THE SUPREME COURT Vs FEAR & FAVOUR

 

                  

                        THE SUPREME COURT    Vs   FEAR & FAVOUR

              

                                                                                          Dr Gautam Ghosh 

 

In the land mark judgment of Keshavanda Bharathi v. State of Kerela⁴, the apex court of India the propounded the doctrine of basic structure according to which it said that the legislature has power to amend the Constitution, but such amendments shall not change the basic structure of the Constitution, The Constitutional bench made no attempt to define the basic structure of the Constitution. S.M. Sikri, C.J mentioned five basic features:

       i.            Supremacy of the Constitution.

     ii.            Republican and democratic form of Government.

  iii.            Secular character of the Constitution.

  iv.            Separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

     v.            Federal character of the Constitution.

Justice Sikri observed that these basic features are easily distinguishable not only from the Preamble but also from the whole scheme of the Constitution. He further added that the structure was built on the foundation of dignity and freedom of the individual which undoubtedly cannot be amended. It was also observed in that case that the above are only illustrative and not exhaustive of all the limitations on the power of amendment of the Constitution. 

Literally the notion of judicial review means the revision of the decree or sentence of an inferior court by a superior court. Judicial review has a more technical significance in pubic law, particularly in countries having a written constitution which are founded on the concept of limited government. Judicial review in this case means that Courts of law have the power of testing the validity of legislative as well as other governmental action with reference to the provisions of the constitution. The doctrine of judicial review has been originated and developed by the American Supreme Court, although there is no express provision in the American Constitution for the judicial review. In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court made it clear that it had the power of judicial review. Chief Justice George Marshall said,“ Certainly all those who have framed the written Constitution contemplate them as forming the fundamental and paramount law of the nations, and consequently, the theory of every such Government must be that an act of the legislature, repugnant to the Constitution is void”. There is supremacy of Constitution in U.S.A. and, therefore, in case of conflict between the Constitution and the Acts passed by the legislature, the Courts follow the Constitution and declare the acts to be unconstitutional and, therefore, void. The Courts declare void the acts of the legislature and the executive, if they are found in violation of the provisions of the Constitution.

The constitution of India, in this respect, is more a kin to the U.S. Constitution than the British. In Britain, the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy still holds goods. No court of law there can declare a parliamentary enactment invalid. On the contrary every court is constrained to enforce every provision" of the law of parliament. Under the constitution of India parliament is not Supreme. Its powers are limited in the two ways. First, there is the division of powers between the union and the states. Parliament is competent to pass laws only with respect to those subjects which are guaranteed to the citizens against every form of legislative encroachment. Being the guardian of Fundamental Rights and the arbiter of constitutional conflicts between the union and the states with respect to the division of powers between them, the Supreme Court stands in a unique position where from it is competent to exercise the power of reviewing legislative enactments both of parliament and the state legislatures. This is what makes the court a powerful instrument of judicial review under the constitution. As Dr. M.P. Jain has rightly observed: "The doctrine of judicial review is thus firmly rooted in India, and has the explicit sanction of the constitution."

 

In India, the constitutional supremacy was explicitly reiterated in the Minerva Mills case whereby the Supreme Court held that “government, legislature, executive and judiciary is all bound by the Constitution, and nobody, is above or beyond the Constitution.” Every law made by the parliament is subject to interpretation by supreme court in the light of ideals and objectives of the constitution and if they go beyond or above that, they can be held null and void. Indian Constitution does not have express provision of separation of judicial and parliamentary supremacy but it’s not quite unclear also. It is the prerogative of the parliament to amend the constitution and make the laws; it is the duty of the judiciary to decide if basic structure of the constitution are transgressed by such laws. One the parliament has done its job, its Supreme Court which decides its constitutionality through judicial review. There have been conflicts between parliamentary supremacy and judicial supremacy. The best example is of National Judicial Appointment Commission when Supreme Court pronounced its verdict on the 99th Constitution Amendment Act and the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), declaring them to be ultra vires the Constitution. It is true that constitution has given superior powers of review to judiciary to decide the constitutionality of the acts passed by legislature. Discharge of the judicial functions should not be seen as against the will of the people for; constitution derives its authority to give this power to Judiciary. The SC enforced the power of judicial review in various cases, as for example, the Golaknath case (1967), the Bank Nationalisation case (1970), the Privy Purses Abolition case (1971), the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), the Minerva Mills case (1980) and Supreme Court AOR Association Vs. Union of India (2016). Judiciary should be free from the influence of the executive so that it could promote the ends of justice. If the government is one of the parties to a dispute the judges should protect the citizens against executive encroachment. No executive authority should interfere in or exercise control over the working of law courts. The judiciary protects the rights of people against the encroachment of the government or any other association or individual. The superior courts enforce the fundamental rights of the people through the appropriate writs Judicial order- in the nature of Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Certiorari, Quo-Warranto etc. Both parliament and the judiciary should not exceed their limits as defined by the constitution of India so that harmony can be maintained between the legislature and judiciary. The new socio-economic trends are to be kept in mind before making the legal provisions and their interpretation both in strict and liberal sense. Participatory democratic system must be made effective and there must be proper check on the active interaction between the people and their representatives is responsible for the conflict between the parliament and judicial system in India. Judiciary and the legislature must be strengthened in terms of its special power of judicial review to check and contain the excesses of other two wings of the government.

