Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts

Thursday, December 06, 2012

All's fair in love and war!

The momentum has been set, now Rwanda & Congo must sustain it

Laurent Nkunda, who heads Congo's most powerful Tutsi rebel faction, was last week arrested in neighbouring Rwanda – which for years has supported his ruthless anti-Hutu insurgency in the region. Speculation is rife that Nkunda's arrest could be part of a Rwandan tradeoff with Congo. Some senior UN officials believe Congo might now be persuaded to go after Rwandan Hutu rebels. The arrest of Nkunda, on the other hand, means Rwanda is finally ready to abandon him and embrace the splinter faction of his movement, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP).

Nkunda on his part had displaced more than 250,000 people in eastern Congo in 2004. The humanitarian crisis and global outrage this provoked had forced both the Congolese and Rwandan governments to meet across the table. After last month's UN linking of impoverished Rwanda to the rebel group, while international donors threatened to cut off aid, Rwanda saw sense in snapping ties with Nkunda.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

Posted by at 10:07 AM
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Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Legal/political intervention is a must!

The term ‘Dalit’ is unconstitutional as per Article 341. But the usage can still be seen across the country. Legal/political intervention is a must!

To a point in 2008 in Chhattisgarh, when finally the state government ordered the district collectors and its departments to immediately stop the usage of the Dalit term in their documents. This was done after an elongated series of requests made by the National Commission for Backward Classes. The reference point for this request is irrefutable and even shocking. The Commission proved that the usage of the term Dalit was unconstitutional. The Constitution defines this specific class (of Dalits, if we may) under the well documented Scheduled Caste (SC) category; this is as per Article 341 of the Constitution. Only the President of India, as per Constitution, can include any new term to address the SC category. In short, the term Dalit does not exist in the Constitution; and for specific reasons we have mentioned.

Post Chhattisgarh government’s move, the Dakshina Kannada district police officials in Mangalore also decided to avoid the usage of such a clearly pejorative term. Mangalore, which had been particularly infamous for its discrimination, showed this rare understanding that went against the convention.

Now, a similar course is being experienced by the term ‘Harijan’. As recently as in August 2010, the Parliamentary Committee asked the government to stop the use of the Harijan term – which has been alternatively used for Dalits; and in fact was introduced by Mahatma Gandhi himself. The committee argued that the term is deprecating the status of the underprivileged sections of society. As per the committee, the ministry had previously issued a circular in 1982 asking the state governments and Union Territory administrations to issue instructions to the concerned authorities not to use the word Harijan in scheduled caste certificates.

However, given current blatant usage of both the terms – Dalit and Harijan – across India, these examples are aberrations at best. American constitutional laws, re-modelled during the reconstruction period after the Civil War, had provisions to protect freed black American slaves. The US government has also previously banned the Negro term, and made the usage of the term a punishable offence (of course, till the time Obama identified himself comfortably as being a Negro).

Recently, the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) declared discrimination based on the caste system as a human-rights abuse. But surprisingly, the Indian government is trying to get the word ‘caste’ removed from this UN draft. To the contrary, the UNHRC is now even considering ratifying a draft recognizing the persecution of Dalits worldwide.

In this scenario where political will is found wanting, the legal will needs to be strengthened. The Supreme Court should declare the usage of the term Dalit a nationwide offence. Closing this dark chapter of history is critically important; and it has already been delayed by a long and painful 63 years since Independence.


Posted by at 10:15 AM
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Friday, July 20, 2012

The Larger issues that Hinder India’s rural Development

UPA’s flagship Project NREGA has, to a Certain Extent, succeeded in Empowering The Rural Poor, but The Government needs to also address The Larger issues that Hinder India’s rural Development. 

Considering that most of the Indian poor live on agriculture, removing poverty and improving agriculture are two sides of the same coin. While there is an elaborate structure of schemes and institutions relating to agriculture, it is not clear who will finally interface with the farmer and ensure the support required. Forecasts by analysts that poverty will decline steadily can be no consolation to those living in poverty. There is an urgent need to add value to the life of the Indian poor. As of 2010, over 37% of India’s population of 1.35 billion still lives below the poverty line (22% rural and 15% urban, based on UN data). Government schemes are slow with the delivery systems weak and inadequate. The never ending blame game over the onus of implementation and monitoring that ministries and the Centre and state governments repeatedly indulge in, further paints a bleak picture.

All said and done, NREGA was not initiated as a scheme to create public assets to help the nation and society at large. In fact, until recently, the preamble of the Act did not even include the concept of building durable assets. Development in the true sense has to go much beyond giving cash. Answerability is of utmost importance. Strict laws should be put to place to ensure utmost accountability from all sections involved. Conceptualising a well-intended concept and taking no onus for its implementation isn’t an example of good governance. Skills training for those involved in such schemes and proper guidance for correct utilisation of money are equally important. While India needs to grow at a phenomenal rate to truly transform the employment and poverty scenario, NREGA has set upon an important task towards a more equitable distribution of this wealth. Needless to add, we have a long way to go till we see the real rural revolution that India truly aspires for.



 
Posted by at 11:23 AM
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