Month: Sep 2019

Opinion, Policy

Future of Religious Rights of Women

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In the present times, there is a lot of controversy with regards to the religious rights of women, with special reference to the Sabarimala temple case. As should happen with every controversy, this issue needs to be talked about and discussed in detail in order to formulate a holistic policy on the same, which is beneficial to every stakeholder. 

In order to hold successful deliberations on the issue of women’s religious rights, there is a need to focus on numerous aspects apart from the right to enter places of worship and entering temples during the period of menstruation. Since India is indeed a country of diverse religions, the rights thereby originating from these religions are also diverse and manifold. A very important area of focus relates to inheritance and succession rights since they are closely intertwined with religion. The nature of religious freedom that women enjoy, not only on paper but also in practice also needs to be considered. This includes the right to follow, convert as well as not to follow a particular religion. Hence, the laws in relation to conversion also need to be referred for this discussion. 

Another very important area that requires focus is exploring women’s right of religion with relation to marriage. While some religious rules prohibit women to practice a different religion than that of the husband, others rules necessitate the conversion of women to the religion of that of the husband in order to hold a successful marriage. This in turn raises a question about the religious identity of a woman in a marriage and the level of independence that she has to choose and practice her choice of customs and celebrations as different from her husband. Interestingly, conversion of a spouse to another religion is also a valid ground for divorce in many cases and what happens is that the woman is left with little or no maintenance just because she chose to follow a different religion or not to practice the religion followed by her husband in the case. Another interesting but disturbing element is that according to certain laws, the religion of a child is always assumed to be of his/her father and not of the mother. Therefore, such aspects are reflective of the patriarchal nature of the institution of religious marriage in India and how it favours the husband over the wife. 

Furthermore, there is also a need to focus on the balance between religious rules as well as decisions taken by religious councils and laws and regulations that are not necessarily backed by religion but are nevertheless good for society and good for the cause of promoting religious rights of women. Hence, this involves the much dreaded question of moving forward and distinct from strict religious interpretations of religious rights for the empowerment and advancement of women.  

In conclusion, in order to materialize the aforementioned discussion, politicians and other organisations need to build a base for tolerance in the nation and they need to figure out how to do that. There is also a need to eliminate the causes and practices which hinder the religious freedom of women in the country, so that we can truly achieve gender equality in the sphere of religion. Also, as it has repeatedly been suggested by courts, tribunals and law commissions along with the international community itself, the nation also needs to work on the integration and promotion of uniformity in religious laws for the benefit of women and children. 

In future, the true ideals of women’s religious rights and freedoms can only be achieved if political parties and leaders come together with other organisations and institutions working for the advancement of women’s rights in order to reach a consensus for the benefit of all women who are the stakeholders in this case. 

Analysis

Our Outdated Education System

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Introduction

This article intends to outline the basics of the Indian education system.There is an urgent need to point out the sanctity and importance of the education system in any country but there are certainly several loopholes that you can poke in the Indian education system in this day and age as well. The very grave one being that the same curriculum is taught in schools across the country with the same teaching pedagogy passed over since decades by earlier teachers. Therefore,this article’s purpose is to explore and pinpoint what all needs to be changed in Indian Schools focusing especially on the curriculum taught and the role a school plays in the personal development of a child.

The Indian Education System has been stagnant and outdated for quite some time to say the least and is in desperate need of being redefined. It is imperative to look at the curriculum and how  it is taught and,at the same time to take a look at what roles do the teachers play in the daily lives of the kids. Therefore,this article does not intend to delve deep in an analysis of the Education System but intends to draw a wholesome picture of what all needs to be improved.

Curriculum

1)Let’s start with the basics of the Education system in India. There are five education boards in India;

a)CBSE(Central Board of Secondary Education)

b)State Board(Separate board of every state)

c)ICSE/ISC(The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education)

d)IB(International Baccalaureate)

e)Cambridge IGCSE Indian Studies.

While the first three boards provide somewhat the same subjects to be taught and assessed in schools and the curriculum process,the last two boards have been newly introduced for children wanting to pursue higher studies abroad and tend to provide much more flexibility.

The first three boards are the boards which are generally pursued by an Indian child. The curriculum of these boards has not changed much over some time.

The first three boards even though while providing somewhat similar subjects are not assessed in the same manner. Therefore this often leads to marks not being judged on a uniform level and assessment not being made on a generic marking scheme. 

