Archives: Justice

As the holier-than-thou debate rages on in the Indian media, most of the critiques and harangues have centred around Kisan Baburao ‘Anna’ Hazare – some defending him outright, others castigating him in equal measure. Of the members of the so-called Team Anna, the one who has probably been written about the least is Kiran Bedi, the original media darling. And that she has always been, since she shot to fame for having ordered then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s vehicle to be towed away for a parking violation. Those were not the days of 24/7 television, but she became a...

You, more often than not, become a product of the times and the circumstances that you live in. If you live in a conflict zone, the incessant bloodletting gets to you sooner than later. Either you become inured to brutalities, or start believing that killing one’s fellow human beings is the only to either to gain salvation or to solve your immediate existentialist problems. But suppose you were to extend this analogy to a place where cattle-rearing is one of the mainstays of the people. Would that mean that the government of the day there would start treating its own people as...

It is not rare to see corporates letting the people know in no uncertain terms about how the State ought to be run. There's nothing wrong with that; it is an inalienable democratic right. It is however yet another thing to believe in democratic values. And practice what you preach. So their honchos time and again pour their hearts and anger out in books, in interviews. Among those with the holiest attitude is Infosys. Yes, the same company that has been trending practically all day on Twitter. The company apparently has not made pots of money in the last quarter. The fragile stock...

The Northeast often gets into the mainstream India news for the wrong reasons. This time it's all about Irom Sharmila. For the wrong reasons, though. The not-so-young-anymore woman, unfortunately, has become a rallying point between the Hazare brigade and the Hazare bashers. The only point common to Kisan Baburao Hazare and Iron Sharmila Chanu is that both have had undertaken fasts. That's where the odious comparison ends. For, Hazare did so as a blackmailing tool and Sharmila did as a protest — that was the last thing that she could do to take on the might of the State...

Earlier this month, outgoing Colorado Governor Bill Ritter granted a posthumous pardon to Joe Arridy, a mentally challenged man who was executed for murder more than 70 years ago, in spite of evidence suggesting his innocence. Arridy was executed in 1939 by lethal gas after being convicted of killing a Pueblo girl with a hatchet. He had an IQ of 46 - too low to be considered for the death penalty today. Arridy appears to have given a coerced confession and was likely not in Pueblo when the 15-year-old girl was killed. Ritter said an overwhelming amount of evidence suggests Arridy...

In the next ten years, 100 million girls will be married off against their consent before the age of 18. Their chance of dying in childbirth is five times those aged 20-24, and their risk of contracting HIV is significantly high. That's what the law of averages say. Their plight could have been better, even so marginally, had the US House of Representatives passed a particular Bill on Thursday night. The US State Department could have helped fight child marriage by expanding investments in other countries to empower girls and promote community understanding about the harmful impact...

On Wednesday, Iraq deposited the 20th instrument of ratification for the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances to the Secretary General of the United Nations. What this meant was that the Convention will enter into force on December 23, 30 days after the 20th accession or ratification. The text was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 20, 2006 and opened for signature on February 6, 2007. So far 87 States have signed, and 20 have ratified it. India was among the first countries to sign, but is yet to ratify the...

The outrage in the Western world over the Sakineh Ashtiani issue increasingly seems like an outrage that is directed more at Iran, than any real concern over human rights. US President Barack Obama, who only the other day, lectured India on human rights, so far has not been able to utter a single world against a similar case in Saudi Arabia, where another young woman is on a death row. Last month, the Supreme Court in Riyadh endorsed the death sentence imposed on Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek. Her crime: an infant had died in her care in 2005. Rizana has been sentenced to death for...

The debate over the death penalty resurfaces in India every time a judgment on a murder is delivered. There is however very little to the debate, and it is more about mass hysteria with people all around screaming for blood. It is as if this is the only form of salvation. All voices and reasoning against the death penalty is drowned in this shrill, rabid cries for blood. ...

On December 24, 2008, Adama Kamara was six months pregnant and went into premature labour. By the next day it became clear she was suffering prolonged labour. The family observed her for one day before transporting her to a government hospital in Kambia, Sierra Leone. Transporting her to the hospital cost Le40,000 (US$13), which her husband borrowed from his neighbours. When they arrived at the hospital, Abu Kamara had to pay Le2,000 (US$0.67) for registration and Le10,000 (US$3.30) for a hospital bed, in addition to charges for medicines. At the hospital, Adama was given an...