South Asia Citizens Web

The current administration of Delhi University has attempted to reshape the University through a series of sinister agendas - be it the introduction of semester system, the European Studies Programme or the biometric identification system. All of them have shared one thing in common: the thwarting of democratic debate on proposals for change, and the routine violation of regulatory protocols. The latest episode has been the eviction of students (2,000 students according to reports) from a number of hostels in Delhi University in order to make them available for the Commonwealth Games.

Sacrificing women’s rights to secure peace will leave us back where we were 10 years ago.

Beneath the veneer of protecting public morality lies a stricter policing of a woman’s morality, a control over her body and her sexuality. Within such a context Cat’s Eye wonders at which point a private consensual act impinges on considerations of public morality. Who should ultimately decide on the demarcation between the boundaries of public and private morality? With this in mind the earnestness shown by the Police to protect public morality require a careful reexamination in terms of what it means for women in Sri Lanka.

We, the undersigned, are alarmed at the news that the management of M/s Jindal Power Limited (JPL) has lodged a complaint of extortion against environmental activist, Ramesh Agrawal. Mr. Agrawal is widely known and well-respected for his tireless campaigns for ensuring the protection of environmental rights of vulnerable communities in Chhattisgarh. This appears to be nothing more than malicious attempt to persecute Mr. Agrawal, silence him and intimidate other public-spirited citizens. We wish to register our dismay that the Chhattisgarh police have entertained this frivolous and vindictive complaint, on the basis of which Mr. Agrawal has been charged with serious, non-bailable offences.

One year ago, on July 2nd 2009, a Delhi High Court division bench of Chief Justice A. P Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said “We declare that Section 377 IPC, insofar it criminalizes consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution.” It upheld one of the primary principles of natural justice, ’right to consent’ and restored the dignity and rights of millions of those whose existence in the society was not even acknowledged. Needless to say that while it was a result of a long struggle by a lot of people that a judgement of this kind came in, and that is not a mean achievement, however, implementation of this is important. Just having a law is not enough.