The implementation of the curriculum is often made out to be a practise through rote learning and the ultimate goal for students to score higher marks for the sake of getting into good colleges. 

It is imperative to understand that schools play an important role in the overall growth of children. Children generally spend 6-8 hours in their schools while going from class to class they do tend to develop a habit of being in school for the major part of their day but what needs to be paid attention to is for schools to have a dynamic curriculum which is adopted with changing times. 

Practical and realistic approach to subjects need to be implemented so as to let the children know how to use such skills or information in the real world and not just to write a test so as to make their report cards look good. 

The role of the faculty in the lives of the children 

Often Indian teachers themselves are not equipped to handle the developments and changes that a child goes through while his/her entire school life.  They tend to take their part in the child’s life as a casualty rather than of immense influence that it tends to be. 

To take an example let’s take one of every grumpy teacher that we all have had at least once in our school life and especially in our primary classes. They might shame a child who has not done his/her homework or if they answered a question wrong in front of the whole class rather than to understand why he/she did not do his homework or is not interested in the subject or to try and make him/her understand the subject again. This is a common practise resorted to by teachers which they take lightly and don’t understand the repercussions of. The child,even if had tried to understand the subject harder after being shamed might not try at all and avoid the teacher altogether to face that kind of persecution again. 

Subjects like drug awareness or sex education are considered to be a taboo in the Indian societies till date. While there might be people supporting the cause on social media,there needs to be something done at the very root level to normalize subjects like these or to make children more aware of the harm that drugs can cause them. Since teachers tend to dismiss the children that their moral compass doesn’t agree with they form an opinion and end up sticking to it rather than helping the child through the transition. 

Our Indian society is majorly to blame for it because we have the tendency to shush or judge whatever we think might be morally wrong and teachers are certainly a part of that same Indian society. 

Indian schools lack the very thing which students might need the most when going through a difficult time at home or school which are counsellors. While our teachers might be good at giving professional advice or on how to get into a good college but they certainly lack the sensitivity or the maturity which is needed to be dealt with a couple of teenagers. 

Ps: Stay tuned,a second part to this article will be updated soon 🙂

Opinion

Sedition – A Slippery Slope

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It was in 1891, during the times of immense struggle and hardship, when for the first time an Indian subject was charged with the draconian law of sedition. Jogendra Chandra Bose, the editor of a newspaper was pulled up by the then colonial government for criticising a bill introduced by the British Crown. Undeniably, this authoritarian law was used as an instrument to ingrain fear and terror in the minds of subjects and keep a tight rein on the activities of freedom fighters in order to further the British dominance agenda. 

It is pertinent to note that the persons who were charged with this law during the pre-independence era are still remembered and celebrated today as the spirited freedom fighters who were not afraid of rising against injustice and dominance. In fact, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was charged by the offence twice and spent a total of six years of imprisonment for his articles in the Kesari. Believe it or not, but Mahatma Gandhi himself was also charged with this tyrannical crime. In 1922, Gandhi was taken to court for his articles of criticism in Young India magazine where he was extremely aversive to the idea of this law, and strongly denounced it by observing the following: “Section 124A under which I am happily charged, is perhaps the prince among the political sections of the IPC designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen.”

It is quite unfortunate that even decades after India gained independence, this illiberal law not only continues to exist but also thrives. In the recent times, we have seen some of the most absurd cases of sedition. The owner of a school got arrested for displaying a wrong map of Jammu and Kashmir, Divya Ramya got charged for it for tweeting that “Pakistan is not hell. People there are like us,” while the JNU row is a whole other story. Surprisingly, ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), the student wing of the BJP, even went ahead and filed an FIR for sedition against Amnesty International, a world renowned human rights organisation which has done immense work to promote the rights of the Indian citizens. 

Another term which is doing the rounds is ‘anti-national’ which is repeatedly used to describe the persons charged with this law. Unfortunately, what the many users of this term are forgetting is the fact that there is a clear difference between being critical of the government and being against the nation. There is a dire need to understand that criticism is the biggest virtue which leads the nation into progress and advancement. Perhaps the remedy for the excessive and unrestrained usage of this expression may be another term called ‘tolerance’ and the much useful practice of ‘agreeing to disagree.’ 

