The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has decided to press criminal charges against Janata Party president and columnist Subramanian Swamy for an incendiary article he wrote against Muslims in the Daily News and Analysis . In the article, written against the backdrop of the July 13 Mumbai blasts, Dr. Swamy had asked for India to be declared a Hindu Rashtra and sought severe punitive measures against Muslims, including their disenfranchisement if...

-IANS   West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, unveilinging scholarships and sops for the state's Minorities, on Saturday accused the previousLeft government of sowing confusion by announcing a "hurried and erroneous" quota in government jobs for Muslims. Addressing a programme organised by the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation, Banerjee declared that loans totalling Rs.82 crore will be given this year to the Minorities, besides scholarships and stipends worth Rs.122 crore. "This...

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...

Accusing the government of interfering in the affairs of minority institutions, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Madhya Pradesh has challenged the implementation of the Right to Education Act in the state. A division bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Principle Secretary (school education), the Directorate of Public Instructions and the District Education Officer in Bhopal. Advocate Jamesh Anthony, who appeared for the Conference, argued...

A recent ILO report focusses on the discrimination in employment opportunities and remuneration and wants governments to act. IN recent years, one of the predominant concerns of international organisations, especially those that have a “rights” perspective, has been the impact of the global downturn on various vulnerable sections across the world. Notwithstanding the fact that many countries have signed and ratified conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and are...