As per media reports, the conflict reportedly started as the procession was winding down and participants were returning to their homes. At this moment, a group allegedly attempted to hoist a saffron flag, a symbolic gesture that has often sparked controversy when displayed in sensitive areas. The situation was further inflamed by the shouting of “Jai Shree Ram” slogans, which led to a dispute between the two communities present.

FIR filed against Bajrang Dal: provoking religious sentiments

As tensions rose, a formal complaint was filed by members of the Muslim community, leading the Mumbai Police to file an FIR against 8 to 10 individuals associated with Bajrang Dal for allegedly inciting religious sentiments. According to the complaint, the procession and subsequent actions, including the flag hoisting and chanting of slogans, were seen as deliberate attempts to provoke the Muslim community. Police have launched an investigation, although no arrests have been made yet, as per a report in News 24.

However, Bajrang Dal has warned of protests in response to the police’s handling of the matter, claiming that the police have acted unfairly. This has further complicated an already sensitive situation in Malad, where religious and cultural identities have become points of friction.

Video evidence: reports of false allegations against Muslim boys

Adding to the controversy, a CCTV footage from the incident surfaced on social media, showing an exchange between two young men. In the video, a Muslim boy wearing a black t-shirt is seen trying to protect another boy, dressed in orange clothes, from a confrontation. However, some individuals present in the footage attempted to create an issue by falsely alleging that the Muslim boy was involved in violence. The police have charged him with attempted murder, despite the video clearly showing him acting defensively. This has raised questions about the accuracy of the charges and whether the police investigation is being influenced by external pressures.

The CCTV video can be seen here:

Background: The impact of recent tensions in Mumbai

The altercation in Malad follows a series of similar incidents that have stoked communal issues in Mumbai and its surrounding areas. Notably, the violence in Nagpur has been cited as a precursor to these events. Protests by right-wing organisations in Mumbai regarding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb led to widespread rumours. These rumours claimed that protestors had burned a sheet with verses from the Quran, a claim that has been widely disputed. However, these rumours led to violent clashes in Nagpur’s Mahal area, with stone-pelting incidents resulting in the injury of 33 people, including police officers, and the tragic death of one young man.

This context of heightened communal sensitivity has further complicated the situation in Malad, where the Malad East incident appears to be part of a broader pattern of religiously charged confrontations.

Earlier incident: alleged assault on Bajrang Dal activists by Police

In an earlier incident in Mumbai, six police officers were transferred from their positions after being accused of assaulting two Bajrang Dal activists. The activists had gone to the Vakola Police Station to file an FIR alleging that a member of a particular community had molested a minor girl in Santacruz East. However, the activists claimed that, instead of receiving assistance, they were forcefully taken to a police detection room, where they were brutally assaulted by police officers, Indian Express reported.

The allegations sparked protests by Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists, who demanded action against the accused officers. Following an internal inquiry, the police department transferred six officers, including an assistant inspector and four constables, to a side posting in the Naigaon local arms division as provisional punishment. A departmental inquiry has also been initiated against the officers involved.

The events in Malad, alongside previous clashes and ongoing religious tensions, underscore the delicate nature of communal relations in some areas of Mumbai. As the investigation unfolds, the possibility of further unrest looms, with both religious communities and authorities caught in a growing cycle of tension.

Related:

After Bajrang Dal, UP police take a close look at Durga Vahini’s ‘self-defence’ training camps

Bajrang Dal convenor arrested for arms training camp, spreading communal hatred in Ayodhya

India’s Heartfelt Eid: where flowers & faith bridge divides

The post Bajrang Dal members booked for hurting religious sentiments in Malad, accused of deliberate provocation appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Initially there were some indications of not just some changes for the better but even of the possibility of a few big breakthroughs. However by and large these hopes have been belied.

The ceasefire in Gaza in January, while certainly welcome, appeared too fragile vulnerable to raise high or durable hopes, and the enduring aggressiveness of Netanyahu-led Israel, this leader’s own close identity and comfort with highly aggressive policy as well as the continuing support for this from leading western countries has led to the Palestinians again being faced with almost the same extremely high risks as before.

In the case of Ukraine-Russia war, the hopes that arose earlier this year for peace were of great significance as these also involved the increasing possibilities of more friendly and peaceful relations emerging at a wider level between the USA and Russia, as the Ukraine war had started against the background of the USA and some of its important NATO allies using Ukraine as a proxy against Russia to weaken Russia. However, at the time of writing this, these peace prospects have weakened somewhat although some hopes still remain. Ending this war as early as possible, preferably on a note of durable peace and goodwill, must remain one of the highest priorities of our deeply troubled world.

The overall humanitarian crisis in the world, which was a deeply worrying one at the end of 2024, appears to be worsening with the situation being particularly grim in the Democratic Republic of Congo and some neighbouring areas, Myanmar, Sudan and its neighbourhood.

In several countries in several important contexts the situation is deteriorating. However it is important to emphasize that often the change is not from good to bad, but from bad to worse. In the USA, for instance, criticism of ongoing onslaught on public welfare and civil liberties reflects a worsening situation, but the situation had been highly unsatisfactory and deteriorating for years or decades earlier too. The arbitrary and unjust resort to tariffs should be condemned, but we should not forget that the international trading system and the WTO regime as well as several bilateral and free trade agreements had been unjust earlier too. Germany’s resort to increasing militarism is deeply worrying but some of the country’s earlier policies too had raised troubling questions. Britain’s stand on international issues has been reflecting a growing distance from real needs, and this has increased further. The President of France likes to speak of things grand and great without having roots in reality, a tendency that has increased further in recent times.

Unfortunately, there is little to suggest that the big changes that we have been seeing in recent times are in any way taking us closer to resolving the most serious and significant problems of our world. These changes reflect the narrow thinking of world leadership based on narrow agendas. These have no vision of resolving the most important and threatening problems while there is still time to do so. If anything, the world appears to be moving further away from the most important objective of resolving the most serious, life-threatening problems in time.

The overwhelming and most important reality of the word today is that the basic life-nurturing conditions of the world are threatened at two levels—firstly the accumulation of weapons of mass destruction and secondly, a dozen or so serious environmental problems that, on their own and together with each other, can be very threatening.

Resolving these life-threatening problems in time requires increased cooperation of all the world’s people and nations for according top priority to this and then working together to resolve these as early as possible within a framework of justice, peace and democracy. Unfortunately the world as it is structured and governed today appears to be more and more incapable of achieving this highest priority task of great urgency for saving this and future generations, our children and grandchildren. Hence today a great mobilization of the world’s people who are committed to justice, peace, safety and environment protection is needed more than at any other point of history to save life on earth while working within a framework of justice, peace and democracy.

(The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, A Day in 2071 and Earth without Borders)

The post 2025: While the world experiences cataclysmic changes, it remains far away from substantial solutions appeared first on SabrangIndia.

These sites remained covered, beneath cloth and tarpaulin, as if their existence had to be hidden.