 

The Constitution of India provides that the Supreme Court may review and revoke the law made by Parliament and if there is no law on a particular issue, the Supreme Court's decision is considered law of the land

Subsequently, in L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India⁸, the Seven-judge Constitutional Bench stated:

"that the power of judicial review over legislative action vested in the High Courts under Article 226 and in the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution is an integral and essential feature of the Constitution, constituting part of its basic structure".

But how has the Supreme Court fared during this time period ?  Well “The pre-2014 apex court was not hesitant in going against the Central executive in matters involving high political stakes. This was evident in the 2G licenses cancellation cases and coal scam cases. Though the coal-gate case verdict was delivered in September 2014 after the coming of NDA government, its hearings took place in the last leg of UPA-II, during which the court passed several oral remarks  (including the now famous “CBI is caged parrot” remark), badly stinging the government. The interventions of the court drew a lot of cheers from the media and public, which hailed judiciary as a crusader against corruption and misgoverance.

The 1980s Supreme Court was highly praised for this. Influential legal scholars — whose views continue to hold sway in law schools today — lauded the destruction of pesky “Anglo-Saxon” procedural rules, which stood in the way of “complete justice”. Judges were painted as crusading heroes. In words that might have embarrassed Louis XIV, the Supreme court was called “the last refuge of the oppressed and the bewildered”. By the 1990s and the 2000s, under the misleading label of “judicial activism”, the court was beginning to engage in a host of administrative activities, from managing welfare schemes to “beautifying cities” to overseeing anti-corruption initiatives. The constitutional court had become a Supreme ‘Administrative’ Court. This, too, was justified on the altar of necessity: politicians were corrupt, bureaucrats were inefficient, and things didn’t move. Someone had to come and clean it all up.

A combination of viewing the judiciary as an infallible solution to all social problems, and viewing procedure — that would otherwise constrain judicial power — as an irritant that stands in the way of a truer, purer justice has created the perfect storm that we see today. The first allows a judge to project her own social and political views as universally valid and beneficial; the second allows her to ignore the barriers that stand between her and the implementation of those views. Wrapped up in patriotic zeal, a judge does not stop to think whether he is authorised to compel all cinema halls in the nation to play the national anthem; another does not consider whether he has the power to mandate that every student in Tamil Nadu must study the Tirukkural; a third takes over the entire process of preparing a National Register of Citizens (NRC), with nary a thought about whether the Constitution ever contemplated a task such as this to fall within the judicial domain. But post-2014, the SC presented a meeker version when it came to dealing with cases which could prick the political interests”- reports the WIRE dated 12/APR/2019

 

 Justice S.R. Sen of the Meghalaya High Court observed in a judgment that “anybody opposing... Indian laws and the Constitution cannot be considered... citizens of the country.” The case involved the denial of a domicile certificate. Justice Sen, however, thought it fit to further note that in 1947 India “should ... have been declared... a Hindu country”, and that “our beloved Prime Minister” ought to legislate to grant automatic citizenship to (non-Muslim) religious minorities “who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan”. He also noted that “our political leaders” in 1947 “were too much in a hurry to get the independence... thus, creating all the problems today”, and that “nobody should try to make India as another Islamic country”. In parting, Justice Sen directed the Assistant Solicitor-General to hand over a copy of his judgment “latest by 11-12-2018 to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Hon’ble Home Minister, and Hon’ble Law Minister”.( Reports Gautam Bhatia – The Hindu on 13^th Dec 2018 )

The Supreme Court has come to a level where judges are afraid of the Bar, Supreme Court Bar Association president Dushyant Dave wrote in a letter to the Chief Justice of India on Wednesday, after he was denied a chance to speak at the farewell to Justice Arun Mishra.

The protection of judicial independence is pivotal for a Democracy . Judicial Independence is the gate of Individual Independence. A Nation is not independent if there is any chain on Judicial Indeoendence , be in direct , indirect or remote

