Nation Pulse 24

Category: National

  • National level citizens convention on democratic rights, civil rights and human rights express grave concern over violation of human rights and secularism

    National level citizens convention on democratic rights, civil rights and human rights express grave concern over violation of human rights and secularism

    National level citizens convention on democratic rights, civil rights and human rights express grave concern over violation of human rights and secularism

     

    New Delhi- A national convention on ‘Democratic rights and Secularism; was held here today at Ghalib Institute hall, ITO, New Delhi. The speakers of convention expressed grave concern over the violation of Human Rights and Secularism in the country. The convention was presided over by Justice B. N. Srikrishna, former Judge, Supreme Court,  Justice A. K. Patnaik former Judge, Supreme Court was the main speaker.

     

    Among the other speakers were Senior Advocate of Supreme court Prashant Bhushan, Dr. Aditya Sondhi, senior advocate, Supreme Court, Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta,  Kumar Prashant, social activist, Gauhar Raza, Scientist and cultural activist,  Joseph Mathew, Social activist,  Anil Naurya, Advocate, Supreme Court, Writer and Social Activist, Dwarikanath Rath, National Convener, CPDRS.

    Justice Srikrishna (retd) depicted the present situation to be into deep crisis and said that over 5 crore cases are pending in the courts starting from Supreme Court to the sessions Court. Delay in Justice is denial in justice, he said. Justice A. K. Patnaik (retd) said that the institutions responsible for the protection of democratic rights are violating them the most. There is a steep price in custodial death, fake encounters and jail torture. Other speakers said that be it tribals, dalits, women, children or any other downtrodden persons, they are subject to the worst kind of exploitation and Human Rights violation.

    The decline in human rights in India is reflected in the global rankings. India was placed 109th out of 165 countries in the UN Human Freedom Index 2023, with its overall score dropping by 9% between 2015 and 2023. The statistics paint a grim picture: in 2021 alone, 31,677 cases of rape were registered, and in 2022, a staggering 4.45 lakh crimes were reported against women. Custodial violence remains rampant, with the NHRC recording 147 deaths in police custody, 1,882 deaths in judicial custody, and 119 extrajudicial killings in just the first nine months of 2022. Shockingly, 77% of India’s 5.5 lakhs of prison inmates continue to languish in jails despite being granted bail.

    Repressive laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), National Security Act (NSA), and Public Security Act (PSA), along with the misuse of investigative agencies like the CBI and ED, have instilled fear in the population. In Manipur, 175 people were killed and over 60,000 displaced Delegates from all the states of the country participated in the convention. Convention passed main resolution and another resolution on Palestine. It resolved to encompass intellectuals and common people of the country to build up mighty human rights movement.

     

    Speaking on the Right to dissent and voice of protest is the essence of democracy. Justice BN Sreekrishna (retd) said, “Right to dissent and raise voice of protest of the people is the soul of democracy.” He pointed out that under real democracy all citizens would be treated equally and rule of prevail and secularism means ability to tolerate other religious beliefs too. But all these cardinal values are under siege in India now, he lamented.

     

    While presiding over the National Convention held under the aegis of Committee for the protection of Democratic Rights and Secularism (CPDRS) in Delhi today, he said that the judicial independence and freedom of expression is also under severe threat over the past ten years.  The civil society has to take cudgels to fight all these onslaughts on hard own rights of people, he declared in the end.

    Prasanth Bhushan addressed the gathering on the issues of Democracy, Secularism and Civlity under severe crisis. “India is now witnessing a rampant form of bulldozing on fundamental rights. Constitutional institutions are destroyed and draconian laws are clamped”, said Prasanth Bhushsn. Present status of EC and Comptroller and Auditor General are the living examples becoming appendages ruling regime. They have stopped auditing of funding of BJP but by misusing the powers. But it is they auditing opposition parties accounts only. Those who protest against the government are imprisoned and languishing in jail without trail for years together. not giving justice and legal trials on time. People must shed their fears and come out against draconian rule, he appealed.

  • Supreme Court bans bulldozer action across the country

    Supreme Court bans bulldozer action across the country

    Supreme Court bans bulldozer action across the country

    Supreme Court issues strict instruct

           

    New Delhi. The Supreme Court has put a temporary stay on bulldozer action, the court has said that till October 1, no property will be demolished by bulldozer anywhere in India without its permission. The apex court was hearing a petition against bulldozer action in various parts of the country. The Supreme Court has taken a tough stand on bulldozer action. The apex court on Tuesday directed that till October 1, the next hearing date in the case, no property will be demolished by bulldozer anywhere in India without the permission of the court. The court has clarified that this order will not apply to any unauthorized construction on public roads, footpaths etc.