These sites were mosques, scattered across various parts of Uttar Pradesh. The idea, Uttar Pradesh police officials confidently put forth, was that this way, Hindu processionists could celebrate Holi freely and “any law and order situation can be avoided”, cops told journalists. Chief minister Adityanath was less coy. Speaking on an ANI podcast, he likened Holi processions attempting to throw colours at mosques to Muharram processions casting a “shadow” over temples.

As a result, nearly 200 mosques were engulfed entirely with tarpaulin sheets, invisibilising them for the convenience of Hindu revellers.

For a while, we have seen how Hindu festivals have become playgrounds for Hindutva groups to stoke tensions and violence.

But what happened in Uttar Pradesh on Holi is a new piece of the Hindutva playbook that has slowly been emerging in various spots like Hyderabad, on Ram Navami – the idea that mosques and Muslim localities are, essentially, obstructions in the way of Hindus to celebrate their festivals or take out processions.

These obstructions, since they cannot be done away with entirely, can at least temporarily be erased, made non-existent and invisibilised using tarpaulin sheets.

That the state agrees and encourages the covering of mosques is worrisome for multiple reasons: by doing so, the state is unwittingly admitting to the dangerously high level of radicalisation in the populace, so high that the mere sight of a mosque can unbalance their mental faculties and cause them to attack it.

The state, in covering the mosques, is making another confession: that it is either unwilling (believably) to control such mobs or, worryingly for us, it is now longer possible to rein them in, even if the police want to. Which is why, it is easier to now appease them and hope that they aren’t annoyed or displeased with any Islamic sights, lest they are forced to riot.

History repeats….

Across different states, the processions are now a common form of communalism, a medium through which you can create small, local-level tensions and clashes between Hindus and Muslims.

Such localised communalism helps top political leaders escape accountability and also ensures that hate stays off the headlines, owing to its localised nature – most media outlets would describe these as “minor” clashes.

In 2023, a report titled ‘The Routes Of Wrath’, attempted to look at these seemingly localised clashes that occurred in 2022 and realised that they had occurred in 12 different states, on the occasions of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti: Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

Like Holi this year, both these occasions also fell in the holy month of Ramzan in 2022.

Historically, riots during festivals are not uncommon.

One of the earliest such instances recorded in history is in Salem in 1882, where a series of “bloody riots” were ignited with the passing of a Hindu procession before a mosque. Combined with this was an insistence by Hindu revellers in these processions to play music, right in front of mosques, as a way to assert their supremacy and provoke.

The signs of such a music-driven communalism were visible over a century ago, when in 1893, when Bal Gangadhar Tilak reconfigured the Ganpati festival to become a vehicle of mass mobilisation. Songs that came to be associated with the festival later, were tracks with incendiary words, like “What boon has Allah conferred upon you, that you have become Mussalmans today? Do not be friendly to a religion which is alien, do not give up your religion and be fallen”. Such rhetoric was helped in no small part by Tilak’s assertions, according to a paper by Julian Lynch, an ethnomusicologist, that “called upon Hindus to boycott the Muharram festival that year” and instead, celebrate Ganpati with fervour.

For decades, festivals remained the vehicle of mass Hindu mobilisation, commonly leading to violence and tensions.

In 1921, Mahatma Gandhi was forced to mention these riots in his Young India article, reminding Hindus that it “is not a matter of vital importance for him to play music while passing a mosque,” and asked both communities to respect each other’s concerns.

…but with a difference

Even if we are tempted to believe that these riotous processions are simply a continuation of our country’s communal past, there are now significant departures in the way these events are organised and unfold now.

To begin with, our New India’s leaders use these occasions to actively create divisions, unlike Gandhi’s approach of trying to mediate and unify.

Adityanath, for instance, criticised Muslims for even expecting that their mosques won’t be covered in colour.

“Do Muslims not wear colourful clothes? Muslims wear more colourful clothes than Hindus. Then why do you have a problem with colours? These are double-standards…this can’t be accepted,” Adityanath said. The host of the ANI podcast did not bat an eyelid and moved on to her next question straight away.

In addition, the nature of the organisations backing such processions has changed immensely.

In Jharkhand, where Ram Navami is possibly the biggest public festival and sees anywhere between tens to hundreds of thousands of Hindus walking through the streets and typically end their procession at a temple, old-timers and police officials had told me how the festival had changed.

From being organised by various smaller Hindu groups, known as Akharas or mandals, in the recent years, Hindutva outfits like the Bajrang Dal started taking the lead role either by inserting their men into these mandals or pushing them away entirely.

Often, these processions, then, insist of changing the routes of these traditional marches by trying to take them through Muslim-dominated areas or localities which have major Muslim mosques, like it was the case in Kasganj in 2018, when Hindutva outfits insisted on a ‘Tiranga Yatra’ through Muslim localities and proceeded, even though the local administration denied them permission. The result was a series of violent clashes and the death of a 22-year-old Hindutva activist Chandan Gupta.

Like in Kasganj as well as in the case of the Bhagalpur riots of 1970 which left 74 dead, groups would insist on stopping these processions before mosques or Muslim homes and deliver hate speeches and slogans. However, now, this role has been outsourced to Hindutva pop (H-pop) music.

This music, with its incendiary lyrics, can often be worse than the most rabid of hate speeches—they contain overt calls for violence, threats against Muslims, calling them “Babur Ke Pillo”, containing claims of temples beneath mosques, declarations of India as an impending Hindu Rashtra.

Not too far from where I live, in Mumbai’s Malvani locality, this played out like a template:

On March 30, 2023, in Mumbai’s Malvani locality, a Ram Navami procession stopped before the Hazrat Ali Masjid. A song blared from loudspeakers:

“Main Hindu jagaane aaya hoon (I have come to awaken Hindus).”

The song had a call to arms: Hindus were ready to pick up swords to defend the motherland, it said.

Thousands of men joined in, chanting Jai Shri Ram at the Muslims watching from nearby buildings. One Muslim, provoked, hurled footwear at the procession. The response was swift – Hindus retaliated with stones and sticks. The police barely prevented a full-scale riot.

That night, the Malvani police filed an FIR. Only Muslims were named. The provocation – the music, the slogans – was not an offence. The reaction was.

This has become yet another hallmark of police action in today’s India: the provocation is never an offence, but those acting on that provocation are perpetually the offenders. Hindutva vigilantes have carefully cultivated this situation: some of them tell me how they have given instructions to their workers and members in such processions to keep their phone cameras rolling constantly, in search of “evidence” that Muslims disrupted the event.

Any time a Muslim falls for the provocation, like in Malvani, these carefully-edited videos are instantly released online to sway public opinion about fixing responsibility for these incidents, never mind the unrecorded provocations. The provocative songs, slogans and speeches, which vigilantes are otherwise very proud of, seldom makes it to these videos.