Judicial independence is a public trust . The community must have confidence in its system of justice and be comfortable in the knowledge that fairness, openness, and immunity from improper influence are characteristics of its judiciary. In this way, the community will believe that all citizens can expect the same treatment according to the Rule of and respect for the administration of justice will be maintained and enhanced. Representation of the goddess Justicia with her eyes blindfolded, holding the scales, does not mean that justice is blind. Rather, the symbolism is to remind us that the Rule of Law is intended to treat all people equally, no matter what their circumstances. Also, judges often wear robes when performing certain adjudicative functions. These gowns are symbolic of the court’s authority to act as guardians of the Constitution and protectors of the Rule of Law. The placement of judges on a raised dais within the courtroom is also designed to signify the authority and impartiality of the judiciary and to recognize the importance and the solemnity of the proceedings Judicial independence requires that a judge adjudicate without fear or favour, even in the face of a contrary view widely held by others, whether judicial colleagues, government, the public, the media, or interest groups. It is the community’s responsibility to vigorously resist any steps or initiatives deemed to be an encroachment on judicial independence that would harm rather than protect the public interest. Judicial independence means both the independence of an individual judge from outside influences or pressure, as well as an institutional independence for the entire judiciary, as a body, from any influence from external pressures, direct or indirect, and more especially from the other branches of the  government, and so its high time to remember that - Judges are not fearful saints. They have to be fearless preachers so as to preserve the independence of the judiciary which is absolutely necessary for survival of democracy," the bench, also comprising Justice Navin Sinha, , Supreme Court of India

SAAB KI SATH -SAAB KI VIKAS

 

Prime Minister  @narendra modi  , Sir,  SAAB KI VAKAS - can only be achieved through proliferation education , vis a vis boundary less distance education 

The importance of knowledge and learning has been recognized since the beginning of time. Plato wrote: “If a man neglects education, he walks lame to the end of his life.”

But it was really the Nobel winning economists that put the argument of education as investment. T.W. Schultz argued that investment in education explains growth and Gary Becker gave us the Human Capital Theory.

In a nutshell, the Human Capital Theory posits that investing in education has a payoff in terms of higher wages. Moreover, the theory and empirical estimates are backed up by current science, as explained by James Heckman.

Today,  with Covid19 , this  World Order  particularly   the domain of education is undergoing a vast transformation. 

While all the Governments are understandably desperate for anything that would forestall the deaths, closures and quarantines resulting from COVID-19. But combating this disease demands a vaccine that is safe and potent. The fatality rate is low (3.4% by the World Health Organization’s latest estimate, although this is highly uncertain), yet transmission rates are high and the spread is difficult to track. That means many people — perhaps the majority in hotspots — would need to be vaccinated to stop the spread and prevent deaths. By contrast, Ebola virus has very high fatality rates (averaging around 50%, but varying from 25% to 90%), yet is less contagious, so vaccination can be more targeted.

Decades ago, vaccines developed against another coronavirus, feline infectious peritonitis virus, increased cats’ risk of developing the disease caused by the virus (T. Takano et al. J. Vet. Med. Sci. 81, 911–915; 2019). Similar phenomena have been seen in animal studies for other viruses, including the coronavirus that causes SARS (Y. W. Kam et al. Vaccine 25, 729–740; 2007).This makes mandatory that , regulators must continue to require that vaccine developers check for potentially harmful responses in animal studies. Further , The virus behind COVID-19 might well mutate in ways that would make previously effective vaccines and antivirals useless. Therefore, any regulatory agency considering ways to accelerate treatments into testing should also weigh up how likely these drugs are to work beyond this particular coronavirus. This makes the entire process time consuming ,which interalia  puts a coma on regular classroom coaching 

But  education is the backbone of any Nation , and  as it has to reach every one , when he or she cannot reach the door of the Institution for any reason whatsoever and this gives birth to the LEGITIMATE DEMAND of RESTRUCTURING & REVAMPING - the concept of Distance education .

Most surprisingly , it has been observed that the  UGC has clearly overstepped its jurisdiction , and for which instant matter needs "REVISION " from Ministry of HRD , Government of India .

Clause (5) of Article 15 of the Constitution read as follows:-

Nothing in this article or in sub – clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the State from making any special provision, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions.

The constitutional validity of clause (5) of Article 15 of the Constitution insofar as it enables the State to make special provisions relating to admission to educational institutions of the State and educational institution aided by the State was considered by a Constitution Bench of this Court in Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of India & Ors. [(2008) 6 SCC 1] and the Constitution Bench held in the aforesaid case that clause (5) of Article 15 is valid and does not violate the “basic structure” of the Constitution.

Some persons of the UGC for obvious reasons, have started inappropriately quoting a Supreme Court judgment - (Prof Yashpal’s case) where the Supreme Court has never pronounced any judgment debarring any other University from conducting distance education where its Statue has empowered such and which has been approved by the UGC as well as by the Open University Act at that point of time.

