Articles by: Aftab Alam

Why the central government position on the principle of non-refoulement is erroneous?

Why the central government position on the principle of non-refoulement is erroneous?

The BJP led Central Government on March 17 filed a 129-page preliminary counter affidavit in response to a batch of petitions filed in the Supreme Court (SC) challenging the constitutional validity of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019. The CAA fast-tracks Indian citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Parsi, and Jain “illegal migrants” from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who came to India before December 31, 2014[Read More…]

by — 04/04/2020 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights
Why Citizenship Amendment Bill be rejected?

Why Citizenship Amendment Bill be rejected?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government at the centre is all set to introduce the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in the Parliament on December 9. The existing Citizenship Act was enacted in 1955 which along with articles 5 to 11 of the Constitution of India determines Indian citizenship. The original Citizenship Act of 1955 has been amended several[Read More…]

by — 08/12/2019 — Comments are Disabled — Uncategorized
Why PM Modi’s Concern for Muslims Rings Hollow?

Why PM Modi’s Concern for Muslims Rings Hollow?

Like a true statesman, the PM Modi on 25 May, after being re-elected as the leader of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, claimed that “Minorities have been deceived in the country through an imaginary fear created for the purpose of vote bank politics. We have to pierce through this deception. We have to gain trust.” The statement of the PM[Read More…]

by — 15/06/2019 — 3 comments — India
 Why is BJP continuously targeting AMU?

 Why is BJP continuously targeting AMU?

Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the Centre in 2014 the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been continuously on its target on one pretext or another. The BJP and its ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) drag the name of AMU every now and then generating unwanted controversies and public attention. The most recent remark was that of Uttar[Read More…]

by — 24/04/2019 — Comments are Disabled — India
The Forest Rights Act: A Well Meaning Legislation but Poorly Implemented

The Forest Rights Act: A Well Meaning Legislation but Poorly Implemented

On February 28 the Supreme Court (SC) put on hold its February 13 order directing states to evict tribals and other forest-dwellers whose claims for land titles under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) have been rejected. The SC is hearing a batch of petitions filed eleven year ago by the forest conservation groups including Wildlife First, Nature Conservation Society[Read More…]

by — 15/03/2019 — Comments are Disabled — India
India must enact a domestic law on Genocide

India must enact a domestic law on Genocide

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in December 1948. Seventy years later the Delhi High Court for the first time unhesitatingly recognised the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom as Genocide. Thirty four years after the massacre a bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel finally last month held former[Read More…]

by — 24/01/2019 — Comments are Disabled — Human Rights
Deporting Rohingya will violate the principle of non-refoulement

Deporting Rohingya will violate the principle of non-refoulement

  The international legal principle of non-refoulement and India’s obligation under this has come under intense media discussions following India deported on October 4 seven Rohingya immigrants back to their country of origin i.e. Myanmar where they fear persecution. India is also contemplating en mass deportation of around 40,000 Rohingya immigrants living in different parts of the country. Though the[Read More…]

by — 31/10/2018 — 2 comments — Human Rights
Ordinance Criminalising Triple Talaq is Overtly Political and Bad in Law

Ordinance Criminalising Triple Talaq is Overtly Political and Bad in Law

For some time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is generally viewed by Muslims with skepticism because of its stridently anti-Muslim politics, has suddenly started projecting itself as savior of Muslim women and systematically raising the issue of “gender justice and gender equity” among them. The Union Cabinet on September 19 approved an ordinance criminalizing the practice of triple Talaq (divorce)[Read More…]

by — 30/09/2018 — 1 comment — India
Revisiting Governor’s Role

Revisiting Governor’s Role

  With the resignation of the BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister just before a trust vote Karnataka’s  political cliffhanger might have ended, at least for time being, but the power and role of Governor in the formation of a government in the eventof a fractured verdict willcontinue to be debated for some time to come. The validity of the[Read More…]

by — 24/05/2018 — 2 comments — India
Deconstructing Yogi’s Meat Politics

Deconstructing Yogi’s Meat Politics

  The crackdown on illegal abattoirs was one of the first decisions taken by Yogi Adityanath soon after taking over as Chief Minister of the most populous and politically crucial state of the country following the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) resounding victory in the recently held assembly elections. The UP is the country’s largest meat exporting state having a business[Read More…]

by — 18/04/2017 — 1 comment — World
Taking Minority Rights Seriously

Taking Minority Rights Seriously

Yet another minority rights day passed on December 18 and minorities still continue to suffer from discrimination and exclusion. They are even subjected to genocidal attacks in this modern age. The State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples– 2016 published by the Minority Rights Group International, a London based international human rights organization asserts that “the unique cultures of minorities[Read More…]

by — 27/12/2016 — 1 comment — Human Rights
Even War Has Limits

Even War Has Limits

While the horror of barbaric incident of October 28, when militants aided by the Pakistani Army had mutilated the body of 30-year-old sepoy Mandeep Singh  is still fresh in our memory, yet in another gory instance on November 22 the body of another Indian soldier, Prabhu Singh of 57 Rashtriya Rifles,  was found in savagely mutilated state in Machhil sector along[Read More…]

by — 12/12/2016 — 1 comment — South Asia
Decoding Violent Cow Vigilantism

Decoding Violent Cow Vigilantism

A year has passed since Mohammad Akhlaq, a Muslim ironsmith, was brutally killed in Dadri’s Bishara village by a mob of cow vigilantes in front of his family for allegedly having stored and consumed beef. Notwithstanding the widespread national and international condemnation there seems to be no let up in violence by Cow vigilantes. In the latest incident on September[Read More…]

by — 06/10/2016 — 2 comments — Communal Harmony