This refers to your cover story interrogating the state of our rights, What Is Wrong With Our Rights? (Sep 24). If you ask me, the very core from which our rights originate is flawed. Yes, the Indian Constitution, repeatedly touted by journalists, activists and scholars as the greatest document in our service, is not all that great. It is heavily pro-state, unlike the American constitution from which it has borrowed the concept of fundamental rights. We are free and have our rights only till the time the state wishes so. There are enough and more instances when our most fundamental rights can be withdrawn.
Rakesh Agrawal, Dehradun
Why did you omit the Official Secrets Act (OSA), 1923, from your list of archaic laws? The OSA is one of the most draconian laws still in force in India. A legacy of the British Raj, it has often resulted in grave miscarriages of justice that have blotted the record of our judiciary and sullied our reputation among democratic countries. Eminent jurists and civil rights activists have called for the scrapping of the infamous statute. And once the Right to Information Act was enacted in 2005, OSA should have ceased to exist. But when the Second Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Veerappa Moily recommended its repeal, the proposal was shot down by home ministry bureaucrats, citing objections by the intelligence agencies.
Interestingly, no court can take cognisance of any offence under the OSA unless a government department makes a complaint. This means a common citizen cannot approach the courts in case he notices a serious case of spying, unless the government decides to prosecute the accused. That’s why classified documents are routinely leaked or passed on to unauthorised agencies by bureaucrats. In fact, instances of the OSA being used to prosecute real spies and moles are rare, while cases of its misuse are legion—hundreds of innocent citizens have suffered long periods of incarceration under OSA. In the infamous Samba spy case, more than 50 army officers and soldiers were incarcerated and tortured for over 20 years in a case based on the statements of two self-confessed spies, who later retracted their statements. Two ISRO scientists were prosecuted in 1994 for spying—one of them, S. Nambi Narayanan, was recently exonerated by the Supreme Court and awarded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh. Captain B.K. Subbarao of the Indian Navy was arrested in 1988 and spent 20 months in jail—he was accused of carrying ‘secret documents’ to a foreign country, when all that he had in his suitcase was his own PhD thesis. Journalist Iftikhar Gilani was arrested in 2002 for holding secret information, and the government withdrew the case in 2004 after it came to light that the information was publicly available. Is it not time we consigned OSA to the dustbin of history?
Maj Gen (retd) V.K. Singh, Gurgaon
In his column, Anand Teltumbde has brought out a pertinent issue of safeguards in the Constitution for Dalits (A Poverty of Rights). He rightly says that Article 17 outlaws the practice of untouchability in society but it remains prevalent in most parts of the country even after 70 years of Independence. My point is very simple: has any society succeeded in eradicating an evil by simply making laws? We forget that it is basically the human mindset which needs cleansing and understanding. Proper implementation of law is our primary need.
H.C. Pandey, Delhi
Homosexuality is nothing new for Indian society. It has been there since ages, only, it never had social acceptance. In that regard, the recent verdict on Section 377 is a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court. The SC struck down a law which was introduced in 1861 during the British rule in India, which criminalised, what it called, sexual activities “against the order of nature”, refering to the act of sodomy. The LGBTQ community had been fighting for the abolition of Section 377 for long. Though the SC has provided legal acceptance to LGBTQ people but in a conservative society like ours it is true that they have to still go a long way to get social acceptance. I quote Justice (retired) Markandey Katju’s words “what two consenting people do within the confines of their bedrooms may not be the concern of the law but it is doubtful if homosexuals will escape social strictures if they hug, embrace or kiss in public”.
M.C.Joshi, Lucknow
Rights of the LGBTQ community are a matter of public policy which falls within the domain of the Union government. This matter should have been debated in the Parliament. That way, we could have seen what the elected representatives also think of the issue. On the SC judgment, the government has maintained an eerie silence.
Nitin M. Majumdar, On E-Mail
India is a great country where democracy is supposed to prevail. But in today’s charged atmosphere, where fringe groups roam without fear and dissent is targeted, the commonest rights of individuals are always under threat.Freedom of speech and expression, right to eat and wear clothes according to one’s personal choice and even right to live a life are being thwarted by goondas and mobs, even the state. The LGBTQ community has won a big battle in the courts with Section 377 being decriminalised. But the challenges they have to face on a day-to-day basis are still very much present. In this country, securing fundamental rights for oneself is a constant struggle, even after the law safeguards them on paper.
Ashim Kumar Chakraborty, Guwahati
It’s just that when the tide is Right, citizens’ rights are swept away in a fundamental way.
Rohan Nambiar, Chennai
I refer to Sound of Silence in God’s Court (Sep 24). The rape accusation against the bishop has been an embarrassing case for the entire Christian community in the country. It has been nearly three months since the police received the complaint, but no convincing action has been taken. Political parties play the role of mere onlookers, maintaining their silence; the nexus of politicians and the priesthood is evident in this case. The silence of the major political parties is a clear message to the nuns that their protest will be futile in the face of money and vote-bank politics. The power of the church in Kerala to defend itself against any allegations has been proved many a time. As with many previous cases where priests were accused, the prospects of this case seem bleak. If the victim receives justice thanks to proper action by the church and the police, it would be a welcome change, long overdue, for both the church and the laity.
P.A. Jacob, Muscat
A page from Giving Voice to Indian Women (Sep 24) has a picture labelled ‘Divya Spandana’. Of course, the woman is in politics. But her name is Ramya and she is also a famous movie personality. Why is she shown in the magazine as Divya?
D.V. Mohanprakash, Mysore
Editor’s Note: Ramya was her screen name as an actress. Divya Spandana is her birth name.
Let’s call the ‘enshrined’ fundamental rights theoretical assurances for the citizen (What Is Wrong With Our Rights? Sep 24). They give us a feeling of security until the going is good. Stray but a little: by dissenting against the state apparatus’ excess, by supporting in people’s struggles or by simply belonging to a marginalised section, and you immediately fall under the grey categories of the ‘rightless’. Anti-national or ‘Urban Naxal’, the nomenclature attached with your identity shall differ based on the struggles you choose to support. Your house will be raided, your books taken away, there may even be vigilantes waiting for you at your doorstep or in the marketplace, where you have gone to buy subzi. If you’ve gone to buy the wrong kind of meat, no courts will come to your rescue, the judgment will take place on the spot, no FIR, no arrest. Welcome to the country of feel-good rights.
Aravind Kumar, Hyderabad
I refer to Raghu Rai’s photo essay on the Dalai Lama, Living Room Incantations (Sep 24). There was something organically positive about seeing this side of the Lama. The ordinariness of his body language makes him different from other religious leaders of the world. It also made him a treasure of a subject for the lens, as Raghu described in the article accompanying the photos. It would be great to get your hands on that book from which these photos were taken. Hope it’s not too expensive.
Rahul Jain, Delhi
