Shiv Sena, which is facing flak over pushing Mumbai University to withdraw Rohinton Mistry’s Booker prize-nominated book, on Tuesday opened a new front by calling for a ban on burqa (veil) worn by Muslim women. “If the burqa is used to…
Amnesty International has urged the Indian government to help end the routine torture of those held by police and prison authorities by ensuring the new Prevention of Torture Bill in India, 2010 meets international standards before adopting it.
The Bill, which is expected to be considered by the Select Committee of the Upper House (Rayja Sabha) of the Indian Parliament on 17 October, will address many forms of torture routinely employed by Indian police and prison officials. The Bill was passed by the Lower house (Lok Sabha) on 6 May 2010.
“If India is serious about its aspiration to be a regional and global power, it needs to address the issue of torture and ensure that the human rights of those it arrests and detains are protected,” said Madhu Malhotra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Deputy Programme Director.
Abusing a Dalit by his caste in private interaction is not an offence, a Delhi court has said. The court’s observation came while acquitting a principal of a government school of charges of passing some derogatory remarks against his junior, belonging to a Scheduled Caste. To drive home the guilt of the accused , such incidents should happen in full public view, it said.
“The presence of principal (accused) and the teacher (complainant) alone during the dispute resulting in any abuse, insult or humiliation by virtue of caste does not constitute ‘within public view’ within the meaning of Section 3 (i) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Act,” Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma said.
Prabhat Patnaik There are three obvious problems with the Allahabad High Court judgment on the Babri Masjid issue. Each of them in isolation is potentially damaging for the Constitutional fabric of the country; together they can cause irreparable harm.…
The jinxed Commonwealth Games could have done without this. After being troubled by brittle infrastructure, CWG 2010 has now been blamed for a jump in trafficking of women and children from the Northeast. The accusation has come from Meghalaya People’s Human Rights Council (MPHRC) general
secretary Dino D.G. Dympep. The platform he chose on Tuesday was the general debate discussion on racism, discrimination, xenophobia and other intolerance at the 15th Human Rights Council Session at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The human rights situation of indigenous peoples living in Northeast India is deteriorating,” Dympep said, adding New Delhi has chose to be indifferent to human trafficking of and racial discrimination toward these indigenous groups.
The court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India today ruled that the site of a demolished mosque in Ayodhya, would be divided between Hindus and Muslims, the Reuters news agency reported. The court also ruled that Hindu idols…
If the Manmohan Singh government has its way, India will soon adopt a law against torture that will make a mockery of our obligations as a democracy, a civilised society, and a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). India signed CAT in 1997 and is meant to pass standalone domestic legislation outlawing this barbaric crime. Unfortunately, the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 falls far, far short in this regard. Indeed the draft law, if passed unchanged by the Rajya Sabha, will make the elimination of torture and the punishment of its practitioners more difficult than it is under existing law. To begin with, the Bill’s definition of torture makes two unwarranted departures from international norms. Where CAT speaks of torture and “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” and builds its definition around the inflicting of severe pain or suffering, the proposed law raises the bar of what constitutes unacceptable treatment much higher. Only acts that cause grievous hurt — defined in the Indian Penal Code in relation to damage to limbs and organs — or which endanger the life, limb, or health of a person will be considered torture. Excluded thus are torture techniques that cause intense pain and suffering but no permanent damage to the victim. Secondly, only torture inflicted in the course of an interrogation will attract the sanctions of the new law — but not torture inflicted to punish, coerce, or intimidate an individual, which CAT covers.
The Human Impact of Climate Change in India Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010
The Women’s Commission in the Indian state of West Bengal has announced an inquiry into allegations that a tribal woman was forced to parade naked.
Officials say she was forced to walk without her clothes for nearly 10km (6 miles) through three villages and was filmed on a mobile phone.
They say that she was also molested and jeered by a large crowd.
Locals say she was being “punished” because of an illicit love affair with a man from a different community.
A similar thing happened to another woman three years ago in the neighbouring state of Assam.
A cycle of violence has erupted again in India’s troubled Kashmir valley since 11th June 2010 with the shooting to death of a schoolboy by Indian troops. Until 29th June 2010, eleven Kashmiri youths have been killed by the…