Home   Contact Us                                                                         Dateline New Delhi, Friday, Aug 12, 2005

 

 


Index Page                                                       Archive


Sikhs, Jains components of broader Hindu religion: SC

     New Delhi: The Supreme Court today directed that the Constitution of India does not view Sikhs and Jains as separate national minorities beyond the periphery of Hindu religion. A three-member Bench said that Sikhs, Jains should be looked upon in a wide spectrum which comprises many faiths. "The so-called minority communities like Sikhs and Jains were not treated as national minorities at the time of framing of the Constitution. Sikhs and Jains , in fact, have throughout been treated as part of wider Hindu community, which has different sects, sub-sects, faiths, modes of worship and religious philosophies, " said the Bench of Chief Justice R.C.Lahoti, Justice D.M.Dharmadhikari and Justice P.K.Balasubramanyan while considering an appeal made by Bal Patil and others against the Bombay High Court.

     The petitioners demanded from the Union Government to notify : "Jains" as a minority community under Section 2(C) of the National Commission for Minortity Act, the Bench said: "We do not find that any case is made out for grant of any relief to appellants in exercise of writ jurisdiction of the High Court and hence, the writ jurisdiction of this (apex) court. " Rejecting the plea the Court said : "We should guard against making our country akin to a theocratic State based on multi- nationalism. Our concept of secularism, to put in a nutshell, is that the State will have no relgion." The Bench maintained, while asking the National Minorities Commission to " gear up it activities" to keep all religious groups in the right direction with " constitutional perspective, principles and ideals in its view". Justice Dharmadhikari, while writing the judgement for the Bench , stated that the Constitution had clearly laid down that the State will treat all religions and religious groups equally and with equal respect without, in any manner, interfering with their individual rights or religions, faith and worship." The designated Apex Court informed that in various codified customary laws like the Hindu Marriage Act, the Hindu Succession Act, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act and other laws of pre and post-Constituion period, the definition of "Hindu" comprised all sects, sub-sects of Hindu relgion, which also includes Sikhs and Jains. It said by accepting such an argument to recognise every religious group within the broad Hindu relgion as a separate religious minority was accepted and such tendencies of such sort were encouraged , " the whole country , which is already under class and social conflicts due to various divisive forces, will further face division on the basis of religious diversities". "Such claims to minority status based on religion would increase in the fond hope of various section of people getting special protections, privileges and treatment as part of constitutional guarantee, " the court said. It added " a claim by one group of citizens would lead to a similar claim by another group and conflict and strife would ensue".

     Making things more apparent the Court further stated that the framers of the Constitution had "engrafted" a group of Articles (25 to 30) in the Constitution recognising only Muslims, Christians, Anglo-Indians and Parsis as relgious minorities at national level by taking into consideration the historic background on how these communities had emerged over a long periods of time during the Mughal and British rule. It further said that the Union Government , in its affidavit, had taken the stand that in accordance with the law laid down by the majority judgement in TMA Pai case by the apex court regarding the statues of minority educational institutons in the country , it had been left to State Governments to decide as to where Jain community should be treated as minority . The Court noted that in States like Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Uttranchal, Jains had already been notified as minority in accordance with the provision of the respective State Minority Commission Acts.

Punjabi terrorist threat on Tytler, Sajjan and Gill (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Intelligence agencies have warned that three Congress leaders, including Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar and former Punjab Police Chief K P S Gill may be targeted by Punjab terrorists before Independence Day. Tamil Nadu Governor Surjeet Singh Barnala and All India Anti- Terrorist Front Chief and Congress leader Maninder Singh Bitta also figure in the pro-Khalistan hit-list. Intercepts by the Intelligence agencies have prompted them to alert police forces in Delhi, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. Security agencies are exercising extra precaution this year following the virtual indictment of Tytler and Kumar by the Nanavati Commission in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Badal says Manmohan's apology not sincere (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) Chief Parkash Singh Badal today said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's apology to the nation is not enough and it was done under pressure. It was not sincere and honest, he said. "It was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who apologised, not the Gandhi family. If the Congress was sincere, it would have apologised immediately after the riots," Badal told reporters after meeting President APJ Abdul Kalam here. "The apology was due to pressure from all quarters....otherwise why did the government give a clean chit to Tytler in the Action Taken Report)," Badal asked. Badal today led a delegation of Akali MPs and members of the Punjab Assembly, met President A P J Abdul Kalam. They asked the President for setting up special courts so that speedy trials could take place in 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases. Akali Dal activists said that the Prime Minister's apology was misplaced since he was not even a primary member of the Congress when the killings took place in 1984. Others who rejected the Prime Minister's apology included the Dal Khalsa and the Akali Dal headed by radical leader Simranjit Singh Mann.

Palace on Wheels employees protest against privatisation (Go To Top)

    Jaipur: Hundreds of employees of state owned Tourism Development Corporation in Rajasthan today began a hunger strike protesting the proposed privatization of on and off-board services of luxury train, Palace on Wheels. The Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) has decided to outsource the services of catering, housekeeping and bar facilities from a private company. The employees said if the hospitality services were privatized, hundreds could lose their jobs. "They want to give the catering, housekeeping and bar facilities to private companies which we are protesting. There is no scope of outsourcing at present as most of it is being outsourced. The interiors and catering is already outsourced. They want to sell it off to the some big industrialist. This is one of the profitable ventures of the state and if this is closed down then around 1,200 employees will be on streets," said Tej Singh, president of the employees union of RTDC. Meanwhile, RTDC officials said out sourcing a few services could not be termed privatisation. "I would like to clarify that this is not privatisation. We are just planning to outsource some activities of the "Palace on Wheels". The ownership remains ours, the control is ours, there is no question of privatisation," said Hridesh Kumar, Executive Director of RTDC. The train's revenue last year was 68.4 million rupees. It brings alive the luxury of princely travel through cities of historical interest like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur and even Agra. The train, which mainly caters to foreign tourists with expensive fares, is one of the major revenue earners for the Government.

References: Sikhs Jains Hindu religion supreme court, Punjabi Sikh Khalistan threat Tytler Sajjan Gill, Badal Manmohan apology, Palace on Wheels protest privatisation, Delhi high court Karishma Kapoor, Naxals police station Bihar Nalanda, Pak missile test provocative US, Ganguly captain Zimbabwe tour, NRI Lord Swaraj Paul cricket, Di Scotland Yard, prince Harry Sandhurst, Jennifer Connelly reading n shopping sex, women daily sex, India, India News, Newspaper, Indian, News, Travel News, India Travel Times, Travel,Tourism, Tour, Tourist, India, Times, News, Hotels, Airlines, Ayurveda, Yoga, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Cuisine, Festival, Temple, Trekking, Hindu, Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Odissi, Dance, Shimla,Varanasi, Kullu, Manali, Dehra Dun, Mussourie, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Hardwar, Rishikesh, Nainital, Delhi, Goa, Kovalam, Darjeeling, Bodh Gaya, Kancheepuram, Kanchipuram, Thekkady, Badrinath, Amar Nath,Vaishno Devi, Tirupati, Sabarimala, Guruvayoor, Kanyakumari, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Chennai,

     Previous File                 Go To Top
Home    Contact Us
NOTE:  Free contributions of articles and reports may be sent to editor@indiatraveltimes.com
DISCLAIMER
All Rights Reserved ©indiatraveltimes.com