South Asia Citizens Web

[A report from the Times of India] Their memory is a bit hazy as they go back in time to reflect on the days when Coimbatore was synonymous with workers’ movements and struggles for securing the rights of the men and women, who made the spindles spin and earn the city its title of the Manchester of South India.

The Government of India has passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-First Amendment) Bill, 2014[1] seeking amendments to Articles 124, 127, 128, 217, 222, 224 and 231 of the Constitution of India and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill (NJACB)[2] , 2014 in the Lok Sabha today i.e. 13 August 2014. The Bills, if adopted by the Rajya Sabha, will replace the existing system of appointment and transfer of High Court and Supreme Court judges. The Supreme Court of India in the Three Judges Cases[3] laid down the guidelines for appointment and transfer of judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court since 1993 through collegium system of the judiciary headed by the Chief Justice of India. Independence of judiciary is too sacrosanct to be compromised in any country claiming to be democratic and governed by the supremacy of the rule of law.

Wimal Fernando, the veteran left and democratic rights activist and former trade unionist, was interviewed by Ahilan Kadirgamar and Balasingham Skanthakumar in January 2011. These excerpts were transcribed and annotated by B. Skanthakumar. The interview is published in Pathways of the Left in Sri Lanka, edited by Marshal Fernando and B. Skanthakumar, Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue, Colombo 2014, pp. 217-240.

This weekend marked Raksha Bandhan, a festival dedicated to strengthening bonds of love, affection and support between brothers and sisters. The threads that sisters tie on their brothers’ wrists are symbolic of what binds them and what they expect from each other. It is a festival that has been celebrated to cement relationships beyond familial ones and one in which people of many communities have traditionally participated. It is a matter of concern that this year, the Sangh Parivar has launched a campaign all over India to ’celebrate’ this festival in its own unique fashion. Thousands of volunteers carrying bags of rakhis are to fan out all over the country, specially to villages in Uttar Pradesh, so that Hindu girls and women can tie rakhis on their Hindu brothers’ wrists in order to protect them from Muslim men and forced conversions.