It is noteworthy to observe – that the UGC is trying too hard to remake the judgment itself of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. While Supreme Court in WP (Civi) No 19 of 2004 in Prof. Yashpal and Anr vs State of Chhattisgarh & Ors the instant judgment in Para 41 – has only referred the view of the discussion of Ld Advocate Dhawan, UGC has most high handedly asked Universities, which are even having their Acts permitting them for having jurisdiction outside the State, to stop their operation. The relevant Para of the said Judgment on which UGC is shooting off letters are-

Para No 41 – wherein it was observed that –

Dr. Dhawan has also drawn the attention of the Court to certain other provisions of the Act which have effect outside the State of Chhattisgarh and thereby give the State enactment an extra territorial operation. Section 2(f) of the amended Act defines ‘off – campus centre’ which means a centre of the University established by it outside the main campus (within or outside the State) operated and maintained as its constituent unit having the university’s complement of facilities, faculty and staff. Section 2(g) defines “off – shore campus “ and it means a campus of the university established by it outside the country, operated and maintained as its constituents unit, having the university’s complement of facilities, faculty and staff. Section 3(7) says that the object of the University shall be to establish main campus in Chhattisgarh and to have the study centres at different places in India and other countries. In view of Article 245 (1) of the Constitution, Parliament alone is competent to make laws for the whole or any part of the territory of India and the legislature of a State may take laws for the whole or any part of the State. The impugned Act which specifically makes a provision enabling a University to have an off – campus centre outside the State is clearly beyond the legislative competence of the Chhattisgarh legislature.

When the citizens are busy to earn a square meal a day , it is duty of the Government to ensure that Education reaches each and every household in a manner which is appropriate to each and every situation . 

Hence , all  Universities which were having distance education  should be again allowed to have distance education and the jurisdiction of such University must be read with the parental Act or with amendments made thereof . 

By restricting Universities from reaching out to the people , today the  matrix of education has stooped to an all time low . 

People are facing genuine problems across India .All Universities are not having the same courses or medium of instruction, this is hurting the most  For example a person stationed in New Delhi for a Job cannot do a course on Rabindranath Tagore from Rabindra Bharati University today ;

Similarly a Tamilian who is stationed in North East India cannot upgrade himself or herself with a newer and effective course from an University in Tamil Nadu offering a a particular course .This senseless act of UGC is  causing a Quality fall in Human value !

Distance education is not a new concept. In the late 1800s, at the University of Chicago, the first major correspondence program in the United States was established in which the teacher and learner were at different locations. Before that time, particularly in preindustrial Europe, education had been available primarily to males in higher levels of society. The most effective form of instruction in those days was to bring students together in one place and one time to learn from one of the masters. That form of traditional educational remains the dominant model of learning today. The early efforts of educators like William Rainey Harper in 1890 to establish alternatives were laughed at. Correspondence study, which was designed to provide educational opportunities for those who were not among the elite and who could not afford full-time residence at an educational institution, was looked down on as inferior education. Many educators regarded correspondence courses as simply business operations. Correspondence education offended the elitist and extremely undemocratic educational system that characterized the early years in this country (Pittman, 1991). Indeed, many correspondence courses were viewed as simply poor excuses for the real thing. However, the need to provide equal access to educational opportunities has always been part of our democratic ideals, so correspondence study took a new turn.

As radio developed during the First World War and television in the 1950s instruction outside of the traditional classroom had suddenly found new delivery systems. There are many examples of how early radio and television were used in schools to deliver instruction at a distance. Wisconsin's School of the Air was an early effort, in the 1920s, to affirm that the boundaries of the school were the boundaries of the state. More recently, audio and computer teleconferencing have influenced the delivery of instruction in public schools, higher education, the military, business, and industry. Following the establishment of the Open University in Britain in 1970, and Charles Wedemeyer's innovative uses of media in 1986 at the University of Wisconsin, correspondence study began to use developing technologies to provide more effective distance education.

In most countries in the two books, distance education is an important part of higher education enrolments and provision. On the enrolment side, in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and the United States nearly one fifth or more of all higher education students are taking some online or distance education courses and programs. In the United States, the only growth in higher education enrolments is due to growth in distance education enrolments. On the provision side, distance education is not only being offered by open access, or low-selectivity institutions. In Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Russia, South Korea the United Kingdom and the United States, high profile institutions are offering distance education. They are providing distance education not only for adult learners, but for younger conventional higher education students wanting flexibility. Both from a student and institutional perspective, distance education is increasingly seen as part of higher education.

Apex Court has never put a blanket ban on “Open University and Distance Education” – nor this phrase has ever been referred to by any the Hon’ble Apex Court in the said judgment as it is a completely different subject matter.

There is nothing to  worry about the quality of distance education programs. They are often required by government policies or boards to review the quality of programs and are responding to these reviews and regulations by changing administration, design, teaching and support. In the United Kingdom, the Open University has always been proactive about addressing quality issues. Historically, the guidelines for good practice and using quality audits did not apply to distance education. The Open University adapted the standard guidelines anyway and applied them to distance education courses. They recognized that distance education providers often have to do twice the work to get half the acknowledgement. This proactive approach is well received by funding bodies and regulators. Now, the Quality Assurance Agency assures standards and quality for all higher education in the United Kingdom, including distance education. The use of continually new types of information and communications technologies suggest there is always room for distance education institutions to be proactive in their approach to providing and assuring quality programs and courses. Some major developments that have taken place, Worldwide  in the sphere of Distance Education - are that 1) Existing institutions a have increased  their online and distance education offering 2) New institutions are offering online and distance education apart from general classroom education 3) Distance education has become  an integral part of higher education system - with equivalent validity  4) Distance Education  is being  accepted as mainstream education  in developed countries- and i am quite optimistic that the New Government under narendra Modiji - must - do all that is required including removal and abolishing the UGC -( which was the main contestant / subject matter in the case )  to make Distance education boundaryless and meaningful across the length and breadth of the Nation ( Sab ki saath - sab ki Vikaas is  really needed in this sector  ) 

Dr Gautam Ghosh 

www.drgautamghosh.com

Hijjab Hype absent in Quran !

