South Asia Citizens Web

The Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai expresses outrage at the deliberate and vicious mis-reporting of the current witch hunt at the instances of the Gujarat Police Crime Branch and as scurrilously reported by dubious media channels like India TV, IBN7 and newspapers like the Pioneer with clear links to the ruling dispensation.

Newsclick interviewed civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad on the the communal agenda of the Modi government and its contradiction with the secular values of the state. She says that the current government is guided by an unconstitutional body with a majoritarian agenda — the RSS — and hence the attack on secular values is bound to continue. The long term roadmap of the RSS is to convert the Indian nation into a Hindu Rashtra.

The second anniversary of the December 16 gang rape in Delhi is a time for sober reflection. Though the silence and denial that envelop sexual violence against women were shattered in 2012, the graph of sexual assault continues to rise. The public protests compelled an indifferent Parliament to codify as crimes all forms of sexual violence against women. However, the cry “We Want Justice”, which echoed on Raisina Hill, remains unmet.

A video on you tube by People’s Archive of Rural India with photos and commentary by P. Sainath

I do not understand why there is so much ‘hulla gulla’ about bail to Z.Rahman Lakhvi- alleged to be the master mind of the terrorist attack of Mumbai (2008). Bail is part of legal process and a judge is not supposed to be influenced by popular perception or governmental or any other pressure. Every accused is deemed to be innocent till proved guilty. If a judge has erred in giving bail to an accused, remedy lies in appeal to the higher court. Indian Courts have given bail from time to time to large number of accused who were charged under terrorist or other equally serious offences.