The procession has now acquired a distinct digital after-life, thanks to these videos. These processions live on, through these internet videos and, as a result, in public memory as “examples” of when Muslims attacked peaceful Hindu processions. These examples become the fodder for hate speeches that “warn” Hindus of such Muslims and threaten Muslims with dire consequences, like Maharashtra BJP minister Nitesh Rane has been trotting around and doing in the state, little concern for the 20 hate speech FIRs that he faces and the constitutional post he occupies as a minister.

Historically, such clashes and riots would result in high-level inquiry commissions being appointed in order to investigate the incident, fix accountability if the police action was biased or lacking, and derive learnings so that the incident isn’t repeated.

These commissions, from the Raghubar Dayal commission that looked into the 1967 Solapur riots, to the DP Dadon commission of inquiry that investigated the Bhiwandi, Jalgaon and Mahad riots of 1970, to a three-member commission investigating the Bhagalpur 1989 riots, all saw retired or serving Supreme Court or High Court justices seeking to ensure that the State was not seen as being inherently biased or partisan in imparting justice.

In today’s India, the state itself orchestrates these events. It permits provocation, ensures skewed police action, and follows up with bulldozers – demolishing Muslim homes after every riot, ignoring Supreme Court orders against such demolitions.

In this New India, what Uttar Pradesh does today, the remaining BJP-ruled states follow tomorrow. We should brace for more tarpaulin sheets.

Kunal Purohit is a journalist, documentary filmmaker, podcaster and the author of H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Popstars.

Courtesy: The Wire

The post In UP’s Mosque Coverings, a New Chapter From The Hindutva Playbook Unfolds appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Before The Times of India (TOI) broke the story, a series of crucial developments had already unfolded. By March 15, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court (CJ, Delhi HC) Justice D.K. Upadhyaya already had instructions from (CJI) Justice Sanjiv Khanna on what other details they needed. The following is established on the basis of Justice Upadhyaya’s report:

On March 16, Justice Upadhyaya met the CJI and reported the happenings reported to him. On March 17, Justice Upadhyaya met Justice Yashwant Varma and showed him the photos and videos of the purported cash, at which point Justice Varma expressed concerns that he was being targeted in a conspiracy.

On the morning of March 20, Justice Upadhyaya sent the images and videos to Justice Khanna. That same evening, Justice Upadhyaya was notified about the proposal to repatriate Justice Varma back to the Allahabad High Court, his parent High Court. Justice Upadhyaya endorsed the proposal, stating that it was in the interests of justice. It was only after these internal developments that the TOI publicly reported the story.

The Supreme Court on March 22 announced a three-member Committee comprising of judges from various High Courts that would conduct an inquiry into this incident. On March 24, the Collegium’s resolution to repatriate Justice Varma to Allahabad High Court was published.

This article is not to address judicial corruption, a well-documented issue with established theories on solutions(see here, here and here)—awaiting only implementation. Instead, it highlights how the outrage over the Justice Yashwant Varma fiasco is part of an ongoing erosion of judicial credibility, a concern rooted in legitimate issues. From appointing openly communal individuals as judges to failing to act against sitting judges who make communal remarks, the judiciary’s credibility and public trust have been in steady decline. Yet, the higher judiciary appears to be missing opportunities to restore it.

This article argues that the collegium’s resolutions must be more transparent and informative and striving for this transparency would be a crucial first step in rebuilding trust in the higher judiciary.

The issue: Context

The Collegium is one of the most powerful bodies in India today. Despite having no constitutional mention or statutory status, its power is such that it decides who gets to be a judge in India’s High Courts and the Supreme Court. The Collegium is not answerable to the executive or the legislature— a feature that it draws from one of the core principles of the Indian Constitution—independence of the judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the country and four of the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court—a system in place since 1998.

The NJAC challenge and calls for transparency

In 2014, the NDA government enacted the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 to replace the collegium system. A 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Supreme Court Advocates-On-Record Association & Anr. vs. Union of India ([2015] 13 SCR 1) declared the NJAC as unconstitutional with one judge—Justice Chelameswar dissenting.  Both the majority and dissenting opinions expressed the need for greater transparency in the process of judicial appointments.

After the judgement, and once he became a senior judge qualified to be in the collegium, it was reported that Justice Chelameswar refused to attend the collegium meetings since it was an opaque process. In 2017, to resolve the deadlock, the Collegium started to make public its resolutions during the tenure of CJI (as he was then) Dipak Misra.

While that process enabled the resolutions to be published, in December 2022, in the case of Anjali Bhardwaj v. CPIO, Supreme Court of India, (RTI Cell), (2022 SCC OnLine SC 1698), the Supreme Court held that held that unless any Collegium discussion culminates into a final decision, the discussion shall not be disclosed to public.

A study in 2022 stated that the collegium systematically failed to disclose critical information essential to an enhanced understanding of its functioning. The study stated that an overwhelming majority of its decisions are not reasoned and that the resolutions fail to provide a meaningful understanding of the considerations, based on which candidates are selected or rejected.

Except for a brief, considerable change during CJI (as he was then) DY Chandrachud’s tenure, the study’s findings hold true.

Collegium communications: A formality within a formality

Currently, the Supreme Court of India publishes Collegium resolutions on its website, offering a glimpse into its decision-making process, including, transfers and appointments of judges to higher judiciary. However, these resolutions often feel like a mere formality—followed more out of precedent than a genuine commitment to transparency. Why?

On March 24, the Supreme Court collegium’s statement was released on the repatriation of Justice Yashwant Varma to Allahabad High Court. It reads as follows:

“The Supreme Court Collegium in its meetings held on March 20 and 24, 2025 has recommended repatriation of Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge, High Court of Delhi, to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.”

If we did not have the Times of India story and had this resolution come out without the nation ever having the knowledge of the alleged cash, the public would have not known what had happened.

More broadly, when judges are transferred, the reasons are often unclear. Whether it is due to seniority, the interests of justice, or a particular skill being required elsewhere, there is little transparency in the decision-making process.

For instance, let us take the example of Justice Arindam Sinha on whose transfer the resolution was notified on the same day Justice Yashwant Varma’s transfer was notified, with similar resolution.

In May 2021, while serving as a judge at the Calcutta High Court, Justice Arindam Sinha strongly objected to the division bench led by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal treating a transfer petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Narada scam case as a writ petition. He had also opposed the bench’s decision to stay the bail granted to four Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders and its move to constitute a larger bench due to divergent opinions between the two judges. Later in September 2021 he was transferred to the Orissa High Court, and now he has been transferred again. We do not know why, in both cases.

Judicial transfers are a natural process, but what prompted this judge’s transfer to that particular court remains unknown. Justice Arindam Sinha’s transfers could well be routine, day-to-day adjustments, but the point to note here is that in the absence of official reasoning, the public is left to speculate.