Muslim women’s veil as a topic is still today at the heart of the feminist debate as well as in all the debates on modernity, freedom and the place of religion in our contemporary societies.

As for the Islamic vision, it perceives "veiling" as the essential marker of an Islamic identity that is very fragile and constantly threatened by the "unveiling" of a spreading Westernization. The "veiling" in the Islamic imaginary is the continuity, the safekeeping and the preservation of the normative Islamic identity space and its perpetuation.

During 90s we saw an resurgence of Hijjabi Culture -The spread of the "hijab" phenomenon was the product of the cooptation of the veil’s issue by both political Islam and the conservative religious discourse that made this symbol a strategic question in their "dawa" or sociopolitical proselytism.

1) Ghad y Bassar and Hafd el faraj (Quran 24: 30-31): Tell the believing men to restrain their looks (ghad el bassar), and to guard their private parts (hafd el faraj)…” “Tell the believing women to restrain their looks, and to guard their private parts…”.
It's critical to understand this

Its important to understand that -the Holy Quran

It is about "restraining their looks" and "protecting the private parts of their bodies" for women as well as for men, which is to say that it is a question of keeping a certain modesty of gaze and avoiding the body’s nudity for women as well as for men.

2) Khoumourihina (Quran 24:31) is the plural of khimar which etymologically corresponds to a kerchief or scarf. "And tell the believing women to… not display their charms/attractiveness (zinatohonna) except what is apparent, and to draw their coverings over their breasts, and to not expose their charms except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons…”

In this verse, women are specifically requested to fold sides of their veil (khoumourihina) on their breasts and to show some of their charms (zinatouhouna) only to close family members. However, what is described as "charms" is not explicit. There is no more details about the limits of what should or should not appear. The majority of Ulema, thus, have interpreted this verse as the obligation to cover one's head and to show only the hands and the face.

There are therefore four concepts more or less related to clothing and physical appearance. And none of these four concepts refers to the word "Hijab", commonly used to describe the veil or headscarf.

Indeed, in the Qur'an, the word Hijab does not refer at any time to a dress, veil, or any garment. It is used about seven times and always in the same sense namely that of a separation or a curtain

But the verse that was most often used to prove "the obligation" to veil women and in which we once again find the word Hijab is the one that states: "O believers do not enter the dwellings of the prophet unless you are invited .... When you ask the Prophet’s wives for something, do it from behind a veil (Hijab) "Quran 33; 53.

We note that concerning physical appearances, the Quran transmits implicitly its ethical guidelines regarding the body by addressing women and men without any particular distinction, apart from the two verses about the Khimar and the Jilbab (Qur'an 24.31 and Qur’an 33.59).

Only these two verses mention a dress code without going into the secondary details that we currently find with a meticulous precision in the books for "Muslim practitioners"!

Unfortunately, nowadays, the whole of Islamic ethics seems to be reduced to women's clothing behavior, and only to that. In other words, to their bodies, to the precise way in which they must be covered, to the color and thickness of the fabric, to the uniformity of the habit ...etc.

Now, since the Qur'an did not insist on specific clothing or a specific external aspect for women and men, it would be very reducing to analyze the few verses on the behavior of clothing while disregarding all the orientations of the spiritual message that provides global ethics of the body, concerning men and women as well.

Hence, the Qur’an invites believers, male and female, to a "decency" and "sobriety" behavior, both physical and moral. With regard to women, the general - and subtle - expression of a certain "external appearance" is proof of the great "latitude" offered by the spiritual message in order to enable them to reconcile their spiritual convictions with their respective social context.

Therefore, the Qur’an does not legislates on the need for a religious "uniform" that would be strictly "Islamic", as we tend to demonstrate currently. The primary spiritual intention was not to determine rigid or static dress standards that would be "fixed" once for all, but rather to "recommend" an "attitude", or rather an "ethic" linked to body and mind.

It is unfortunate to acknowledge that this initial intention of the Islam spiritual message is often omitted, or even completely disregarded, at the expense of a literalist reading that reduces all the Quranic teaching about women to the so-called "obligation to wear the Hijab”!

Nevertheless, the Quran has never imposed any formal dress code obligation. Dictating standardized dress norms goes against the principles of the universal message and its spiritual ethics.

The khimâr or headscarf issue belongs to the morality, the behavior and the ethics of Islam. This falls within the Islamic science of mu'amalat, the social field or the human relations, and not within the 'ibadat, the ritual practice.

