South Asia Citizens Web

The ‘final forest clearance’ by the MoEF to the controversial POSCO project in Orissa on 2 May 2011, is a shocking assault on Indian democracy. It makes it clear that all talk of ‘inclusive democracy’ and ‘inclusive development’ by the government is a sham, to be abandoned whenever politically expedient. The central government’s order is based itself on the blatant lies of the government of Odisha, giving short shrift to facts, provisions of law, and democratic processes. The UPA government that misses no opportunity to trumpet loud about a ‘working democracy’ under its leadership has shamelessly sold the laws of the land to the highest bidder—and practically for a loss.

It is really disturbing to read from newspapers reports that the
Delhi High Court has directed the striking pilots of Air India to discontinue
their agitation and resume work. We fail to understand as to under what law
such an order can be passed. Peaceful demonstrations are part of the
fundamental rights of free speech and also of the right of assembly which are guaranteed under article 19 (a) and (b) of the Constitution. The Supreme Court as long back as in 1962 in the matter of Kameshwar Prasad Vs. State of Bihar has held that demonstration is a visible representation of the feelings or sentiments of an individual or group and is part of fundamental right of free speech. (AIR 1962 SC 1166).

‘THAILAND and Cambodia have’, according to BBC News, ‘reached a ceasefire after a week of fighting along a disputed border .... Both countries said the truce was struck following talks between the two militaries.’ The border between the two countries has been contested for years, and ‘nationalist sentiment’ has continued to give rise to intermittent violence. In the past, elections have enkindled the ongoing, if sometimes dormant, dispute, and the latest skirmish comes with elections looming in Thailand.

The late Indian parliamentarian Madhu Limaye on ’RSS’ the key organisation of the Hindu far right in India

In a travesty of the well-honed science of environmental decision making, the single largest steel-power-port-township and potentially mega mining project ever conceived in the history of India, and also the largest industrial project conceived in recent decades world wide, has now got the push forward. And this admittedly on the basis of little or no knowledge of its irreversible social and environmental impacts and associated economic and natural disaster risks.