A new anti-terror bill passed by the gujarat state assembly falls far short of international human rights standers and must on receive the president’s assent to be passed into law, Amnesty International India said today. similar laws already in force in other states and notionally must be immediately repealed.
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On 10th April, 2015, Malaysia’s Parliament approved tougher penalties for sedition, in a move which was criticized by the United Nations and described by the Opposition as ‘a black day’ for democracy and freedom of expression. The amendments to the Sedition Act extended the maximum jail term for offences to 20 years from the current…
Prof. Akhtarul Wasey is the Commissioner of Linguistic Minorities (CLM), Government of India. This office is a Constitutional authority and Prof. Wasey was appointed to it by the President of India recently. Before he was appointed to the office of CLM, he was the head of the Department of Islamic Studies and the Director of…
An independent media enjoys the freedom of expression and can influence public opinion in a democratic nation, but it should be equally responsible in discharging its duties, felt Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan. She stated that freedom of speech and expression are possible only in democracy and Parliamentary democracy can be achieved only with the…
Days after it struck down the much-abused Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, the Supreme Court Tuesday sought the government’s stand on de-criminalising defamation on the ground that the penal provisions unreasonably constrict the freedom of speech. “Defamation is an offence under the Indian Penal Code, but we need to delve on whether it…
Stating that cultural renaissance is taking place in north Andhra districts, noted poet and Central Sahitya Academy award-winner K. Siva Reddy has said it will make writers to produce works on the exploitation of the region. The experience of writers would form the basis for such works, he said inaugurating ‘Janakavanam’, organised in the run-up…
Senior VHP leader Praveen Togadia on Sunday advocated two children norm for each family belonging to any religion in the country. Advocating that a common civil code should be established in the country, he said, “Law should be same for members of all religions. There must be a control on the population. Two children norm…