New Delhi:
(Sedition law and whether to scrap it has returned to public focus once again.
But this time, it's a bit different as the episode is marred by Twitter war between
P Chidambaram, a lawyer-turned-neta, and Union Law Minister Rijiju)
The row was actually triggered by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram,
who tweeted saying perhaps the Law Minister Kiren Rijiju did not read newspapers
as the Supreme Court on several occasions made made strong observations on the sedition law.
The former Union Finance and Home Minister's remarks came in reference to Law Minister Kiren
Rijiju telling Lok Sabha that there was no proposal under consideration to scrap Section 124A of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with sedition.
Responding to a question by Assam MP Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF) on whether the Supreme Court has
termed the sedition law as colonial and has made an observation that it is being misused,
Rijiu said on Friday - there is no record of the Supreme Court making any observation on the sedition law.
On this, Chidambaram tweeted on Saturday, "The Minister of Law said that MHA has informed him that there is
no proposal to repeal the sedition law (Section 124A). What he did not say was that MHA has
proposals to book many innocent people under the sedition law!"
The Congress leader also said - "What he (Law minister) did not say was that he does not
read newspapers reporting the proceedings of the Supreme Court,"
Shortly after, tagging Chidambaram"s tweets, Rijiju hit back and asked how many thousand
sedition cases were slapped on people by the Congress government.
"Law Minister may not read newspaper but Law Minister knows that media reports do not become part of official Depart records. Hon’ble Supreme Court is aware of how to make observations and how to pass formal orders!" Rijiju tweeted.
There have been frequent debates that the sedition law enacted originally during British days has
been weaponised as a handy 'tool' against political rivals, to suppress dissent.
Even in July, Chief Justice N.V. Ramana expressed his concern and said - “The use of sedition is like
giving a saw to the carpenter to cut a piece of wood and he uses it to cut the entire forest itself.”
In fact, Sedition as per Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) reads as, “whoever, by words,
either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring
into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government
established by law in [India], shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], to which fine may be added,
or with imprisonment which may extend to three years".
As per the Kedar Nath judgment in 1962, the sedition law was supposed to be applied in rare
instances where the sovereignty of the country is threatened.
ends
Biden's Team Democracy set to fight fascism of new 'free world'
New Delhi:
(What's the bigger debate ? Are we heading for a world that is split between countries with authoritarian governments that exercise absolute control over technology, expression and data, and on the other hand open societies that adopt different standards ?)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited to the hyped Summit for Democracy convened by US President Joe Biden.
The significance of the Summit could not be missed as while the good old Cold War appears to have disappeared, the fact of the matter is that it was replaced by a “free world” of the new era which has to face fascism and authoritarianism.
China and Russia - and in that order of importance globally - are today bolstering a new
idea. This could be called the 'contrasting authoritarian ideology'.
Thus, the challenge before Biden and also other global players including Prime Minister Narendra Modi
would be to fight a new power structure and the rising non-democratic force(s).
Welcome to the new era of 'us' and 'they' global divides.
Before we delve into these divides, it would be prudent to appreciate the penetrating
mind of an expert who says - "Carving up the world into “us” and “them” could complicate efforts to solve other existential problems facing both the free and unfree: climate change, pandemics and mass migration".
These observations have been made by Farah Stockman, an American author.
Now take a look at the divides - as per Biden's list. Pakistan was invited - who stayed away; but Bangladesh
was out. Similarly, Turkey was discarded, but Iraq in.
The Philippines made it.
There have already been reactions, but some of the reactions suggest Biden has taken initial leads.
China has sounded 'defensive' and in fact in an Op-ed article, China’s envoy to the US, Qin Gang,
said - Beijing actually has a "whole-process socialist democracy".
Well, Chinese citizens can join the CCP. For his part, Russia’s ambassador, Anatoly Antonov,
wrote in The National Interest.
“It (the policies in his country) reflects the people’s will, suits the country’s realities, and enjoys strong support
from the people.”
