Caught between the Sangh Parivar which has communalised an essentially secular concern for a uniform civil code and the orthodox Muslim leadership resistent to any change, the women's movement and other secular-democratic forces seem to have been gripped by - an intellectual paralysis. Unless these organisations de-communalise the demand and shift the focus of the debate to gender justice - not just Muslim, but all personal laws in India are loaded against women - the uniform civil code issue may prove to be a lethal weapon
While a sustained and rigorous campaign by anti-SIR activists across Karnataka has pushed the opposition Congress government to issue a fresh set of simplified guidelines for the issuance of Permanent Residency Certificates; the experience of West Bengal however shows that no amount of pro-activeness by any state government influences an ECI functioning under a non-transparent and non-accountable diktat
Across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir, families and communities came together during Muharram through processions, acts of service and remembrance. Whether by preparing Tazias, organising processions, distributing water or joining commemorations, these local traditions continue to reflect mutual respect and peaceful coexistence among people from different communities.
As Karnataka's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began on June 30, the State Cabinet called for greater transparency and safeguards against wrongful voter deletions. It sought an extension of the Enumeration Form submission deadline from one month to at least three months, along with the publication of a comprehensive manual detailing categories of "logical discrepancies", the software or algorithm used to identify them, and the standard operating procedures