Isn’t disturbing national peace a disguised terrorism? The actor is scared about the protection of his family. Isn’t is taking away his right to life and dignity? I think it is.

Before independence if people thought that they have greater loyalty to their regions then to their motherland, it was justified but now we are not just Marathi, Marwari, Gujarati or Sindhi; we are Indians. Our out most loyalty lies with the nation and not just with our region or religion. Let us unite so that no British rule is established again, no Taliban ever dominates us and so that no terrorist can ever take advantage of our internal conflicts. Let’s never destroy our own resources and kill our own people because by this we are proving our loyalty to enemies and not to out motherland.