If someone wants to rule out a few possibilities, they will likely have to track Justice Sinha’s seniority and see whether his transfer aligns with the seniority list. However, the Supreme Court is not bound to follow strict seniority in judicial transfers, and decisions can be made based on other considerations such as administrative requirements, institutional interests, or other factors.

A choice exercised at will

This nonchalant formality is not the case with all collegium resolutions. Some are more detailed; some are just a press note.

For example, in the resolution dated March 6, 2025 to appoint Justice Joymalya Bagchi as the judge of the Supreme Court, the SC has put out a two-page resolution. The resolution talks about the factors that have been taken into consideration, while appointing Justice Bagchi who stands at No.11 in the All-India Seniority list of judges, like the fact that Calcutta is represented by only one judge in the SC.

Has it always been like this?

Yes, but also no. During Chief Justice of India (as he was then) Justice DY Chandrachud’s tenure as CJI [9 November 2022 to 10 November 2024], the collegium resolutions were way more detailed.

For example, take the last collegium resolution during the tenure of Justice Chandrachud as CJI—a resolution regarding appointment of advocates as judges of the Bombay High Court. The resolution had details on consultation with judges over the candidacy, government inputs, professional experience and credentials, experience of those who were appointed. This was not some ideal-comprehensive format but was surely a different way than it had been done before.

However, as soon as Justice Chandrachud retired, the collegium resolutions more or less went back to being as they were, simple communiques of a very powerful body that, to this day answers effectively to no one. We do not know why. No one asked and no one cared to clarify.

Why is it necessary that collegium process is more transparently communicated?

Judicial independence stands as a fundamental pillar of any robust democracy, safeguarding the rule of law and ensuring that justice is administered impartially. Given the collegium system’s origin, the procedures and accountability mechanisms of the Collegium are not as firmly established as those of bodies with a clear constitutional or legislative basis, making it inherently susceptible to questions regarding legitimacy and openness.

The lack of transparency was one of the primary reasons for which Justice Chelameswar authored his powerful dissent in the NJAC case. Due to the Justice Varma incident, there is a renewed push by the ruling establishment for judicial reforms and a relook at the NJAC (See here and here).

The release of more detailed Collegium resolutions holds significant potential to address the criticisms levelled against the system’s opacity. Including the specific reasons for recommending a particular candidate, such as their demonstrated expertise in a specific area of law, notable judgments they have delivered, or their contributions to legal scholarship, would provide a much clearer understanding of the basis upon which the Collegium makes its selections. Explicitly stating the criteria that the Collegium considered for each appointment, going beyond generic terms like “merit and integrity,” would also enhance transparency and allow for public evaluation of whether these criteria are applied consistently across different appointments. While a verbatim transcript of the Collegium’s deliberations might indeed compromise the confidentiality necessary for frank discussions, providing a summary of the key perspectives considered and the rationale behind the final decision could offer valuable insights into the decision-making process. Furthermore, explaining the reasons for not recommending certain candidates (without necessarily disclosing their names if privacy is a concern) could help address concerns about fairness and potential biases within the selection process. In the context of judicial transfers, providing specific reasons beyond the vague “better administration of justice” would help dispel speculation and potential accusations of transfers being punitive in nature.

By moving beyond simply announcing decisions to providing clear explanations for the rationale behind them, more detailed resolutions would foster greater public understanding and potentially increase trust in the judicial appointment process. The fact that collegium resolutions were often detailed during Justice Chandrachud’s tenure suggests that the Collegium possesses the capacity to provide more comprehensive information and might be amenable to revisiting this approach. However, it should not come from a CJI’s prerogative since it can be discontinued by the next one. It must come from a set of rules which the Court as a whole writes for itself and follows.

For example, some have commended the CJI’s decision to put in public some material (albeit redacted to an extent) related to Justice Yashwant Varma’s case. However, the important point here would be to remember that instances of corruption have continued to persist and will do so, in the future. In that case, while commending the act of being transparent, the Supreme Court should also be called upon to arrive at a set procedure in these kinds of cases and make it transparent, if and when they arise in future.

Transparency inherently acts as a form of accountability, incentivising the Collegium to be more meticulous and reasoned in its decision-making process, knowing that their rationale will be made public and subject to scrutiny. Given that the judiciary often emphasises the importance of transparency for other institutions, a perceived lack of it within their own appointment process can be viewed as inconsistent, potentially undermining their moral authority in advocating for openness elsewhere. Public perception of fairness and integrity is paramount for the judiciary’s effectiveness.

Writing better collegium resolutions will not solve the issues with Collegium. They can only be solved by establishing an independent and transparent appointing body which is answerable to the people. While that might take time, this is within the powers of the Collegium and it should not let go off an opportunity to show that it too, can reform itself.

Why should they change now?

Simply put, the changes have to be made to make an effort at rebuilding the eroding public trust in the judiciary. Yes, people are scared of courts. No one wants a contempt order targeting them. However, is fear the tool with which the higher judiciary can sustain its stature in the Indian political scheme? Is it sustainable? It is not.

Sooner or later (now that it is already too late, therefore soon), someone—like George Carlin once did—will stand up and say, “They’ve got the judges in their back pockets,” referring to how the closed door appointment systems and judicial corruption serve the rich and powerful. And when that happens, it would be too late to initiate a contempt proceeding against whoever says it.

Conclusion

While more detailed Collegium resolutions represent a significant step forward, relying solely on them might not be sufficient to achieve full transparency within the system. Even with increased detail, resolutions may not fully capture the nuances of the discussions and considerations within the Collegium or any informal consultations that might occur. The interpretation of broad criteria such as “merit” and “integrity” can still remain somewhat subjective, even if elaborated upon in the resolutions. The possibility of the Collegium tailoring the reasons provided in the resolutions to rationalize decisions already made cannot be entirely discounted. Furthermore, resolutions primarily focus on the final recommendations and might not provide insights into the initial stages of identifying potential candidates or the role played by High Court Collegiums in the overall process.

To further enhance accountability and openness, several other measures could be considered. Establishing clearer and more objective criteria for evaluating candidates, and making these criteria publicly available, would be a crucial step.

The judiciary has long defended itself from the executive wanting to control it. People of India supported the judiciary after they saw how it supported them from its decisions on Right to Education to its exceptional integrity in handling high profile matters involving influential politicians. It is this support that has given the higher judiciary its glorious decades. If the institution ignores the clear warning signs and resists reform, it risks losing its independence to an encroaching executive.

(The author is part of the legal research team of the organisation)

Related:

A Judiciary Made to Measure

Move towards Judicial transparency, Orissa HC evaluates own performance, lists challenges

The post Potential of reasoned Collegium resolutions as a starting point for transparency in the Indian higher judiciary appeared first on SabrangIndia.

1. The Constitution of Pakistan forbids its citizens from taking part in the religious occasions of others.

2.19 per cent of children, mainly girls, remain out of schools.

