07-Jan-2021
The Supreme Court Wednesday issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh Government in a batch of a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the controversial ‘Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020’, also called the “Love Jihad” Ordinance which regulates marriage-related religious conversions. Notice has also been sent to the Uttarkhand Government for its similar…
07-Jan-2021
The apex court issued notice to state governments on petitions challenging the same The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments on petitions challenging the constitutionality of legislation they had passed or promulgated criminalising interfaith marriages if conducted for the ostensible purpose of religious conversion. The bench of Chief…
07-Jan-2021
The court’s decision came in response to a bunch of petitions which challenged the validity of the laws. The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the laws passed against unlawful religious conversions by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, however,…
07-Jan-2021
The Supreme Court Wednesday agreed to examine controversial new laws of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand regulating religious conversions due to inter-faith marriages. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde refused, however, to stay the controversial provisions of the laws and issued notices to both state governments on two different petitions. The pleas, filed by…
07-Jan-2021
The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde also issued a notice to the Centre on the petitions filed by advocate Vishal Thakre and Teesta Setalvad’s NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace. The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay laws enacted by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to punish marriages based…
26-Dec-2020
Here Mohammed Meer Hamza interviews Baniyabeen, a Van Gujjar who hails from Gauhri Range Kunou, Chaurd Pauri, Garhwal, and is currently camping at Gari Shyampur, near Rishikesh, Dehradun. They discuss the long-lasting impact that the Covid-19 pandemic on the community, and how despite facing discrimination, Van Gujjar’s hold no resentment. All they want is the safety of their…
17-Dec-2020
Tracing the history of anti-conversion laws from the 1960s to the enactments to ‘prevent love jihad’ legislation, Senior Advocate and Human Rights Defender Desai argues how these laws, seen historically, are a transformation from a hesitant Hindu right wing nationalism to a highly bellicose- no holds barred avatar evidenced at present; all in all, a litmus…
12-Dec-2020
In a major victory for the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board has extended the deadline for applying for various posts in different departments under the Prime Minister’s special package for Kashmiri Migrants and non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits. The previous deadline was December 21, 2020, but now it has been…
12-Dec-2020
अफ़ग़ानिस्तान में बामियान के बुद्ध को तालेबान की ओर से डाइनामाइट से उड़ा देने के ठीक दो साल पांच महीने पहले यानी 6 अक्टूबर 1998 को मैंने गुजरात के डीजीपी सी. पी. सिंह का इंटरव्यू लिया था. 2001 में काबुल से 130 किलोमीटर उत्तर-पश्चिम में स्थापित गांधार शैली में बनी बुद्ध की यह मूर्ति तालेबान…
12-Dec-2020
The suit filed for restoration of temples in the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi is the latest in a line of similar suits invoking land disputes at temple sites in Mathura as well as Varanasi. After the Babri mosque demolition, the central government passed a law to save and protect the religious character of all…
05-Dec-2020
The new Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020, that received the Governor’s assent late November, has already led to two people being booked under it. After Uttar Pradesh, States like Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Assam are planning to come up with similar ‘anti-Love Jihad’ laws to criminalise religious conversions by marriage. An…
04-Dec-2020
The Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) was forced to suspend its hunger strike on its 11th day, as the health condition of KPSS president Sanjay Tickoo, who has been spearheading the movement, was getting critical. Tickoo and two other KPSS activists had taken the extreme step of a fast-unto-death as previous demands to implement urgent…
30-Nov-2020
The hunger strike by members of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) in Jammu and Kashmir completed eight days on Sunday, November 29. KPSS is demanding urgent relief measures for over 800 non-migrant Kashmiri Pandit families that are still living in the Valley. In a statement released on the occasion, KSS said, “Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits…
27-Nov-2020
On Friday, November 27, the fast-unto-death by members of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) entered its sixth day. It is noteworthy that this is the second time in two months that non-migrant Kashmiri Pandit community members have been forced to go on strike in the Valley demanding that the Union Territory administration implement various…
25-Nov-2020
On Wednesday, the fast-unto-death started by members of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) entered its fourth day. KPSS president Sanjay Tickoo and youth activist Sandeep Koul have been fasting since Sunday. In a statement released on the occasion, KPSS said that they “feel cheated and back stabbed by the Administration of UT for not…