A religious conviction that appeals to faith makes sense only when it is lived without constraint. Talking about the Islamic obligation to wear the headscarf or khimar cannot be acceptable spiritually speaking, because the Qur’an is clear: "There shall be no compulsion in religion!”. This is one of Islam’s fundamental principles. It is therefore clear that the main purpose of the Qur'an is to induce men and women to free themselves from all the materialistic alienation and the seduction codes, specific to each period, which are ultimately only the concrete projections of recurring dominant ideologies through the history of human civilization.

The Qur’an invites men and women to take ownership of a culture of decency and mutual respect: "The best garment is certainly that of taqwâ; this is one of the signs of God "... Undoubtedly, this verse sums up on its own, the central teaching that should be kept in mind and be implemented nowadays among this great chaos of ultra-liberal consumption, of exuberance, of the cult of appearance and of arrogance, as the ethic of Islam: libas at-taqwa, the garment of awkwardness which inevitably reflects in the externality of acts and actions of every man and every woman. It is this ethic of awkwardness, moral rigor and decency that is preferable to the Creator's eyes.

Gipsy Ghosh -as i know for last three decades

Gipsy Ghosh , Entrepreneur , Director of World Multicultural Festival ¹, Director ,Mr & Ms Multicultural Canada Pageant ,Educationist ²  was born in a modest family in Kolkata . Her father   was a police officer   who had to continue his family business too   with her mother  and its this background  where she learnt to love hard work and perseverance.

Kolkata, the City of Joy is itself a multi dimensional multi lingual, multicultural city  and  her schooling  from Carmel Convent  gave her the required impetus to set the paradigms of her thoughts  close to the horizon.

As a student of Carmel High School she along with her class mates often visited Mother Teresa’s Children Homes to volunteer for the sick and the  needy .In the school she was an active girl guide .

Academically being a  a B. Sc Honours Graduate , a qualified Homeopathic doctor ,   a law graduate(LLB) and finally a MBA in marketing with distinction., she preferred to develop an innovative educational Institution in India for proliferation of meaningful & quality education .  Subsequently , her brainchild was St Peter's College , Kolkata- a premier educational institution ;  which catered the needs of thousands of students from all caste creed and religion.³

Mrs Ghosh is a qualified creator in the truest sense of the term and she is the impetus behind various publications of international stature ⁴

Mrs Ghosh migrated to Canada in 2012 , and  her multidimensional thoughts made her  start  a  business, of importing various Asian clothes, Jewellries , wedding collections and famous Bollywood fashion dresses  and so forth and sell them at marginal profit or no profit with a view to help the different communities get their choicest items at fair price , but as big minds never stick to one thing , she while interacting with the cross section of the people across  Canada , felt the need for uplifting the Multicultural ethos of different communities the requirement for building bridges to promote intercultural understanding; promoting equal opportunity for individuals of all origins; and promoting civic engagement and a healthy democracy.⁵

 It is this thought, which made Mrs Ghosh to go for   the now famous World Multicultural Festival ⁶ , which has put her in the heart of many and integrated thousands of hearts ⁷

1https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-98-in-town-and-out/clip/15749310-gipsy-ghosh-director-world-multicultural-festival.?share=true

2 https://www.linkedin.com/in/gipsy-ghosh-59446b58/

3 https://www.linkedin.com/company/st-peter's-college--kolkata/about/

4https://books.google.ca/books?id=MQq0Frgtn6MC&pg=PA295&lpg=PA295&dq=gipsy+ghosh&source=bl&ots=8lXhLh_FT0&sig=ACfU3U05xVsgXIjq_g55ihRCDy_pobtdCA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiC49HZrt7mAhUkT98KHcveAww4ChDoATAFegQIChAB

5 https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa/status/1200854218166411264?s=20

6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQtN0elypvs

7 https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14116679.Michel_Weatherall/blog?page=13

INDIA NEEDS NAMO -DR GAUTAM GHOSH

 INDIA NEEDS  NARENDRA MODI 

INDIA NEEDS  NARENDRA MODI 

THERE are many good works done by Modi government many of which have not got the required publicity attention.

More than 2 lakhs of bogus Aadhar cards were cancelled. More than 3.46 lakhs bogus shell companies have been derecognized and 3.09 lakhs directors associated with these entities have been disqualified. GST was introduced to prevent the Pakistan money coming into the hands of Hurriyat.

Nearly three crore fake and duplicate ration cards have been cancelledduring the three years of the NDA government. This also saved the country Rs 17,000 crore every year during this period, he added. Linking the ration card to the holder's Aadhar number had allowed the government to clean up the system, CR Chaudhary, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food And Public Distribution said. He was speaking at the 21st National Conference on e-Governance.
 "Out of 23 crore ration cards in the country, 82 per cent (19 crore) are linked with Aadhar. We have removed 2.95 crore fake or duplicate ration cards in the country in the past three years which has resulted in a saving of Rs 17,000 crore annually. It has ensured that food grains are being delivered to the rightful person," he said. As per the latest report, (Jan 16, 2019) the government has saved Rs. 90, 000 crores by weeding out 60 million fake ration cards
The Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to provide 24×7 uninterrupted electricity supply to each rural household across the country by 2022. India has jumped 73 spots to be ranked 26th in World Bank’s Electricity accessibility list. The country was ranked 99th in 2014. Out of the 18,452 villages, which lacked electricity, over 18,000 villages have been provided access to electricity. In addition, a person applying for new electricity connection within 24 hours in areas where power infrastructure, electricity connection would be given in a week. The government’s rural electrification programme is on track for completion within completion within the targeted 1,000 days.

