Editorial

UP: Descent into Barbarism

THE death of a 19-year old  dalit girl due to brutal gang-rape and torture in Hathras and the way the Uttar Pradesh police and administration have handled it,  is a horrifying yet instructive tutorial on the nature of the Adityanath regime in UP.The family of the girl faced indifference and hostility in filing an FIR.

Enslaving Labour

THE three labour laws passed in Parliament at the fag end of the truncated monsoon session constitute a grave assault on the working class of the country.  The Industrial Relations Code, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code and the Social Security Code, along with the Code on Wages adopted last year, were ostensibly meant to simplify and modernise the host of laws related to labour.  However, the entire exercise was aimed at fulfilling a vital element of the neoliberal reforms, which is to usher in a regime of hire and fire, labour flexibility and removal of all prote

Throttling Democracy

THE truncated monsoon session of parliament has been, in every sense, the worst session of parliament ever held, except probably the one during the emergency in 1976 that adopted the 42nd constitutional amendment meant to facilitate an authoritarian regime.What happened in the Rajya Sabha, when two of the bills related to agriculture were being considered, was a mockery of parliamentary democracy.  After a curtailed discussion, the deputy chairman railroaded through the two bills violating all parliamentary procedures and rules. The demand to put the statutory resolutions disapproving the o

Delhi: Subverting the Criminal Justice System

THE way in which the Delhi Police has gone about the investigation into the communal violence in North East Delhi constitutes a brazen exercise in perverting the course of justice.From March onwards, the two special investigation teams entrusted to investigate the widespread violence which led to the deaths of 55 people, have worked in a biased manner with a pre-conceived narrative.The onus for the violence is being put on the anti-CAA protesters and those who played an active role in the peaceful protests which developed spontaneously in many places starting with Shaheen Bagh.

In the Face of Twin Disasters

IN the space of a few days, there have been two developments concerning the pandemic and the economy which are alarming.  India became the country with the second largest number of Covid-19 cases in the world, overtaking Brazil.  Preceding this came the news that in the first quarter (April-June) GDP had contracted by 24 per cent.  This is the worst fall among 25 major economies of the world.The pandemic is surging and it has spread to small towns and villages.  India has outstripped all countries in the daily increase in number of infections.

Disturbing Trends in Supreme Court

THE conviction of senior lawyer, Prashant Bhushan, of criminal contempt of court by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court has lowered the image of the institution. It shows the highest court of the land in a bad light as being intolerant of criticism and using the contempt law to punish dissent. The two tweets of Prashant Bhushan, which were found to be scandalising the court, do not warrant any such conclusion. There have been numerous criticisms and charges made by former judges of the Supreme Court on various judgments and aspects of the court’s functioning in recent times.

Hollow on Health, Jobs and Economic Revival

THE prime minister’s speech on Independence Day was watched with anticipation to see if he would announce any new initiatives to deal with the health crisis caused by the pandemic and the related economic crisis which has resulted in large-scale loss of jobs and livelihoods.On both counts, the speech disappointed.  In the past six months, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the pathetic state of public health care in India.  Over the decades, successive governments have neglected public health and government expenditure on health is barely one per cent of GDP.  With the pandemic still ragi

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