: P.O.BOX 5728 SRT NAGAR, NEW DELHI 110055 (BHARAT); Email : [email protected] No. Sm1319/2070 (For Private Circulation Only) Paush Vik Samvat 2070. Yugabda 5115 Tel: 91-11- 23684445; Fax: 91-11-23517722 16 January 2014. 1. FESTIVALS: Magh Purnima, also known as communication satellite into geosynchronous Maghi Purnima, the day of the of transfer orbit. Magh falls on February 14 this year. According to "The launch has been so precise that the satellite Vaivarta Purana, Bhagwan resides was put just 40 metres within the 179km perigee in the water of Ganga on this day. Purnima and only 50km of the 36,000km apogee," mission is a bathing day as sacred as Purnima. A director K Sivan said. bath at Sangam at Prayag is considered the most ISRO achieved the feat after two failures earlier. auspicious on this day. Grand festivities take place While Bharat has mastered the PSLV range of along the banks of holy rivers like Ganga, rockets with a string of 25 consecutive successes, Yamuna, Sarayu, Narmada, Tapti, Kaveri, GSLV, which can carry heavier payloads and Godavari etc. Taking a holy dip on this day in including humans to space, has remained a Kumbakonam, Kanyakumari and Rameshwaram challenge. in Tamilnadu and in Rajasthan is also Cryogenics, the science of extremely low considered to be very auspicious. temperatures, has posed a challenge to rocket The 'float' festival is celebrated at Madurai in scientists across the world. With this GSLV-D5, , on this day. The ornately decorated Bharat is joining countries like the US, Russia, idols and images of Lord Sundeshwara and Japan, France and China which have successfully Meenakshi are mounted on the floats and are taken developed their own cryogenic engines. to Mariamman Teppakulam Sarovar which is a 3. MAKAR CELEBRATED: large sacred tank in Madurai. The procession is Tens of thousands of faithfuls on took accompanied by music and chanting devotional holy dip in rivers and ponds and offered prayers in songs. Magh Purnima is the birthday of King temples on the auspicious occasion of Makar Tirumala Nayak who constructed the Mariamman Sankranti which was celebrated across the country Teppakulam, a few kilometres to the East of with gaiety and fervour. Braving early morning Madurai. winter chill, devotees in North Bharat bathed in There is a special significance of this day in sacred rivers and ponds and made a beeline to Buddhism as well. It is believed that Gautam temples to offer prayers. Buddha announced his impending nirvana on this The devout offered goods made of "til" (sesame) day. There are religious ceremonies held at to the poor, an act of charity believed to bring Viharas, prayers are dedicated to the Buddha. spiritual benefit on when the Sun 2. SUCCESSFULL LAUNCHING OF GSLV enters the Tropic of Capricorn. WITH INDIGENOUS CRYOGENIC In Allahabad, thousands converged at the Sangam, ENGINE: Indian Space Research Organisation the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical (ISRO) successfully launched GSLV-D5 rocket on , to take a holy dip. 5th January, which is powered by an indigenous In Kanpur, Makar Sankranti, also known as cryogenic engine, from the Satish Dhawan Space Khichdi, was celebrated amid religious fervour. Centre in Sriharikota. People distributed khichdi among homeless and Seventeen minutes after liftoff at 4.18pm, the poor as a mark of charity. Around 10-12 lakh rocket successfully injected GSAT-14 devotees took a holy dip in the Ganga on the

1 occasion of Makar Sankranti in Sagar, a West Magh or Bhogali Bihu in North-East: The Bengal island considered auspicious by . entire northeastern region is a land of festivals. All Colourful kites dotted the skyline of many towns the janjatis, people inhabiting the plains and the hills on the occasion with children, young and old rejoice in their festivals all around the year. Magh camping themselves on rooftops to enjoy the Bihu or Bhogali Bihu is a harvest festival which is festival. In Pink City Jaipur, where Makar Sakranti celebrated in the month of January. Bhogali bihu is is celebrated as a festival of kites, enthusiasts celebrated at a time when all the cultivation works perched themselves on the roof of their houses at get over and everyone has plenty to eat and enjoy. the break of dawn to fly kites. 