South Asia Citizens Web

[select reports and commentary following the killing of Ananta Bijoy Das in Bangladesh] Another free thinker murdered (Daily Star) Slain blogger Ananta Bijoy Das’ last words in ‘devil’s world’ (bdnews24.com) Government must protect free expression (Dhaka Tribune Editorial) Why secular expression is being killed in Bangladesh, one blogger at a time (K. Anis Ahmed) Ananta Bijoy Das, Beloved by Humanity, Hacked to Death by Islamists The Guardian view on the murder of Ananta Bijoy Das: an (…)

An onslaught on justice is taking place in broad daylight. It is now clear that the Modi-led government finds India’s criminal justice system and independent judiciary to be an obstacle blocking its long-term plans. The incidence of prejudice in the courts is nothing new - the 1984 pogrom inaugurated a new era in the erosion of Indian justice. The NDA government has given impetus to this process. The ideological hooligans of the so-called ’Sangh parivar’ are convinced they are above the law. Corruption does not merely have monetary implications. The erosion of judicial independence taking place before our eyes is also corruption. Building trustworthy public institutions is a prolonged process that takes decades. But they can be destroyed very rapidly, especially when state power is used (covertly or openly), to intimidate judges like Ms Jyotsna Yagnik.

Leo Saldanha, ESG India Mon, May 11, 2015
To: PRAKASH JAVADEKAR Cc: seshadri satyanarayanan Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State (IC) for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Govt. of India
Respected Mr. Javadekar,
Thank you for taking interest in my comment on the proposed redefinition of "forest", which I had shared publicly in light of an editorial in Deccan Herald entitled "Redefining Forests, recipe for disaster". I note that in your cryptic response, you have accused (…)

Yesterday May 7 the Women’s Court on war crimes against women during the war in the 1990ies formally started in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Women have come together from all the corners of the former-Yugoslavia to participate in the Women’s Court in Sarajevo, to demand justice for the crimes committed against them during the wars and the enduring inequalities and suffering that followed.

We write to you today as members and representatives of Indian civil society organizations and, most importantly as Indian citizens, to express our deep concern at how civil society organizations in general and their support systems, including donors, are being labeled and targeted.