3. Single National Curriculum promotes intolerance and religious extremism.

4. Clerics are authorised to censor educational content.

5. Recitation of the Quran was mandated during school assembly.

Dr. Willy Fautré, Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), a non-governmental organisation in special status with ECOSOC, criticised the national education policy of Pakistan and pointed out its flaws, which resulted in intolerance, religious extremism and creating an atmosphere of hatred against other religions.

In a written statement submitted to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, and read out at a side event, the organisation also pointed out the provisions of the Pakistan’s Constitution and its much-disputed Single National Curriculum launched in 2021 responsible for religious intolerance and religious extremism as government schools are not secular and inclusive. The side event was held on 26 March, room 25 Palaise the Nations. Titled Human Rights in Pakistan:  Education under siege, ideology, intolerance, and the erosion of Human Rights in Pakistan, its organisers were major NGOs like CAP and HRWF.

The statement by The Coordination des Association et des Particuliers pour la Liberte de Conscience, says:

“Constitution of Pakistan states in Article 22 that ‘No person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive instruction, or take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship, if such instruction, ceremony, or worship relates to a religion other than its own.’

Therefore, Article 22 of the Constitution of Pakistan promotes non-respect of religions among the students. Human rights organisations have criticised this policy.

Citing the statistics of the Pakistan Institution of Education, the organisation said that 73 per cent of educational institutions in Pakistan are government schools, while 14 per cent are religious schools or madrasas. Such a large number of madrasas presenting an exclusivist interpretation of Islam and non-respect for other religions have contributed to an atmosphere of religious extremism and intolerance in the country.

The organisation also points out the flaws in the SNC launched by the Pakistan government. It says:

“In August 2021, the Pakistan government launched the much-disputed Single National Curriculum (SNC) for government schools, claiming that this initiative would reduce educational disparities. However, the human rights defenders criticised the SNC for its lack of inclusivity and its over-emphasis on Islamic religious content at the expense of religious minorities. In fact, school curricula and textbooks promote intolerance towards minorities and depict women in a way that is non-inclusive and is not compatible with international human rights standards.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed deep concerns about the government perpetuating a singular view of religion in educational institutions through SN, depriving young students of the right to a secular education.”

The Coordination des Association et des Particuliers pour la Liberte se Conscience feels that the SNC is an attempt to Islamise the entire Pakistani society, putting the religious minorities in jeopardy. It says:

“The SNC has also been criticised as an Islamisation program under which all facets of Pakistan’s core educational curriculum were infused with religious content, aligning with the ideological bent of the existing Sunni Muslim orthodoxy. (Source: Wasim Hameed, “Minorities in Single National Curriculum”. 4, The Nation, 9 July 2021.)

According to a 73-page Report of the Salluv ECPM Foundation 5, “Pakistan, Education System, Curriculum and EU Funding” financed by the European Parliament and published in 2024, “a study by The Current revealed that Muslim religious ideas or texts were present in 7.7 per cent of the SNC’s mathematics, social studies, science, general knowledge, English, and Urdu books. Additionally, 7.47 per cent of books have references to Islam, while 0.27 per cent mention other religions in all non-religious books.”

The organisation also pointed out an act of the Punjab Assembly passed in 2022, which authorised the clerics to censor educational content and its resolution mandating the recitation of the Quran during the school assembly. Such acts and resolutions were not compatible with international human rights standards.

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution VS Creationism

One major drawback of Pakistan’s education system is that it is influenced by conservative clerics who lack a scientific spirit and therefore oppose scientific theories and ideas. For example, clerics have opposed the teaching of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in Pakistan because they think that the theory is against Islamic law. In October 2023, clerics of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forced a college professor named Sher Ali to publicly renounce teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

Earlier in May 2022, his car was attacked with a magnetic bomb, leaving him in his wheelchair for months. The professor was also made to make the statement that “According to Shariah, the woman’s intelligence is inferior to that of a man. I consider this the final word on this issue and believe that women should be covered from head to toe while venturing out. Women can only go out if it is needed or necessary”.

The organisation, therefore, feels that the education system of Pakistan not only promotes hatred against minorities but also is a hindrance in the development of scientific temperament among the students.

Controversial and Inequitable Image and Girls in the Curriculum of Public Schools

The organisation also found that the SNC textbooks are full of content that presents women as inferior to men as approximately 60 per cent of SNC books included images of males, whereas females accounted for only 39 per cent.

Moreover, portrayal of female characters is one-dimensional in terms of their appearances, character traits and hobbies. They are mostly portrayed as wearing hijab or headscarf, while most men are depicted wearing western attire, with only 20 percent wearing traditional Islamic clothing. With regard to occupations, male textbook characters are often portrayed as doctors, lawyers and soldiers, while female textbook characters are mostly portrayed as domestic help, housewives or caregivers.

The European Union Funding in the Dock: Misuse of Taxpayers ‘ money of the 27 EU member states

The NGO further says that the EU funds for Pakistan’s education projects have been misused. According to the 2024 Report of Sallux/ ECPM “Pakistan, Education System, Curriculum and EU Funding”, the EU directly invested 94 million euros in education projects in Pakistan between 2016-2024.

The report contains over 40 pages of excerpts and pictures from textbooks showing that the views expressed in the official curriculum in Pakistan are not compatible with EU values as expressed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Such an amount of concrete evidence cannot be ignored.

The NGO, therefore, draws the conclusion that beyond the incompatibility of the SNC and the UN standards, the pressure of many extremist clerics and fanaticized crowds can easily kill any reform attempt as long as perpetrators of intellectual terrorism, violence and hate crimes remain unpunished and can continue terrorising 2.1 million teachers in Pakistan.

In view of the present scenario of education and its consequent fallout on the human rights situation in the country, the Co-ordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour le Liberte de Conscience has made the following recommendations to the United Nations:

1. The United Nations should urge the authorities of Pakistan to make the SNC compatible with the UN international human rights standards.

2. The UN should effectively protect its 2.1 million teachers against threats and aggression perpetrated by Islamic extremists and prosecute the latter ones.

Article was first published on newageislam.com

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The Supreme Court was hearing Prataphgarhi’s petition challenging an FIR filed by the Gujarat police over his Instagram post featuring a video clip with the poem “Ae khoon ke pyase baat suno”. The poem in question, titled “Ae khoon ke pyase baat suno” (Listen, oh bloodthirsty ones), was featured in the background of a mass marriage video and was posted by Pratapgarhi on the social media platform X. Pratapgarhi created the post after attending the mass marriage in Jamnagar. Allowing Pratapgarhi’s appeal against the high court order, the Supreme Court, however, took a firm stance against the high court’s reasoning.

“Literate and arts make life more meaningful; freedom of expression is necessary for a dignified life. Free expression of thoughts and views by individuals or groups of individuals is an integral part of a healthy civilized society. Without freedom of expression of thoughts and views, it is impossible to lead a dignified life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. In a healthy democracy, the views of thoughts expressed by an individual or group of individuals must be countered by expressing another point of view.