'Uruka' is the first day of the festival and is devoted Variously hailed as "Tamilar Thirunal,"(festival of to the God of fire, . As the name ‘Bhogali' suggests feasting, this Bihu is Tamils), "Uzhavar Thirunal" (farmers' carnival), a celebration of food after a good harvest and a and "Aruvadai Thirunal," (harvest festival)" the variety of sweets are prepared from rice, coconut and celebrations got off to a colourful start til. On the ‘Uruka' night, community feasts are early in the morning in Tamilnadu. In both urban arranged by people preparing local delicacies with and rural regions, streets in residential localities fish and meat. The Gaan-Ngai festival: Similar to were decked up with colourful ornate drawings out Magh Bihu of Assam, the Zeliongrong tribes of of flour (Kolam in Tamil). In several towns like Manipur and Nagaland celebrate the festival of Agastheeswaram in Kanyakumari district, Gaan-Ngai on the same days. This is the biggest post "Community Pongal" was celebrated in which harvest festival which was opened on January 13 this people cutting across social strata come together to year by the Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur observe the festival. Special prayers were held in Gaikhangam. temples on the occasion. Temple elephants, now at 4. COMMON MAN ONLY CAN BRING TO a rejuvenation camp in Thekkampatti on the NATION ITS PRISTINE GLORY: foothills of Nilgiris district, prostrated before BHAGWAT: RSS Sarasanghachalak Dr. Mohan , the elephant-headed God, and they were Bhagwat on January 5 made a candid statement offered Pongal. that only and only common man in this country Lakhs Witness ' Jyothi': In an can bring to the nation its pristine glory. Dr. atmosphere of gaiety and religious fervour, lakhs Bhagwat was speaking at the concluding of pilgrims witnessed when ceremony of the ‘Sankalp Mahashivir’ of the deeparadhana was conducted after adorning the Mahakoshal Prant of RSS at Jabalpur, where about Thiruvabharanam on the idol of Lord Ayyappa at 40,000 RSS activists had gathered for 3 days. He 6.40 pm on January 14. While waiting for the said, “Nations cannot be built on behest of one appearance of Makara Jyothi on the eastern sky person, or a political party or an organization. The above the hill shrine, lakhs of pilgrims were nation needs a motivated, dedicated, organized overwhelmed by the darsan of Lord Ayyappa at society for that. The electrifying power of such an the Sopanam and the atmosphere was filled with organized common man only can bring the desired chants of ‘Swamiye Saranamayyappa’. change in the society. And that is the very reason The Sannidhanam and the surrounding areas of the why RSS has dedicated itself to the cause of temple, especially Pandithavalam, Saramkuthi and organizing the society for the last 88 years.” RSS Malikappuram, were thronged by the devotees. Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi inaugurated the Malikappuram Procession: The customary Shvir on January 3 at Vivekananda Puram Parisar Malikappuram procession, carrying the Thidambu located at Vijay Nagar. Sarsanghachalak Dr. of Malikappuram on a caparisoned elephant, Mohan Bhagwat, senior functionaries Dr Kailash was taken out at 7 pm. The procession went near Gupta, and others were also present on the the Holy Steps at the Lower Thirumuttam. occasion. 2

5. RSS HAS DONE GOOD WORK Karachi event. Krishna Leela performed by Ajay TOWARDS PROMOTING THE VALUES OF Salok Jagarnath and his team was a showstopper DEDICATION: DALAI LAMA: Tibetan at the event. Tehrik e Niswan had this unique spiritual leader Dalai Lama on January 10 praised event of dance performance and theatre play on the RSS for its support to the Tibetan cause and January 5 in Karachi. Tehrik E Niswan is one of said it has done good work towards promoting the the prominent groups of theatre play and values of discipline and dedication. Dalai Lama Dance in Pakistan. The group is mentored by was talking to mediapersons at the RSS Smruti Sheema Karmani. Many artists from Hindu Mandir premises after paying tributes to RSS community showcased their talent in the event. founder late K B Hedgewar and his successor Ajay Salok Jagannath from Pakistan Hindu Guruji Golwalkar at their memorials in Nagpur. and his team presented Krishna Leela which “RSS has always supported the cause of Tibet and received big applause from the audience in the hence I always had love for it,” Dalai Lama said, auditorium full with more than 2000 families and adding, “RSS thinks not just for Bharat but for the youngsters. Majority of the audience had come entire world.” RSS paschim kshetra sahkaryavaha from slum areas of Karachi like Lyari, Korangi, Ravi Joshi and Nagpur mahanagar Sanghchalak Lines Areas, orange town, kutti pahaddhi etc. Dilip Gupta accompanied him during the visit. 