“Relearning Anarchism in India” by Jaimine Bezboznik
Source: http://www.readoo.in/2016/02/anarchy-in-india In India as elsewhere, anarchist thought is widely misunderstood. As Bhagat Singh (1907 – 1931), one of the few Indian revolutionaries who had explicit anarchist leanings, put it: “The people are scared of the word anarchism. The word anarchism has been abused so much that even in India revolutionaries have been called anarchist to … Continue reading
“Asexuality and hypersexuality” by By Richa Kaul Padte
The stigma of hypersexuality attached to mentally disabled women and the assumed asexuality of people with physical disabilities both serve to exclude disabled people from the realm of socially accepted sexual behaviours, practices, and rights.
“The reason it’s so difficult to obtain progressive verdicts in India’s courts” by Girish Shahane
Source: http://scroll.in/article/716073/The-reason-it’s-so-difficult-to-obtain-progressive-verdicts-in-India’s-courts Liberals won a small victory on Tuesday when the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional Section 66A of the Information Technology Act that had criminalised the transmission of electronic communications that had the potential to annoy or offend people. The phrasing of what constituted a crime was so vague that a large percentage … Continue reading
The new PKK: unleashing a social revolution in Kurdistan
Excerpts In his years in solitary confinement, running the PKK behind bars as his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, Abdullah Öcalan adopted a form of libertarian socialism so obscure that few anarchists have even heard of it: Bookchin’s libertarian municipalism. Öcalan further modified, rarefied and rebranded Bookchin’s vision as “democratic confederalism,” with the consequence … Continue reading
Why the Modi government should scrap these 100 laws right away
Originally posted on Quartz:
Badly drafted laws are at the heart of the failures of government in India. Indian laws all too often have vague objectives (hampering accountability), and give sweeping powers (inviting abuse). Today there is a thicket of nearly 2,000 central laws, alongside hundreds of state laws, processes, rules and regulations, The Gazette…
“Redundant Laws” by VakilNo1
Source: VakilNo1 (http://goo.gl/e4NJqm) The scrapping of the concurrent list will cut down on a number of areas where State legislation, often a carbon copy of the Central Act, exist only to confuse matters. It will also clearly demarcate areas for State governance and lay down uniform rules in the rest for all states to follow … Continue reading
“Redundant Laws” by VakilNo1
Source: VakilNo1 (http://goo.gl/e4NJqm) Even after law sees the light of day, it may remain on paper due to lack of clarity in applicability. The Hire-Purchase Act of 1972, never metamorphosed into an Act. For a Bill to become an Act, it must be passed by both Houses of Parliament, but this was passed by only … Continue reading
“Redundant Laws” by VakilNo1
Source: VakilNo1 (http://goo.gl/e4NJqm) There’s a lot of repetitive legislation in India, thanks to the Concurrent List which allows laws to exist at the Central as well as the State level separately. The Indian Stamp Act or the General Court Fees Act, of which every state has individual versions. Each state also has its own civil … Continue reading
“Redundant Laws” by VakilNo1
Source: VakilNo1 (http://goo.gl/e4NJqm) By refusing to change with the times, these laws also bar the ordinary citizen’s access to justice or even right to normal behavior. Only rape is jailable offence, not sexual molestation. The Lunacy Act takes a harmless epileptic to be the same as a certified lunatic. Poor, homeless person are often harassed … Continue reading
“Redundant Laws” by VakilNo1
Source: VakilNo1 (http://goo.gl/e4NJqm) Some laws also infringe on the fundamental rights of citizens. Under section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act, a couple cannot get a divorce within one year of the marriage, even if one of the parties is found to be insane or a warranted criminal. Even in case of divorce by mutual … Continue reading