“Even if a large number of persons dislike the views expressed by another, the right of person to express the views must be respected and protected. Literature including poetry, dramas, films, satire, and art make the life of human beings more meaningful.”

The court also reportedly criticised the Gujarat high court for not quashing the FIR against Pratapgarhi. On January 17, 2025, the Gujarat high court had refused to quash the FIR saying that the poem had references to “the throne” and that responses to the post suggested a potential disturbance in social harmony, the report said.

The court said, that the MP should have known the repercussions of such a post and should have refrained from promoting public disharmony. It observed that further investigation was necessary Pratapgarhi then challenged the high court’s decision before the Supreme Court, which provided interim relief to him on January 25.

“The Courts are duty bound to uphold and enforce the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India. Sometimes we the judges may not like the spoken or written words, but still, it is our duty to uphold the fundamental rights under Article 19(1). We judges are also under an obligation to uphold the Constitution and the respective ideals. It is the duty of the court to step in and to protect the fundamental rights. Particularly, the Constitutional courts must be at the forefront to zealously protect the fundamental rights of the citizens. It is the bounden duty of the court to ensure that the Constitution and ideals of the Constitution are not trampled upon.

The endeavour of the Court should be to always protect and promote the fundamental rights including the freedom of speech and expression which is the most important right citizens can have in all liberal constitutional democracy,” the court said.

About the police officers’ haste in filing an FIR, the court said, “The police officer must abide by the Constitution and respect the ideals. The philosophy of the constitutional ideals can be found in the Constitution itself. In the preamble, it is laid down that the people of India solemnly decided to constitute India into a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic and to secure for all its citizens liberty of thought and expression. Therefore, liberty of thought and expression is one of the ideals of our constitution. The police officers being citizens are bound to abide by the constitution and they are bound to uphold the right.”

The FIR against the Congress MP was filed under Sections 196, 197, 299, 302, and 57 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Section 196 pertains to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony.

For the offence under Section 196 of the BNS, the court said, “The effect of spoken or written words cannot be judged on the basis of standards of the people who always have the sense of insecurity or those who always perceive criticism as a threat to their power or position.

Gujarat high court had refused to quash FIR

Justice Sandeep Mehta of the Gujarat HC had refused to quash the FIR. The Supreme Court on Friday quashed the first information report (FIR) against Congress Rajya Sabha parliamentarian Imran Pratapgarhi, underlining the significance of free speech and reproaching the Gujarat police authorities for seeking to criminally prosecute a person for ostensibly delivering a message of peace through a poem that Pratapgarhi posted on social media. “No offence was attracted at all,” held a bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, while reading out the operative part of the judgment.

The bench emphasised that the free expression of thoughts and views by individuals or groups is an integral part of a healthy, civilized society.

“Without freedom of expression of thoughts and views, it is impossible to lead a dignified life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. In a healthy democracy, the views of thoughts expressed by an individual or group must be countered by expressing another point of view,” the court observed.

This case against Pratapgarhi stems from the FIR filed in a Jamnagar police station on January 3, invoking various provisions under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) relating to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, and doing acts prejudicial to harmony.

In its judgment, the Supreme Court reinforced that “even if a large number of persons dislike the views expressed by another, the right of the person to express the views must be respected and protected. Literature, including poetry, dramas, films, satire, and art, makes human life more meaningful.”

“The courts are duty-bound to uphold and enforce the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India. Sometimes we, the judges, may not like spoken or written words, but still, it is our duty to uphold the fundamental rights under Article 19(1). We judges are also under an obligation to uphold the Constitution and its respective ideals,” the bench noted.

The judgment further stressed that it is the duty of the courts, particularly constitutional courts, to zealously protect fundamental rights.

“It is the bounden duty of the court to ensure that the Constitution and ideals of the Constitution are not trampled upon. Constitutional courts must be at the forefront to protect the fundamental rights of individuals, including free speech, which is one of the most cherished fundamental rights for a healthy and vibrant democracy”, it read.

The court observed that the “endeavour of the judiciary should always be to protect and promote fundamental rights, including the freedom of speech and expression, which is the most important right citizens can have in any liberal constitutional democracy.”

The ruling also delivered a stern message to law enforcement, asserting that “police officers must abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals. The philosophy of constitutional ideals can be found in the Constitution itself.”

The entire judgement may be read here:

Related:

Censorship vs. free speech: The Allahbadia controversy

Targeting Press Freedom: The unexplained censorship of Vikatan and the erosion of free speech

‘Free speech under threat’: again, Jamia student moves court against ‘highhanded’ suspension

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The common tone suggested that there is a desperate need to restore, improve, and expand the BEST bus service now seriously threatened by government neglect. The BEST bus service is a low hanging fruit, it requires little investment, it should be supported, it carries millions of people said Rahul Kadri.

The topic was Who is the City for. Very relevant and seldom is this crucial question raised, addressed. The obvious answer is the government needs to give top priority to common people but that is exactly what the authorities are not doing.

The very first question raised by a student after the panel discussion, was from Nikhil Padhan, a fourth year student, pointed to the car centric urban planning which needs to change the general tone I have been hearing at several such meetings is that people are really frustrated by the authorities’ pro-builder, anti-people policies.

All these voices yesterday were independent, genuine. A general complaint I heard was ‘we do not even have proper space to walk’ and cross the road and here we are bombarded by talk of fancy projects which have at best limited use for the common man.

The coastal road, as Rahul Kadri pointed out, serves only a few thousand motorists even as basic problems of millions remain ‘unattended.’ And the programme ended with a vigorous rendering of Maharashtra Geet in Marathi Garja Maharashtra Majha.

The gathering was not politically motivated at all. It began on a very traditional note with Saraswati Wandan. The invocation to the goddess of learning, Ya Kundendu Tushaar, stressing the importance of knowledge and the need to remove ignorance.

Since the programme was organised by the Constitutional Law Society of the college and public transport figured prominently in the discussion, I must mention that justice Hemant Gokhale, travelled by a local train to Vasai recently to felicitate social worker Manvel Tascano on his completing 75 years. Mr Gokhale had appeared as a lawyer years earlier for Tascano in cases pertaining to the green Vasai campaign and other issues.

It is best to make optimum use of public transport if we take it at least during off peak hours, when there is little rush.

(The author is a Mumbaikar and formerly senior journalist in The Times of India; this piece of writing is from the author’s Meta FB post)

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• At the age of 26 a youth from the poorest landless community took it upon himself to do the impossible task of breaking a huge mountain to the extent of carving out a life-saving path that thousands of villagers needed urgently.
• He toiled tirelessly for 22 years, yes 22 (1960-82), no less, and finally succeeded in his objective.
• Acclaim followed, but instead of just basking in glory he undertook an 800 km journey on foot to Delhi to mobilise efforts for resolving various problems of his village ad nearby areas.