 The Government has established an institution National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) to regulate auditors.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) said it struck off around 2.24 lakh companies for remaining inactive for a period of two years or more. Several of these companies are suspected to be shell companies and restrictions have been imposed on the operation of their bank accounts and sale of movable and immovable properties until they are restored. The decision was taken based on data received from 54 banks post demonetization.

A preliminary examination of 58,000 accounts involving 35,000 companies has revealed that over Rs 17,000 crore was deposited and withdrawn post demonetization, the release said. Demonetization was a Central Government order passed on 8 November, 2016, which had invalidated all old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana started in 2014 “when banking was just a prerogative of a small section of society, with almost 42 percent of Indiabeing excluded from it." said Jaitley while delivering the keynote address at the Conclave on Financial Inclusion organized by the United Nations in India.

But in 2018 Jaitley said 84 crore new accounts have been opened under this scheme since 2014, with the number of rural-urban women beneficiaries touching 17.6 crores. Zero balance accounts under PM Jan Dhan Yojana have come down to 20 per cent from 77 per cent in the past 3 years, he added.

However, volunteers took up a door-to-door approach of encouraging rural dwellers to open bank accounts, explaining additional incentives like the availability of a RuPay card, insurance benefits and more. Now 26 crore people have availed the RuPay Cards.

The Centre's Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana has also assisted 20 crore people under the scheme by providing small loans and financing small businesses. "Over a 100 million people have been included in this scheme so far, whereby by paying a premium of Rs.1 per month, these beneficiaries can avail accident insurance worth Rs. 2 lakh. Upon paying a slightly higher premium, beneficiaries can avail full time death insurance as well," said Jaitley.

The abolition of triple talaq has brought great relief to lakhs of Muslim married ladies, who were under the perpetual fear of being divorced at any moment without giving them an opportunity to defend.

The Haj Subsidy has been withdrawn as per Supreme Court order of 2012. By withdrawing subsidies for Haj pilgrimage, the Modi Government- has upheld not only the decison of the Hon'ble Supre Court buy also the Islamic law read with Koranic verses - which states that a as India is a Secular Nation - taking subsidy for Haj is not as per religious rules of Islam .

Although most major political parties have been voted to power at the Centre over the last seven decades, no party or coalition of parties had the courage to touch this issue, lest it be seen as hurting Muslim sentiment, which actually acted as an act of aggression on Muslim Religion

Further to note , Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi announced that the money spent on Haj subsidy would be utilized for social welfare. These funds were  be used for education and other welfare measures for Muslim women and girls.

All Padma awards were not given to film stars or cricket players as was the case with previous government, but were awarded, for the first time, to those who have really contributed worthy of making our India great and proud. All the 4 years the awards were given to highly deserving people, who did not have god-father.

The petrol dues of $6.5 billion worth of oil borrowed from Iran had not been cleared by the previous government. But Modi government has cleared it in one lump sum. Iran has agreed to accept oil payments in Indian rupees, not in US Dollars. Saudi Arabia has promised to open an oil refinery in Mumbai. Further, Saudi Arabia has agreed to give petrol in exchange of water!!

The speed with which Kulbhushn Yadav case was moved to International Court of Justice prevented the hanging of Yadav. Harish Salve, who argued the case for India, did not take any money or fees, except a token amount of Rs. 1 mainly because Modi is a clean handed man!

More than 1 crore people have voluntarily surrendered cooking gas subsidy. Further, the subsidies are being credited to the bank account of the customers, thus stopping the leakage of crores of money which was consumed by the different oil companies. More than 18 lakhs of villages have been electrified in a record time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) under the ministry of petroleum & natural gas on May 1, 2016, from Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district. The Rs 8,000 crore scheme aims to provide LPG connections free of cost to 5 crore below poverty line (BPL) households. For 2016-17, the target was set at 1.5 crore households, which the ministry achieved in just nine months, and it has been able to cover 2 crore households by the end of calendar year 2016.

The rapid progress of the PMUY has raised the percentage of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe house holds with LPG connections to 37% of the total LPG coverage in the country. The same has risen to 13% for minorities. Priority is given to states where LPG penetration is below the national average, such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Ujjwala independently addresses women, mainly from the economically weaker sections, as it must contribute towards making the lives of women and children easier and healthier, so that they don’t spend time collecting firewood and other unhealthy items.