8. REUNION INITIATES MAJOR 6. GO-HOME LIBRARY - An Appeal: Having TRAINING PROJECT IN BHARATIYA ART 10 years experience in working with youth library AND ARCHITECTURE: Reunion is a movement in Arunachal Pradesh, where there is no department (like a state) of France located off the facilitation for supplementary books for extra African coast with a substantial Tamil population reading or libraries for joyful reading for school brought years ago to the island. This training going children in particular and the educated project is a major innovation as parts of the Tamil people in general, RIWATCH is launching a population work to re-establish their Hindu faith, massive programme called ‘Go-Home Library’. earlier generations having converted to Sathyanarayanan Mundayoor who has done Catholicism. pioneering work in popularizing good reading On December 23, a training agreement concerning habits among children through the Lohit Youth Bharatiya crafts was signed by Daniel Library Network will be leading the programme. Minienpoulle, president of the Reunion Tamil “If the people don’t go to libraries, the libraries Federation and Bernard Picardo, president of the should go to people,” with this objective government Chamber of Trades and Crafts in RIWATCH proposes to pack a bag of 20 books Reunion. It was signed at a conference in the and make it reach to the doors of the reader. It presence of the Consul General of Bharat, Raju proposes to launch 100 such bags initially in two George, the director of the government office of selected districts and later spread to other districts, employment and the director of the Reunion Island making it a gigantic movement to make reach Chamber of Commerce. Daniel Minienpoulle stimulating, knowledge-building and joyful reported that "over the past 30 years, major reading books at the door level of the reader. For renovations of Hindu temples have been made in more details please contact: Reunion. In an effort to transfer the Bharatiya [email protected] know-how, given the demand in Reunion and high 7. KRISHNA LEELA SPELLBIND unemployment, it is important for us to provide AUDIENCE AT KIRCHI KIRCHI KARACHI the establishment of a training facility for Reunion EVENT: It was an unique opportunity for artists artisans to learn how to do Bharatiya temple art from minority Hindu community in Pakistan when (sculpture, painting and decorating) in terms of they showcased their talent at Kirchi Kirchi maintenance and renovation." 3

In the early 1990's the services of sthapatis of solar energy and also how it works,” said Satish (architects) and shilpis (skilled workers,) experts Sinnarkar, vice-president of Keshav Srushti, who in the art of Bharatiya temple construction, was claims they got more applications than the number obtained from South Bharat. Their mission was to they had allotted for the activity. The earlier renovate the Indo-Creole style wood and concrete record was set last year at Jalna in Maharashtra, temples and transform them as much as possible to where 2,200 students took part in a solar cooking the South Bharatiya style.The first two temples to session. The children were amazed by the see this renovation were the Colossus Kovil, construction and working of these solar cookers inaugurated in 1995, and the Saint-Denis temple in and were surprisingly well informed. 1996. Nearly twenty temples have since been 12. PRAVASI BHARATIYA SAMMAN FOR rebuilt or renovated, and the process is still KURIEN FROM BAHRAIN: A top Bahrain ongoing with a potential further fifty places of businessman has been awarded the highest civilian worship planned. Private cultural venues have also honour for non-resident Bharatiyas. Varghese benefited from this renovation initiative. Kurian, chairman and managing director of Al 9. BHARATIYA-AMERICAN NAMED Namal and VKL Group, was honoured by the MEMBER OF CHINESE ACADEMY OF government of Bharat with the Pravasi Bharatiya SCIENCES: An eminent Bharatiya-American Samman award at a glittering ceremony in New scientist and president of the prestigious Carnegie Delhi on January 9. Mellon University in the US has been named a Kurian, who is the largest Bharatiya investor in member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Bahrain, received his award from Rashtrapati Subra Suresh has been recognised for his scientific Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of more than contributions in materials science and engineering, 1,000 members of the Bharatiya diaspora from including his work connecting nano-mechanical more than 50 countries. He is the only Bharatiya cell structure to disease states, the university said. from Bahrain to win the award this year and was 10. CENTURY-OLD TEMPLE CONFLICT one of the 14 global Bharatiyas to be honoured. ENDS: Supreme Court ruled on January 6, 2014 Addressing the gathering, Rashtrapatiji reiterated that the famous Nataraja temple in the town of that overseas Bharatiyas could play an important Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu will continue to be role in the growth and development of Bharat. He managed by priests and not taken over the state said they had within them the experience, government. expertise and knowledge gained as a result of their 11. LARGEST SOLAR COOKING SESSION: life abroad, which could be of immense benefit to As many as 3,484 children from over 80 schools Bharat.Kurian was singled out for his bold participated in the largest solar cooking initiative business initiatives that have cemented the