This article is a response to the article titled "Jamia and the Rationale Behind Special Rights for Minority Institutions" published by The Wire on the 22nd of August 2017, in which the author has attempted to justify, with several arguments, the need for special status for minority educational institutions. A response is especially important since... Continue Reading →
SJW Laws: Designed for Misuse?
Recently, the Supreme Court of India issued some landmark directions to curb the menace of misuse of the draconian IPC 498A. It has brought in a more rigorous review process, in the form of Family Welfare Committees, to reduce the problem of false cases and consequent arrest of innocent people. Naturally, this new directive has... Continue Reading →
Temple funds for Hindu schools: Yes or No?
Background: (Only an overview provided here - not the full details of the mess 🙂 ) Temples and Charitable Institutions in Karnataka are governed by the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act 1997. This Act was challenged in the Karnataka High Court in Sri Sahasra Lingeshwara Temple, ... vs State Of Karnataka. In the year 2006, the... Continue Reading →
Benefits of Minority Tag in India
Some leaders of the Lingayat community in Karnataka have renewed their demand for their group to be considered as separate from Hindus. They want to 'move out' of the Hindu fold. This demand has been in existence from many decades and seems to have a co-relation to the recognition of non-Hindus as 'minorities' and consequent... Continue Reading →
Three Definitions of Minorities
Based on the actions taken by the State of India, three different definitions of the word "minorities" can be identified. Depending upon the purpose intended to be served, one of the three definitions is used. Here is a short introduction to the 3 types. Type 1: "Minority need to be Majority" This definition kicks in... Continue Reading →
Is the NDA denying minorities their rights?
Today, the Hindustan Times has published an article titled "How the NDA is systematically denying minorities their rights" in which the authors, owing allegiance to the Congress party, make several claims trying to prove that the Modi Government is actually denying the benefits of many of the schemes that exist for minorities. If one were... Continue Reading →
Amendment to Article 15 of the Constitution
In order to further the cause of #Core2 and #Core3, here is a proposed amendment to the Constitution of India. The PDF version is available constitutional-amendment-article-15-draft. ============================================================================ THE CONSTITUTION (ONE HUNDRED AND XXXXXX AMENDMENT) BILL, 2017 A BILL further to amend the Constitution. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-eighth Year of the Republic... Continue Reading →
Article 30 in truly secular India
A draft Constitutional Amendment Bill to set right Article 30. Yes, I live in la la land.
The Quality of our College Teachers
Please read this previous related piece on the National Eligibility Test (NET) for context. In order to become an Assistant Professor or a Junior Research Fellow in any of our Universities or Colleges, an individual MUST *qualify* in the NET. Even the IITs must consider the NET in order to recruit Professors. Structure of NET... Continue Reading →
NET: Is lower threshold for OBC really needed?
Thanks to @realitycheckind on Twitter, the topic of the recent notification by UGC on the issue of cut-off percentages for "Qualifying" in the National Eligibility Test came up. This test allows candidates to apply for the posts of Assistant Professor and/or Junior Research Fellowship in various Universities and Colleges in the country I am sincerely hoping... Continue Reading →