An oil ministry statement said that, in FY17, the three fuel retailers—Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum—issued a total of 3.75 crore new LPG connections, the highest number given in any year, including connections under the PMUY scheme. As a result, the LPG coverage in the country jumped to 72.8%, with 19.88 crore active consumers, as on April 1, 2017. 5 crore people have got free gas connections. Apart from the successes, there are multiple challenges too, such as inadequacy of authenticated data on BPL population and identification of poor households, in transferring subsidies as it may involve leakages.

According to International Labour Organisation (ILO), India recorded the highest average real wage growth in South Asia during 2008-17. In South Asia, India led the average real wage growth in 2008-17 as 5.5 against a regional media of 3.7.

According to Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion (CDFI), that uses technology for financial inclusion, says that the government has transferred over Rs. 1600 crore to eligible mothers under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.

The Delhi-Meerut expressway was commissioned in just 500 days! Likewise, 9.15 km long Dhola - Sadiya Bridge, named after Assam singer Bhupen Hazarika has brought a great relief to the people of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, as these two states are now connected. This bridge reduces the cost and time of travel time by 7 to 8 hours and will open new doors to economic development making the NE region as a top economically developed region. The Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP).

Around 65 lakhs of new tax-payers have been added in these 4 years. This means to that black money which was circulating in the economy has been eliminated.

 The Foreign exchange reserves have touched $421.12 billion, which is a historic high record.

 In a report disclosed by RTI activist Lokesh Batra, it has come to light that the amount spent by the ex-Vice President Hamid Ansari on his foreign trips was 7 times higher than PM Modi spent on all his foreign trips. Modi travels during the night to foreign countries so that he can sleep in the airplane to avoid expensive hotel bills in foreign countries.

Expressway in Gurugram, which was recently inaugurated by the Prime Minister Modi, is expected to relieve the traffic congestion of the National Capital region (NCR). This is because this Expressway links the National Highways number 1, 10, 8 and 2 running through the districts of Sonepat, Jjajjar, Gurugram, Mewat and Palwal. Likewise, the Prime Minister Modi also inaugurated the Eastern Peripheral Expressway or the Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh.

To sum up some of the  wonderful things which Narendra Modi has done are –

Modi initiated was to dismantle the long-standing relic of economic planning, the Planning Commission, and also eliminate the distinction between planned and non-planned expenditure in the country’s annual budgets. These changes signalled the completion of India’s ideological shift in economic thinking, away from the state-led planning of the Nehruvian era towards a market-oriented approach of development. A major drawback of the Planning Commission had been that it created rigid national schemes, which required states to implement them by setting aside a significant share of funds. This left the states grossly disempowered.

With the dismantling of the institution, the states were now left with more discretion over how to use their funds. The government also accepted a proposal of the Finance Commission to give state governments 42% of central tax receipts, up from 32%. 

Advancing far on the reform process, the private sector was given further leeway in sectors where the state was proving incompetent. A cap on foreign investment in the defence sector was lifted from 26% to 49%. Similarly, furthering Vajpayee’s initiative to allow private entry into the insurance sector, the cap for foreign investment in it was raised to 49% as well.

The World Bank noted in its 2018 Doing Business report that India had adopted thirty-seven reforms since 2003 and nearly half of them had been introduced in the last four years.

A few of the key reforms that the World Bank alludes to have been game-changing in their expected long-term impact on the economy. The first arose from a strenuous legacy of rising non-performing assets (NPA) with public sector banks that the BJP government had inherited. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, was passed in parliament to address the issue. The code allows either the creditor or the borrower to approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to initiate insolvency proceedings. It further lays down provisions for debt resolution within a span of three to five months.

The second major reform by the BJP government on the economic front came in the form of the biggest tax reform in Indian history with the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), after well over a decade in the making. The tax, which aims at simplifying the tax structure of the country by replacing the erstwhile multilayered complicated tax system, was introduced in 2017

The new tax system eliminated the maze of check posts at state borders, where lorries transporting goods typically used to languish for hours. It is expected to transform into higher ease of doing business in the economy and translate into facilitation of a high-growth trajectory.

The third major contrast in the BJP government to the previous one has been in its approach towards combating corruption. While the second term of the UPA had been mired in corruption scandals right at the top, the complete absence of any such cases since then has been refreshing. The government has also been focused on addressing the problem of black money in the economy. A successful effort has been made in managing to end the data secrecy of money stashed in Swiss banks, which has long been perceived as a haven for illicit wealth.

The fifth major achievement of the Modi government has been able to control that to a good extent. While the YoY inflation growth has been negative, the mean inflation rate lies around 4% which is a good indicator 

In short we can conclude by saying that FIIR EK BAAR Modi SARKAR -- is more likely to provide a strong & active Government with a much better 'law & order'. In such a case, minorities would feel much safer. Major community would also feel much better, as a part of the sense of 'being wronged against' & of 'appeasement' of minorities, would get mitigated, which would reduce their anger against the minorities. The neighboring countries both having hostile and friendly relations would have to respectfully treat India, knowing that India is in the hands of the perfect Prime Minister 

Jai Hind