ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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Bulldozing the Idea of Democracy

The state apparatus’ inaction in dealing with communal violence will have dire consequences.

 

Language, Purity, and the Logic of Democracy

It is argued here that the 1648 “Peace of Westphalia,” inaugurating the “secular state,” substituted language for religion as the basis for the state’s project of affectively unifying the nation. Working to build a truly neutral state, equally available to all its citizens, involves ensuring the freedom of critical discourse to question the proto-hegemonic narrative associated with every primordial (religious or linguistic) affi liation. The Westphalian-style sanctifi cation of these affi liations becomes pathological in a society that worships purity and hierarchy. Peggy Mohan, it is argued, provides a cogent characterisation of language on the basis of which one can overcome such pathologies and work towards a chauvinism-free model of democracy.

Democracy and Violence in India

India: Democracy and Violence edited by Samir Kumar Das; OUP, 2015; pp i-viii+258, 995.

Misplaced Priorities and Class Bias of the Judiciary

It is clear from the recent record of the higher judiciary that the imperative of upholding civil liberties, socio-economic rights, and environmental protection has been subordinated to agendas such as the "war on terror", "development" and satisfying corporate interests. Far from remaining faithful to the motives that resulted in the institution of public interest litigation, the Supreme Court has tended to act against the interests of the socio-economically backward.

Accountability of the Supreme Court

Can a citizen of India not criticise the Supreme Court's decisions? Can she not criticise the procedures and management of the court? Is the court not supposed to be accountable? How will its accountability be enforced if it were made absolutely immune from public criticism?

Foreign Scholars' Participation in Seminars

In July a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court summarily dismissed the PUCL's petition challenging the home ministry's secret memo issued in September last year on the participation of foreign scholars in seminars. However, the legal issues raised by the memo are important enough to warrant the Supreme Court being moved again to challenge not only the home ministry's infamous memo but also the human resource development ministry's circular of January this year on similar lines to registrars of universities and deemed universities.

Stifling the NGOs

While NGOs have come to the fore following an increasing citizens' awareness of their rights, the state has tended to treat them with distrust and even hostility, seeking through legislative means to curb their activities and strike down their rights.

The Constitution as Instrument of Social Change

Our Constitution, Government and Politics by M V Pylee; Universal Law Publishing Company, Delhi, 2000; pp ix + 198, Rs 185.

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