South Asia Citizens Web

Spiel about and full programme of National Consultation on Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Feb 25-26, 2012, New Delhi

India should not succumb to the EU pressure on the issue [trade]. There is nothing worthy about free trade, certainly not with a bloc of nations that has a per capita income more than 10 times higher than India’s. By contrast, India must enthusiastically pursue trade talks with its neighbours, particularly with Pakistan

After the 2002 riots, the National Human Rights Commission, a statutory watchdog, had sent a team to Gujarat to investigate. It reported "a comprehensive failure on the part of the state government to control the persistent violation of the rights to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the people of the state". As the commission also pointed out, "critical and cruel as the communal dimension was to the tragedy of Gujarat, what was at stake, additionally, was respect for the rights of all Indians – irrespective of community – that are guaranteed by the constitution". The persistence of Zakia Jafri has helped to highlight the importance of this principle.

The tragedy of Kandhamal is that the attack on the Christian community was familiar and the subsequent failure of the legal system to accord justice to the victim-survivors predictable. This volume edited by Vrinda Grover critically examines the patterns of impunity as they unfold in Kandhamal. There is today a vibrant debate seeking legal reform to ensure accountability for mass crimes by extending culpability to those who sponsor and profit from the carnage. Rooted in the firm belief that without justice there can be no peace, this book seeks to contribute to the effort to forge new legal tools to alter patterns of continuing injustice and rampant impunity.

Market forces may decree that millions of viewers can no longer afford the television service they have had many years, unless the government takes pre-emptive steps to treat television as a public utility and guarantees citizens access to it.