Moscow and Beijing also insist that the United States has "no right" to sit in judgment over
which nations are democracies and which nations are not. Importantly, neither of them is able to
discard 'democracy' per se,
Here comes the relevance of what the Prime Minister (Modi) has said at the Summit.
"Democracy has delivered, and will continue to deliver", Modi noted.
This was a crucial statement.
Biden's Team Democracy has been democratically challenged in recent years.
Besides the Chinese or the Russians' respective power-politics structures of governance
and political management; neither Biden nor any of his team man (other global players) could
deny that all democratic countries have certain limitations and 'inherent contradictions'.
The US itself saw Americans angry about the results of the 2020 election - that saw the ouster of Donald
Trump - storming their own Capitol.
Poland has reportedly gone against the judiciary and the Philippines has targeted journalists.
There is no perfect elephant in the room.
Yet the problem does not end with these. Like all 'good children', it is the Team Democracy who has
something to lose about. Russia, China and Turkey do not have any major stake.
This throws up another question - how open societies will have to defend themselves in the future
war against existential technological threats.
"As countries like China and Russia invest heavily in artificial intelligence and quantum computing,
and exercise intensive state control over data, the United States and its allies need a game plan.
What rules should be adopted to govern the use of artificial intelligence," - says Farah Stockman.
In the next course of debate, it can be underlined that even the so-called announcement of 'diplomatic
boycott' of the Winter Olympics in China has not really bothered Beijing.
Therefore, Beijing is already planning to dismiss the diplomatic boycotts as inconsequential.
This is an era of 'Machoism'. And so here, Democracy could be failing because diplomatic
boycott means that officials from the protesting countries would not be sending officials.
There would not be any bar on participants really sweating it out in the Olympics so far.
There will be too little to lose for China if the Olympics are held on time and the participants
come and compete.
It may be argued that the Sports and mega sporting extravaganza like Olympics or the World
Cup Cricket or Soccer tourneys are strong ANTIDOTE TO politics.
ends
Buddhist varsity gets nod in BJP-ruled Tripura
New Delhi:
(The slogan -Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'can be achieved by taking all those segments who may not be electoral vote bank. This is what is happening in Tripura.)
Implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of inclusive development under the theme
-Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas', the BJP-led Tripura government has given its nod
to set up a Buddhist University in the state.
The new varsity will come up in Manu Bankul in Sabroom region.
The government headed by Chief Minister Biplab Deb gave a Letter of Intent to Bahujana Hitaya
Education Trust for setting up the university.
Officials have said that the students from at least 30 countries will give opportunities to study as
well as research Buddhist literature, culture and tradition in the new varsity.
There are also plans to establish medical, technical and general degree colleges on the campus.
Following the issuance of the Letter of Intent, the organisation officials now prepare a Detailed Project
Report (DPR) for building necessary infrastructures at the proposed site.
The BJP-led government will also bring a bill in the assembly for setting up the university.
Sabroom MLA Sankar Roy said that a plot measuring 25 acres has been given to the Buddhist
organisation to set up the varsity.
Officials and others keen to see early setting up of the ambitious project are optimistic that the foundation
stone of the project will be laid within a month or so.
At present, Tripura has three varsities -- Tripura University, which is a central varsity, state-run
MBB University and privately-owned ICFAI University.
Buddhists constitute 3.41 per cent or 125,182 of the total population in Tripura but are highly respected.
The community also resides in this northeastern state much in harmony with Bengali Hindus,
native tribals both Hindus and Christians.
Sources say the move truly reflects the Modi Government's pledge to carry along all communities
on the path of development and progress.
Notably, Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal said
in Rajya Sabha that Tripura had remained neglected of holistic development for
35 years but "the things have started changing over the past few years".
Stage is also set for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in South Tripura’s Sabroom region.
The Sabroom region is located on the banks of the Feni River, which separates India and Bangladesh.
Ends
No comments:
Post a Comment