The communal violence bill prepared by the National Advisory Council (NAC) seeks fundamentally to change how the government deals with violence against minorities. The bill focuses on religious and linguistic minorities as well the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but religious minorities are at its heart. The bill has some undeniable strengths, but it suffers from two analytically fatal flaws. First, it places excessive faith in the state machinery. Though...

Sonia Gandhi has told the Congress it is the party’s duty to ensure that all welfare schemes introduced by the government are “fully implemented” on the ground. In a letter published in the latest issue of party mouthpiece Congress Sandesh, Sonia wrote: “The UPA has worked hard to fulfil the strong mandate to govern it received from the people in 2009. Since then, the synergy between the government and the party...

‘Till they stop murdering cows, corruption will not end,’ said Dolath Prachapati of Deshram Memorial Gau Seva Trust at Rajghat on Wednesday. While India Against Corruption and other social groups of the kind were an integral part of the mela, calling for the removal of corruption, a host of other groups descended on Rajghat with views of their own. Though united in a common grouse — the eviction of Baba Ramdev...

Freedom is important, so is responsibility. In countries like India, the media have a responsibility to fight backward ideas such as casteism and communalism, and help the people fight poverty and other social evils. Freedom of the press and journalistic ethics is an important topic today in India — with the word ‘press' encompassing the electronic media also. There should be a serious discussion on the topic. That discussion should include...

Washington-based Freedom Institute has expressed concern over the decreasing freedom of expression on the Internet in India. The Institute, which put India in the company of states like China, Egypt and Iran which saw a deterioration of freedom of expression on the Internet since the 2009 report, highlighted the tightening of surveillance and prosecution of online posts. India’s freedom index declined from 34 in 2009 to 36 in 2011, reflecting the...