This brief summary of the work of Dashrath Manjhi, also called the Mountain Man, may give an indication of his deep determination and social commitment which won admiration at the highest levels in India, but by itself this does not do full justice to the nobility of his ideas and life, as this writer discovered during a recent visit to his village and work-area in Gaya district of Bihar.

I located elderly persons who had known him and seen him at work, and the picture that emerged from these discussions is that he was a follower of Sant Kabir, the bhakti movement’s famous poet-saint of medieval times, who has remained one of the strongest and most revered voices since then of spirituality based on justice, truth, non-violence, being helpful to others and leading a simple and pious life free from all hypocrisy and falsehoods. Sant Kabir remained true to his principles, convictions and truth in the middle of many difficulties, attacks and threats. His poetry and teachings inspire his followers to continue their noble work even in the middle of other people discouraging or even ridiculing them, and to maintain the steadfastness and continuity of their work and mission in the middle of all the ups and downs.

All this this can be seen in the life and work of Dashrath Manjhi. Born in 1934, he lived in Gehlaur village of Mohra block. As Satyanarain, who had known Dashrath well, told me–Dashrath was very polite to others but at times when needed he could tell some bitter truths of life without being rude. People from the manjhi community to when I spoke, said that whenever they went to mountains they found him at work just carrying some sattu in his jhola (bag), a legume based powder which could give some energy and coolness when taken mixed with water, something he would have really needed while working in the mountains here which can become very hot in the summer.

In 1960 Dashrath had gone to work on the mountain and his wife Phalguni Devi injured herself badly while carrying food and water for him. Looking at her injuries, he took a pledge to create a path in the mountain that may become a life-saver for many people. This would give a safe path to everyone going to the other side, and in addition would bring much closer the health, educational and other facilities of the nearest town to the people on this side of the mountain (the distance could come down from about 55 km to just about 15 km or so).

Contrary to some publicised accounts, several villagers told me that Phalguni Devi did not die from these injuries but instead continued to be very helpful to her husband and the pledge he had taken. She died some years later.

Using the simplest tools like hammer and chisel, Dashrath embarked on his great journey that was to be completed in 22 years. Initially people ridiculed him and some even called him ‘mad’ to take up such a huge task and to work so devotedly for this. Undaunted, Dashrath continued this work on regular, daily basis.

Here we must not forget that he came from the poorest community, called mahadalit in Bihar, and had to also earn his livelihood to support his four member family (which included a son and a daughter).

Initially most villagers had ridiculed or neglected Dashrath, but once his work of a few years started showing some signs of leading to success, some villagers also started lending a helping hand now and then.

Finally in 1982 Dashrath succeeded in creating a path which was wide enough for a bullock-cart to pass. Later the government helped to widen this and build a proper road.

Dashrath now decided to go and meet big government officials in Delhi to take up several development works much needed by his village and neighbouring communities. Education and health were emphasized by him.

However as he could not buy a rail ticket he was asked to get down from the train after covering a short distance. He now decided to walk to Delhi along the railway track, hoping that this would perhaps draw even more attention to his objectives of promoting development work in his village and neighbouring villages.

An elderly farmer of a neighbouring village told me that Dashrath had managed to meet the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi and had shared with him a press clipping of this.

Later Dashrath also went to meet the Chief Minister of Bihar Mr. Nitish Kumar who gave him a lot of respect.

However at the time of his increasing fame, Dashrath retained his simplicity. A local teacher Virendra Paswan told me that when he was in a train word spread that Dashrath Manjhi is in the same coach and there was a rush of people just to catch a glimpse of Dashrath. However, Paswan said, even at that time Dashrath was wearing dress made from a jute sack, as he often did earlier too.

In 2007 Dashrath was admitted to AIIMS hospital in Delhi where he breathed his last on August 17. A memorial as well as gates were constructed in his village in his honour.

At the same time, however, the people of the Manjhi community and other landless and poorest Dalit community members continue to live in this village in great poverty and several of them told me that even their housing situation is precarious. The government   needs to do much more to help them with a sense of urgency.

Meanwhile the SBI Foundation has taken up an admirable initiative called SAMMAAN with implementation assistance of Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra to honour the memory of Dashrath Manjhi in the form of many-sided efforts in his village to improve education, health, infrastructure and livelihoods that have been widely appreciated here.

The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, Man over Machine and A Day in 2071.       

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The UGC submitted the new draft to the Supreme Court last month in a six-year-old petition filed by Radhika Vemula and Abeda Tadvi. In the petition, the two mothers, after losing their children, sought accountability and the establishment of adequate mechanisms by the UGC to address caste-based discrimination in university spaces.

The UGC, unprompted by the court or the petitioners, has submitted the Equity Regulations Draft, which undoes some of the crucial clauses from the 2012 regulations. The petitioners had moved the court to highlight the ineffectiveness and lack of government will to put its act together. Instead of addressing these issues, the UGC has further diluted the existing regulations.

‘New regulations will make redressal more difficult’

Vemula and Tadvi argue that the newly submitted draft regulations will make redressal more difficult, as the UGC has decided to group all forms of discrimination – including those based on gender, disabilities, religion and caste – under a single umbrella. In contrast, the 2012 Equity Regulations primarily focused on caste-based discrimination. Existing mechanisms already address other forms of discrimination, and expanding the scope of the Equity Regulations will only lead to more chaos in the dispensation of justice, the petitioners assert.

The petitioners, represented by lawyers Indira Jaisingh and Disha Wadekar, have pointed out the lack of adequate mechanisms to address the growing number of discrimination cases and suicides on campuses. They argue that the UGC’s proposal to dilute the existing regulations on caste discrimination and introduce other forms of discrimination will not only hamper the redressal of caste-based discrimination but also “risk undermining the effectiveness of current regulations related to gender and persons with disabilities (PwDs).”

In addition to filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court in response to the UGC’s draft regulations, the petitioners have submitted detailed suggestions to the UGC, comparing the 2012 regulations with the proposed ones. They have identified gaps and provided effective suggestions to the higher education governing statutory body.

One crucial suggestion is the need for a clear definition of what constitutes caste-based discrimination in higher education. Wadekar notes that the draft regulation fails to specify what constitutes caste-based discrimination. “Discriminatory practices in university spaces often get normalised, and without a clear definition, universities may exercise their discretionary powers and, more often than not, attempt to shirk responsibilities,” Wadekar said. Her observation is based on past data showing how universities have denied the existence of caste-based discrimination on campuses.

In the past decade, as caste-based discrimination and suicides rose, the UGC was compelled to notify the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations 2012, also known as the Equity Regulations. These regulations required all colleges and universities to establish an Equal Opportunity Cell to oversee the promotion of equality and appoint an anti-discrimination officer to investigate complaints regarding discrimination in violation of equity. However, the regulations were not fully implemented as intended.

The proposed regulations, besides lacking clear definitions of discrimination, also exclude the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community from their scope, applying only to students from the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). In 2012 regulations too, students from OBC communities were excluded. The petitioners argue that this will be unjust to OBC students, who are equally vulnerable to discrimination on campuses. Data shows that many students from the OBC community have resorted to suicide or dropped out of colleges because of caste-based discrimination in the past decade.

