Of late, there has been a debate on whether public programmes such as school education, scholarships, health-care delivery and access to microcredit can be targeted at beneficiaries based on Religion; some consider this ‘unconstitutional' and argue that it amounts to discrimination. I highlight the constitutional provisions and argue that there is nothing in the Constitution which bars identification of beneficiaries based on Religion. Religious identity is listed on a par...

Drawing a cartoon of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Madhya Pradesh, another Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled State, proved too costly for the cartoonist of leading Indore-based eveninger Prabhat Kiran. He landed behind bars for his “crime.” Harish Yadav (39) was arrested under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its Religion or religious beliefs) for a cartoon...

-The Times of India   This is going to be a tough code of conduct. You can be imprisoned for impregnating your own wife. Worst, you could be branded as a `legally disqualified person'. This will be a reality if the Kerala Women's Code Bill 2011, submitted to the chief minister by a 12-member committee with Justice V R Krishna Iyer in the chair, is implemented in its letter and spirit. In a bid...

Despite a tortuous route marked by twists and turns, allegations and counter-allegations, amid public protests and fears of further violence in neighbouring Haryana, the Rohini sessions court which pronounced the judgment in the Mirchpur caste violence incident convicting 15 people and acquitting 82 others has set a record of sorts by completing the trial in just over nine months. On April 21, 2010, 70-year-old Tara Chand and his physically-challenged daughter, Suman,...

With the National Integration Council discussing the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill drafted by the National Advisory Council (NAC), the consensus against the legislation has been consolidated. Till then, the charge had been led primarily by the archetypal minority bashers, the constituents of the Sangh Parivar, who refused to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth about communal and targeted violence — that it is minorities and Dalits who bear the...