An extremely important question that now arises, nearly a century and a few decades after the introduction of this law, is that what is the need of this law in the present times and why has it still not been repealed? Ironically, recent actions of the government with regards to Article 370 of the constitution indicate that the Modi regime is much keen on repealing ages old laws which seemingly have no requirement in today’s “new” India. It is indeed a perplexing situation in which one wonders why the statistics suggest a rampant increase in cases of sedition in the last few years. The joke that is going around is that in India, you can get arrested for liking a facebook post and even writing a blog (Hey there, CBI).

Interestingly, the makers of the constitution of India discussed the issue of sedition at length and various debates were carried out after which the word was dropped. However, it still remained a part of the Indian Penal Code which was originally drafted by the British. The law was opposed by the majority of the leaders of the newly independent Indian state as also many of them had suffered imprisonment under the same law by the British. Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, went on to say the following:  “Take again Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code. Now so far as I am concerned that particular Section is highly objectionable and obnoxious and it should have no place both for practical and historical reasons, if you like, in any body of laws that we might pass. The sooner we get rid of it the better.” However, unfortunately, it still remains as a tool in the hands of the government which is repeatedly used to shut down voices of criticism and freedom while various other countries including the United Kingdom have already done away with it. 

Today, the law is misused to exercise blatant abuse of power and is a bane for the freedom of expression of the citizens. Once charged with it, the accused loses his passport, is labelled and mocked by society and has to bear the high cost of litigation to defend himself.

I consider it a privilege, therefore, to be charged under that section.

MAHATMA GANDHI

We, at Humans for Change, would very much like to know your opinion on this matter, so go ahead and leave a comment so that we can discuss this with you! 

Acts and Amendments

Motor Vehicles Act, 2019

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The new Motor Vehicles act is finally here and we are all for it. The amended bill which was tabled in 2016 has finally been given assent by the President and was brought in force earlier this month. The amendments to this bill have been well written and are quite progressive in nature.

The policy makers have been diligent to keep in check the amount of penalties in consonance with the current time which was not the case a decade ago, for example, a violation of not wearing a seat belt or of not wearing a helmet on a two wheeler resulted in a penalty of 100 rupees before but now the penalty has been bumped up to a 1000 rupees. Other stricter violations such as driving without a license or driving despite disqualification whose penalty had needed to be amended severely have also been raised to 5,000 and 10,000 rupees  respectively.

The bill has seen to do justice to grave offences under certain  provisions like drinking and driving which now has a penalty of 10,000 rupees and/or imprisonment upto 6 months for first time offenders but for second time offenders the fine goes to 15,000 rupees and/or imprisonment up to 2 years. 

One of the primary areas where the bill is said to concentrate on is for developing stricter laws especially for the underage demographic i.e juvenile offences such as driving or drinking and driving which has held the guardian to be liable for a fine of 25,000 rupees with a 3 year jail time and simultaneously leads to cancellation of the Motor Vehicle’s Registration.

It is seen that new expressions and terms have also been included in the amendment,like,terms such as the “golden hour.” 

Golden hour has been designated as that one hour right after the accident takes place which is said to be very critical for the life of the victim.

The act has also encouraged the citizens to give a helping hand to victims of road accidents by providing for the rules of Good Samaritan in the bill which certainly has helped the bill to be protective about the people who volunteer to get involved in the process.

Another expression which has been and was needed to be incorporated is the “aggregator” which is a digital intermediary or marketplace for a passenger to connect with a driver for the purpose of transportation. The set principles of such intermediaries by which they needed to be governed are also included in the bill.

The bill has tried to draw attention to the hazards of climate change thereby also reducing corruption in the transport department by providing for automated fitness testing of the vehicles.The testing agencies issuing automobile approvals have been brought under the ambit of the Act and standards will be set for motor vehicle testing institutes. 

Therefore,it can be concluded that the bill has been amended with a comprehensive approach and to all its entirety. The significant bumps which  were needed to be made in the penalties/fines are believed to encourage people to become less reckless and rather alert while travelling on the road. 

The new definitions and terms which have been introduced are well put but lack a bit of clarity which might hinder the implementation of the amended act,like,the bill has provided for a National Road Safety Board which has to be created by a notification by the central government but it is yet to clarify its functions and its functioning.

But something which needs to be put under heavy observation is that implementation of such fines come through and should not result in people merely bypassing them by paying a meagre amount to the cops which would impede the growth that has been intended with this bill and would defeat the purpose of the amendment.