The Eighth session of the Ninth Parliament which commenced on 25th January 2011 and continued for 33 days concluded on 24th March 2011. On 15th March 2011 after a long gap, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition party, joined in…
Shakhawat Liton
* General elections under elected govt
* Polls to elect a new parliament during last 90 days of current JS
* No change in state religion
Parliament is set to pass the 15th constitutional amendment bill today making a series of changes, including repeal of the provision for holding national elections under a non-partisan caretaker government amid stiff protests from the BNP-led opposition.
The traditional threats and discrimination faced by members of the minority and vulnerable communities in Pakistan have steadily aggravated in the last few years in conjunction with militancy, growing intolerance and the occupation of Pakistan by violent extremists. That has left these…
South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) is disappointed to note that the Sri Lankan government has for the second time failed to pass Right to Information (RTI) legislation in parliament. The Bill presented by United National Party Parliamentarian Karu Jayasuriya was voted against by 97 Members of Parliament (MPs) of the ruling coalition while only 34 MPs from the opposition parties voted for the Bill.
This has not been the first instance that the issue of an RTI bill has been raised. Initially, the bill was drafted in 2003 but was not passed due to a change in government. Karu Jayasuriya presented the Bill in 2010 as a private member’s bill to Parliament but it was withdrawn after a commitment by the government of the time, to put forward its own Right to Information Act. However, the government failed to do so. It is unfortunate that the most recent introduction of the RTI bill was rejected on 21 June 2011.
Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NFIN) general secretary Ang Kazi Sherpa was briefly “held” at the Boudha police station in the capital where he had gone to learn about the condition of four persons arrested on charges of slaughtering a cow.
Although Boudha police later denied that Sherpa was detained and said he returned few hours after meeting the DSP at the police station, a statement circulated by the NFIN this afternoon said that Sherpa was indeed held when he reached the police station to inquire about the four persons arrested by police for slaughtering cow at Jorpati.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman Kedar Nath Upadhyay on Sunday complained that impunity has risen significantly in the country as the recommendation made by rights organisations to take action against rights violators went largely unnoticed or were never implemented.
Speaking at a programme organised by NHRC in the capital on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture today, he expressed grave concern over the government’s sheer apathy towards taking stringent action against individuals involved in serious rights violations.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has strongly opposed the proposed changes to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act that make it mandatory for the anti-graft body to take government permission before filing cases against civil servants.
Hinting at a possible outcome of the changes, the minister said only a Pakistani customs official named Zakir was convicted in the subcontinent’s history in a case filed with prior permission of the government.
Muhith was quoted as saying this at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on law ministry yesterday.
Eminent commentator and rural affairs editor of The Hindu newspaper, P.Sainath speaks to Newsclick on media discourse and other issues related to the “Fourth Estate”. The video can be accessed at http://newsclick.in/international/indian-media-politically-free-prisoners-profit-psainath