Open Forum

Text of Prof. Upendra Baxi’s Dr. Ashok Hirway Memorial Lecture titled “The Directive Principles of State Policy, Fundamental Duties of Citizens, and Human Rights: Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread”, organized by the Centre for Development Alternatives in Ahmedabad on 23 December 2019: I am very grateful for this gracious invitation by Professor (Dr.) Indira Hirway. I did not have the privilege of friendship with her husband but the fact that he loved the law and obtained his Ph.D. degree in law at the age of 75 years indicates his ceaseless passion for learning. It again demonstrates the truth of the maxim that the love of learning never ceases; it is lifelong and spans generations as befitting an ancient civilization. This lecture series, so affectionately rededicated to his vibrant memory, valiantly celebrates the achievement of excellence in all walks of life that the Indian Constitution enshrines in constitutional and fundamental duties of all citizens mandated by Article 51

Submission to the Union Minister of Finance, Government of India, by Ambarish Rai, National Convener, RTE Forum for adequate enhancement of public financing for universalization of school education: This year marks the ten years of completion of the enactment of Right to Education Act 2009. Evidence both based on the field reports and macro-data, CAG reports as well as independent studies, points to the multiple areas of non-compliance. According to UDISE 2016-17 only 12.7% schools comply with its provisions. Availability of finances has been a big bottleneck in the implementation of the provisions of the act for education of a reasonable quality for all (Bose, Ghosh and Sardana, 2019). Furthermore, the introduction of the draft National Education Policy 2019 calls for enhanced allocations to meet its expanded mandate of education until 18 years of age. An incremental increase on education over a period of 10 years will not address the immediate crisis in terms of quality and equity in

Toxics Link, an Indian environmental not for profit organization, has called upon the authorities to phase out mercury use in dentistry at a roundtable in Ahmedabad, held in December 22. A note by Toxics Link: Mercury, one of the most toxic metals known to mankind, needs to be phased out from dental amalgam fillings, was the unanimous voice in the roundtable meeting organised by Toxics Link in Ahmedabad today. The meeting was organised by the environmental group, in collaboration with Indian Dental Association, Ahmedabad to discuss the concerns of mercury usage in dentistry as well as to public health. Dental amalgam, which contains 50% mercury by weight, is widely used in restorative dentistry and the most common material used for filling till a decade back. Mercury’s impact on nervous, digestive, immune systems and important organs like brain, lungs and kidneys has forced the world to start eliminating mercury. According to WHO, mercury is one of the top ten chemicals of public healt

By Moin Qazi* Book Review: “Islam and God-Centricity: A Theological Basis for Human Liberation” (Book 1 and 2), by Shaykh Arif Abdul Hussain, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham These volumes are a compilation of transcribed and edited talks of Shaykh Arif Abdul Hussain in which the essential message of Islam and Prophet Muhammad’s message of God-centricity is presented in a fresh reevaluation of religion and human purpose. The talks outline the philosophical foundations of the Qur’anic outlook for humanity, in which religion and prophetic teachings are envisioned as a purposive process of continuous spiritual growth .The leitmotif of the book is the role of Qur’anic principle of God-centricity in maintaining a universal equilibrium. By identifying the core tenets of purposive religion, the author embraces a philosophically rigorous concept of human progress that is informed by the teachings of Islamic sages and mystics.It provides an interpretation of religion that regards humans as dynami

By Moin Qazi* Never let formal education get in the way of your learning. — Mark Twain A Rip Van Winkle who may wake up today after having missed the information revolution would be extremely dazed to see the changed world. We now have Wikipedia instead of libraries, and Google to provide round the clock access to information. In the new social and educational explosion we have lost the pursuit of knowledge .Our brains are powerful creative processors, but we have made them receptacles for storage and retention of inert facts. We are slowly devaluing the human mind which has sparked the creation of so many great civilizations. Socrates would have been a sworn enemy of Wikipedia. Plato recorded that Socrates’ detested the written word because it allowed people to parrot facts without understanding and assimilating them. There is a difference between a disaggregated collection of facts pulled in and out of storage as needed and the kind of knowledge that comes by constructing knowledg

Fact-finding report on RTI activist Abhimanyu Panda killing in Kandhamal, Odisha: Yet the dreadful retaliation against the messenger of the truth witnessed again in the early morning of the Human Rights Day, 10th December 2019 with the killing of Right to Information Activist Abhimanyu Panda at his residence of Baliguda under Kandamal District of Odisha by questioning the protection and security of the Whistle Blowers; and challenging law and order situation of Odisha and country’s anti-corruption apparatus. It also asks, where is the State? Isn’t Odisha a safe anchorage for corrupt criminals who enjoys impunity? Since inception and practical implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act -2005, Odisha has already witnessed four killings of RTI Activists, including the present gruesome killing of Abhimanyu Panda, who was being threatened, discouraged and subjected to torture prior to his killing. Is it his sin for coming forward and exposing the wrongdoing in public life? It has

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* When Parma Bai put the red shawl on my shoulder as the programme was about to begin, I was overwhelmed. The other friends said that this is made by local Vanakar community person who was supposed to be participating in the training programme but could not come due to his own reasons. I told friends that after our programme is over, I would like to visit some of the villages including this friend who made it for me. Our day had started with all of us garlanding the statue of Baba Saheb Ambedkar at the chowk of the city of Bachau and that made me realize how people started thronging in since the morning to pay their tribute to Dr Ambedkar on December 6th. Parma Bai is 62 year old Kutchi woman belonging to Dalit community. She came here travelling nearly 150 kilometer to participate in a training programme on Dalit and Land Rights. Her village faces threat as the Gujarat government has ‘annexed’ all the land of nearly 100 families under the ‘Shrisarkar’ land act w

By Faisal Khan*  Peace-building is a continuous process that has been done through multiple activities; one such is ‘Lynching and Nafrat Mukt Bharat Cycle Yatra’. It was started from Rajghat on the 19th of October,2019 and was concluded on the 14th of November, 2019 at Hydari Manzil, Kolkata. This peace-building initiative was started by Khudai Khidmatgar with other progressive organizations like ICAN, SPI, Sadbhavna Sangam and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM). Khudai Khidmatgar is a social movement dedicated as a whole for peace-building and communal harmony. On the 19th October, 2019 eight Khudai Khidmatgar i.e., seven cyclists and a motorcyclist began a peace-building campaign for spreading peace, love, and harmony. Yatris/Satyagrahis of Nafrat Mukt Bharat Cycle Yatra: Faisal Khan (Gandhian and Convenor of Khudai Khidmatgar), Kartik Arora (Traveller), Sultan Charania (Educationist), he couldn’t complete the yatra, due to some professional engagements, so from Allahabad

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act, 2009 stood repealed by virtue of the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (Reorganisation Act) which came into force on 31st October, 2019. Records recently obtained under the RTI Act show, the Central Government’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) began, in good faith, the process of making the transition from the State’s law to the Central Right to Information Act, 2005 (Central RTI Act) 15 days before J&K was downgraded and bifurcated into the twin Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. However, the J&K General Administration Department (JK-GAD) has started a parallel process of examining the Central RTI Act’s applicability to the UT of J&K. The transition process which would have gone smoothly but for the spanner in the works thrown by J&K-GAD. Background Readers will recall, the Reorganisation Act divided the erstwhile J&K into two administrative un