'Last week I wrote about the Union home ministry’s admission under The Right to Information Act, 2005 that they do not have any information about orders issued to shutdown telecommunication channels, TV and radio reception and advisories for the return of tourists and pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath Yatra from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). They also admitted to a lack of information about arrests/detentions of politicians, social activists and RTI activists.
'Ideally, the 14th convention on the RTI, on October 12, where Central and state commissioners were present, should have resolved against the amendment which reduces their collective independence. However, I am surprised that even non-bureaucrat commissioners also did not raise their voice against it. The least a convention of commissioners could have done was to ask for information on the status of commissioners themselves. But do information commissioners have the right to information on the status of commissioners?
'This is the ‘desh badal raha hai (the country is changing)’ story in all its finery. It encompasses everything and makes no attempt to hide anything: communal tension, society’s attitude towards inter-community marriages, right-wing assertion on ‘deviant’ women, Beti Bachao-Sanskari Banao, the partisan attitude of the police and media, and the helplessness of the judiciary. Anjali Jain (22) met Ibrahim (34) at a college festival and fell in love. They got married in February 2018. Ibrahim was already married when he met Anjali, but estranged from his wife whom he subsequently divorced.
'In Assam, civil society groups have long accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government of allowing illegal coal mining to thrive in the state. Now, these allegations could singe Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal himself. In the last week of September, members of the Congress distributed what they claimed were incriminating photographs to journalists. The photographs showed Sonowal with a man named Sunil Kumar Gurung alleged to be involved in illegal mining operations.
'Home minister Amit Shah was the chief guest at the National Human Rights Commission’s Foundation Day celebrations on Saturday, October 12. The NHRC has existed as a body for 26 years, since 1993, and has reportedly disposed of nearly 18 lakh cases. It has directed about Rs 176 crore of relief to various victims of human rights violations. The current chairperson of the NHRC, a quasi-judicial body with the powers of a civil court, is Justice H.L. Dattu.
'Naveen Dayal, one of the two accused in the near fatal attack on former JNU scholar, Umar Khalid last year, has been given a Shiv Sena ticket for the upcoming state polls from Bahadurganj in Haryana. Currently, out on bail for the assault, Dayal is a self-proclaimed gau rakshak, Dalal said he joined the Sena six months ago because their ideologies on “nationalism and cow protection” matched. When he shot at Umar Khalid, his gun had jammed, saving Umar’s life.
'Prevented from visiting Kashmir last week, a delegation of activists lashed out at the government for seeking to project a false narrative of “normalcy” in the valley. “If everything is normal, then what is the need for maintaining a clampdown in the valley for two months?” questioned Sandeep Pandey, Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and head of the National Alliance of People’s Movements, a network of grassroots organisations in India, who was a part of the delegation.
'A ‘hate speech’ by a Central Reserve Police Force constable during a debate organised by the National Human Rights Commission won a consolation prize on September 27. It also went viral on social media and while many criticised the harsh language used by the officer, some television channels chose to support her. The debate was on ‘terrorism and militancy in the country can be tackled effectively while observing human rights’. Two parts of Constable Khushboo Chauhan’s speech stood out.
'The induction of murder accused JMM leader Shashi Bhushan Mehta into the BJP launched high-voltage drama at the BJP headquarters in Ranchi on October 4. Mehta is facing trial in connection with the murder of Suchitra Mehta who was a warden at the school where the now former JMM leader was the director. He is currently out on bail...'
'In an indictment of the Central Board of Direct Taxes’s (CBDT) functioning, a top Indian Revenue Service (IRS) official has accused Pramod Chandra Mody, chairman of India’s top tax administration body, of giving an unlawful directive to bury a “sensitive case” involving “serious allegations”. In what is an equally incriminating charge against the Narendra Modi government, the official said that the CBDT chairman tried to entice her to fall in line by claiming that he had secured the top position only because of a “successful search” operation against an opposition leader.
