First posted October 22, 2019 NB: This report on the deaths of Judge Loya and his two friends appeared in 2018. Our ‘free and unfettered’ media continues to ignore this matter; as it has ignored the suicide of an ex Chief Minister who alleged high-level corruption in the judiciary; and has also failed to pursue the manner in which criminal cases… Read More Apoorva Mandhani: Judge Loya’s Confidants Died Mysterious Deaths
a day after this tragedy, I noticed a serpentine line of students waiting to enter the very college where Samarveer had taught for over 5 years… the college was having its annual cultural festival. The irony of this temporal juxtaposition was presumably lost on the college authorities. Or maybe it is a sign of times… Read More Suicide of a teacher: Chronicle of a Tragedy Foretold
Mortaza Behboudi, an Afghan-French journalist, had been drawn back to Afghanistan, which he had left aged 21, to report on the deteriorating humanitarian conditions and situation for women. “He has a passion to give voice to people who had their voices taken from them, which is why he went back to Afghanistan,” says Aleksandra Mostovaja, Behboudi’s… Read More ‘We can’t remain silent’: journalists refuse to give up despite Taliban terror
पहलवानों-पुलिस की धक्कामुक्की के बाद PC करते हुए रो पड़ीं Vinesh Phogat Shocked and appalled by the boorish behaviour of the Delhi Police towards protesting wrestlers late Wednesday evening, an emotionally distraught star wrestler Vinesh Phogat said they were not criminals and did not deserve such disrespect. “If you want to kill us, then kill… Read More Protesting female wrestlers allege physical assault by Delhi Police
Indian Wrestlers Demand Action Against Sexual Harassment, Raise Concerns Over Safety Of Accusers While pressure is growing on the BJP to take action against its Kaiserganj MP and Wrestling Federation of India president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, over allegations of sexual exploitation and harassment of wrestlers, the party has held out for four months. And, it might not… Read More BJP still in Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s corner despite several knocks
According to the ‘basic structure’ doctrine of the Supreme Court put forward in 1973, there are features of the Constitution that are unamendable by Parliament under any circumstances. The doctrine is the only legal defence against parliamentary hegemony and a rewriting of the Constitution. SRIRAM PANCHU; APRAMEYA MANTHENA; VIKAS MURALIDHARAN The Constitution of India is… Read More The ‘Basic Structure’ Doctrine: Defence against Parliamentary Hegemony
First posted November 19, 2011 NB: I wrote this article in the aftermath of the January 2011 judgement by two Supreme Court judges on the murder of Graham Staines and his two sons in Orissa in 1998. The debate on religious questions is a secondary one. The first major point of my article is this:… Read More Terrifying implications of the Supreme Court’s Staines Judgement
NB: I have argued in a recent article that the rule of law in India (and indeed in all of South Asia) has been replaced by the rule of ideology. Those who celebrate lawlessness in the name of nationalism should bear in mind that this is the first step towards social and political disintegration. But… Read More Mahua Moitra on the killing of Atiq Ahmed: This is mobocracy
Once crime was as solitary as a cry of protest; now it is as universal as science. Yesterday it was put on trial; today it determines the law. Albert Camus; The Rebel (1956) Bharat Bhushan Support for harsh penal policies is often the result of two interconnected phenomena. One, viewing criminals as those outside of… Read More Death by ‘encounter’: Yogi Adityanath’s penal populism
Xu Zhiyong’s dream is for China to become a democratic country that is “beautiful, free, fair and happy.” It is a simple wish, yet in the eyes of the authorities, his vision is dangerous and subversive. The 50-year-old human rights lawyer and champion of social equality was sentenced to 14 years in jail earlier this month, along with fellow… Read More How one man went from China’s Communist party golden child to enemy of the state
After the truth-shower 