The proposed regulations do not include staff or faculty members. Wadekar argues that the suggestion to include staff members comes from numerous anecdotal instances where faculty members have reported discriminatory practices based on their caste identities.

The 2012 regulations lacked a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the equity measures were effectively implemented. Vemula and Tadvi have suggested that the UGC should expressly mandate that “all Universities and Colleges submit periodic reports to UGC on the working of the Equity Regulations.”

While the proposed regulation has several problems, it also contains some concrete measures, such as the registration of FIRs once a case under penal laws is established. To this, the petitioners have suggested that “the heads of institutions should be mandated to register FIRs within 24 hours for complaints where a case is made out under penal laws.”

2012 regulations’ failure

In January 2016, Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad (UoH), along with five other Dalit students, was expelled from the university housing facility for an alleged attack on an ABVP member. As the expelled students intensified their protest against the university administration’s decision, a few days into the protest, on January 17, 2016, Rohith died by suicide. UoH Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile, then BJP MLC N. Ramachandra Rao, and two ABVP members (Susheel Kumar and Rama Krishna) were accused of abetting Rohith’s suicide. An FIR was filed against them, but the police failed to take any action.

In Dr. Payal Tadvi’s case, her suicide notes and her mother Abeda Tadvi’s testimony ensured that her three harassers – senior doctors Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehare, and Ankita Khandelwal – were immediately arrested. A damning 1,200-page chargesheet was filed against them. They have been accused of torturing Payal for an entire year and hurling casteist slurs at her. The Tadvis belong to the Bhil (of the Tadvi sub-caste) tribal community, and Payal was perhaps the first woman from her community to become a doctor. Advocate Wadekar is representing Abeda Tadvi in the criminal proceedings as well.

If the 2012 regulation had worked effectively, both Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi would not have needed to take drastic steps. The existing regulation has made it difficult for students to report instances of discrimination. Most of these cases are known because of individual efforts undertaken by anti-caste activists or organisations, which have, from time to time, highlighted extreme cases of discrimination on Indian university campuses.

Besides Rohith and Payal’s deaths, numerous other suicides have occurred in Indian universities over the past two decades. While some of these deaths were covered by the media, many were documented in an independent study conducted by a Delhi-based organisation called the Insight Foundation, headed by educationist Anoop Kumar.

But instead of focusing on these cases and encouraging students to come forward and report incidents of discrimination, the draft regulations mention “false complaints.” Wadekar says the draft doesn’t differentiate between a false complaint and a mere inability to substantiate a complaint with adequate evidence. “This clause,” Wadekar said, “should be completely removed.” “Students already find it hard to approach the Equity Committee, and such clauses will only act as a deterrent,” she added.

UGC’s hasty actions

This is not the first time that the UGC has acted hastily in response to the petition. In 2024, the UGC had set up a nine-member committee to look into the concerns highlighted in the petition. The Wire, in February last year, had looked into the composition of the committee and highlighted the chequered past of several of its members, including allegations of caste discrimination levelled against them.

Even as the division bench of Justice Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh of the Supreme Court have been hearing this petition, another petition, Amit Kumar and Others versus Union of India, highlighting identical issues, is being heard before Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan. On March 24, in a significant order, the apex court directed the formation of a National Task Force to address the mental health concerns of students and prevent the rising number of suicides in higher educational institutions (HEIs). This National Task Force is being constituted as a ten-member committee, with retired Supreme Court judge S. Ravindra Bhat as its chairperson. Other members include mental health experts, teaching professionals, among others. This order too refers to the ongoing petition filed by Vemula and Tadvi.

Courtesy: The Wire

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What happens when home is not just a place, but a feeling slipping through your fingers? This is a novel that asks not only where we come from, but where we go when the world fractures around us.

“The Hybrid Wanderers“ by Ashok Kaul is a novel that paints a portrait of Kashmir’s fractured society, set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through its three central characters—a Kashmiri Muslim (Shafi) who left for the USA in the 1970s, his Kashmiri Pandit friend (Sudhir) who settled in America, and a young Maulvi (Shadab) whose enigmatic presence leaves an indelible mark—the book explores themes of migration, cultural erosion, and the search for identity. In their intersecting stories, the soul of Kashmir, torn and tested, finds its reflection.

Ashok Kaul retired as a Sociology Professor from Banaras Hindu University. Kaul left Kashmir in the 1970s for higher education in Varanasi. His family endured the painful displacement faced by Kashmiri Pandits during the 1980s militancy, a tragedy that informs the novel’s exploration of loss and alienation. Kaul’s narrative reflects both the syncretic culture of Kashmir and the disruption brought by decades of violence and political upheaval.

The novel delves into three distinct phases in Kashmir’s history: the post-independence era, militancy years, and post-COVID times. The post-independence era, marked by shared existence between Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits, draws inspiration from the teachings of Lal Ded and Nund Rishi. These 14th-century mystics, representing Kashmiri Shaivism and Sufism respectively, shaped a syncretic culture that valued coexistence and mutual respect. Shafi’s return to Kashmir is driven by a desire to rediscover the remnants of this harmonious past.

The militancy years depict the deterioration of societal values as violence and political unrest tore through the valley. The rise of militancy, fueled by support from Pakistan and local elites, promised prosperity but ultimately led to disarray. The Kashmiri Muslims who embraced militant activities found themselves grappling with drug addiction and shattered family dynamics.

Meanwhile, the forced migration of Kashmiri Pandits disrupted the cultural and social fabric of the valley. Sudhir’s character symbolizes the displaced Pandit community, whose economic success abroad contrasts with their loss of rootedness and traditions.

The post-COVID phase captures the economic and demographic shifts in Kashmir, with an influx of migrant laborers from states like Bihar and West Bengal. Shadab Maulvi emerges as a figure of hope, admired by Kashmiri elites and migrant workers. However, his mysterious disappearance leaves unanswered questions about the changing dynamics of the region. The novel highlights the tension between the local population and migrants, reflecting the broader challenges of migration and identity.

Kaul’s writing combines sociological analysis with fiction, which makes the book insightful but demanding. The characters’ lengthy, jargon-filled monologues may resonate more with Sociology students than with casual readers. While the book provides valuable commentary on cultural and social shifts, it avoids critically examining contentious issues like the abrogation of Article 370. This lack of political depth may disappoint readers seeking a more nuanced perspective.

Despite its limitations, The Hybrid Wanderers is a timely exploration of migration, cultural identities, and societal divides. The novel serves as a reminder that the persecution and displacement of communities, whether Kashmiri Pandits or Muslims elsewhere in India, come at a cost to everyone. It cautions against the dangers of complacency in the face of injustice, urging readers to reflect on the shared losses that emerge from fractured societies.

Courtesy: The Aidem

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