    The Supreme Court said that if even a single incident of illegal demolition takes place, it is against the values of the Constitution and directed that no demolition should take place in the country without its permission.

    A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Vishwanathan asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta what was the hurry to demolish the structures when notices were issued in 2022? Justice Vishwanathan said that no demolition should take place without the permission of the court till the next hearing date. Mehta strongly objected to this direction of the apex court and insisted that a story is being fabricated and that story has appealed to the court.

    Even a single illegal demolition is against the values of the Constitution…

    On this, Justice Vishwanathan said that external noise does not affect the court and the court will not even get into the question of which community is being affected but if there is even a single instance of illegal demolition then it is against the values of the Constitution.

    Justice Gavai said that no demolition should take place without the permission of the court, but clarified that this order will not apply if there is any unauthorized construction on public road, footpath, railway line, water bodies etc. The bench said that after the September 2 order of the court, a lot of emphasis has been laid on it and it has been justified.

    The sky will not fall…

    The bench asked Mehta whether this should happen in our country? Justice Gavai said that this statement did not impress the judges of the bench and said, “We have made it clear that we will not come in the way of unauthorized construction… but the executive cannot be the judge.” The Supreme Court stayed the demolition till October 1, saying that this would “not cause the sky to fall…”

    The apex court was hearing a petition filed by Jamiat and others against the bulldozer action in different parts of the country.

    Earlier, during the hearing on September 2, the Supreme Court had criticized ‘bulldozer justice’ and said that it would set guidelines across the country in this matter. The court had remarked, “How can a person’s house be demolished only because he is an accused? Even if he is a convict, still it cannot be done without following the procedure laid down by law.” The Supreme Court stressed that the process should be streamlined and said that a gentleman father may have a spoilt son or vice versa, but both should not be forced to suffer each other’s deeds. The Supreme Court had stressed that immovable properties can be demolished only on the basis of procedure.

  • Sukhbir Singh Badal showed mirror to Muslim leaders regarding Muslim leadership

    Sukhbir Singh Badal showed mirror to Muslim leaders regarding Muslim leadership

    (Shibli Rampuri)

                            What Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal has said about Muslim leadership is completely correct and in a way he has shown a mirror to Muslim leaders. This statement of his may seem bad to some Muslim leaders, but it is a reality that due to lack of strong political leadership, the Muslims of the country have to go through huge difficulties from time to time.
                            Most of the leaders who have launched their political journey with the help of Muslims may hold BJP or any other party responsible for the plight of Muslims or point out some other shortcomings, but the reality is that Muslims have suffered the most losses because of Muslim leaders. And this is a bitter reality.

                          Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the population of Muslims in the country is about 18 percent but they have no leadership because they are not united… We are two percent but we are united under Sri Akal Takht Sahib. Sukhbir Singh Badal even said that despite having such a large population of Muslims in the country, they do not have any political leadership anywhere and there is a lot of lack of unity among them. Due to lack of strong Muslim leadership, they have to face many problems. It has been falling.
    Everyone knows that the Muslim leadership is very weak politically, but as far as unity is concerned, there is a great lack of unity among the Muslims, they are divided politically and the reason for this is mostly the Muslim leaders because they are not in the elections. At times, efforts are made to scatter the votes of Muslims by showing them such dreams which are never fulfilled and remain only dreams because the aim of most of the Muslim leaders is only to get the votes of the Muslim community at the time of elections. We have to sail our political boat. If we look seriously, the same trend is going on with Muslims from independence till today and who knows for how long it will continue like this, sometimes they are misled in the name of BJP and sometimes they are told something in the name of Congress. Sometimes some party is described as his political sympathizer and sometimes some party is described as his political opponent.

                         Politically, the reason for the great plight of Muslims is the changing attitude of our Ulemas towards political parties or rather, the way they are often seen working for political parties and raising their voice in their favor. Muslim leadership has been politically weak. Often at the time of elections, some Ulemas start supporting or opposing this party, sometimes that party, and the opinion of the Ulemas is considered very important among the Muslims, due to which many times the Muslims are forced to think that Whom should he choose politically? How can political leadership be strong when there is such a difficult situation?