already Suryakumbh in Uttan village near Bhayander, strong ties between Bahrain and Bharat, and his Mumbai on January 4. The event has qualified as philanthropy. an entry to the Guinness Book of World Records. Mahatma Gandhi's grand-daughter Ela Gandhi, The emergence of renewable sources of energy as Australian senator of Bharatiya origin Lisa Maria an answer to the imminent exhaustion of Singh, Canada-based entrepreneur and conventional energy sources pushed a Bhayander philanthropist Vasdev Chanchlani, France-based NGO, Keshav Srushti, to start with the most educationist Bikas Chandra Sanyal and influential members of society, children. Ramkrishna Mission in Fiji were among the other “We provided each child with his own solar 13 recipients of the award. cooker to assemble and, later, take home to share 13. HINDUS LAUD ALBUQUERQUE the knowledge with his family and friends. This PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR OFFERING : activity will help them understand the importance Hindus have applauded Albuquerque Public 4

Schools (APS) in New Mexico (USA) for RELEVANCE OF reportedly offering yoga in its various schools, and THE INSTITUTE OF JOINT FAMILY have urged all New Mexico school districts to do Dr Ashok Modak the same for their pupils. According to USA’s The institution of joint family is an asset in Bharat National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one as obvious as the sunlight. Tragedy however lies to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve in the fact that elite in Bharat who are enamored posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. by the modern life pattern in the Euro-American About 21 million Americans, including many world rush to deprecate this institution. They think celebrities, now practice yoga. Yoga was the that elderly people dominate joint families and the repository of something basic in the human soul members of young generations naturally come and psyche, Rajan Zed distinguished Hindu across several impediments in the march towards statesman said. modernity. The clashes between old style and APS, largest school district in New Mexico and modern ways generally result in the victory of the 30th largest in USA, has about 90,000 students, former, because protagonists of the ancient ethos including over 5,000 homeless, in its 140 schools. easily curb the aspiration of young boys and girls. Over a third of its students come from homes We cannot of course deny that whenever and where the primary language is not English; and wherever fathers and grandfathers happen to be one of its schools has its own film studio. Martin dogmatic and extremists, young members do find Esquivel is President of APS Board of Education. their stay in the joint family as quite 14. HINDU MUNNANI WELCOMES THE uncomfortable. And that’s why beautiful balance STAND OF TN GOVERNMENT ON RAM between old and new is a must for the healthy SETHU: The Tamilnadu government has atmosphere in the joint family. Overall reiterated the Supreme Court should direct the assessment, of course leads one to state that phase Centre not to implement the Sethusamudram of the joint family do overcome minuses. project. Sri Ramagopalan, Hindu Munnani, in a As the elites in India do impress common masses, press release, has welcomed the stand of their imitation of the life patterns prevalent in the Tamilnadu Government to scrap the Euro-American world has generated remarkable Sethusamudram Project and regard the bridge as a craze among ordinary souls for rampant national monument. He also cautioned that the consumerism. Such a craze encourages naked Hindus will not tolerate if any action taken by the selfishness and equally stark pursuit to raise living Central Government against their sentiments. standards at a fast speed. One may here refer to the 15. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Shri interesting comment made by Alan Greenspan, Saumitra Gokhale samyojak Vishwa Vibhag is on former chief of the Federal Reserve System of the a pravas to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Limited States, as it epitomizes the American Visitors: Jagdish Sehwani - USA , Vinoo Vadher, mood, reflective of the gilded age. The comment Subodh Thacker - UK , Vimal Chadha – Kenya , runs as follows: “The propensity to save is a sign Balesh – Australia , Abhinandan - Botswana of backwardness”. The Americans’ rush to FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Let us all work hard, implement this comment is practice has caused a my brethren; this is no time for sleep. On our work great damage to the environment. It has moreover depends the coming of the Bharat of the future. led people there to opt for subprime loans and to She is there ready waiting. She is only sleeping. indulge in shameless corrupt transactions. Arise and awake, and see her seated here, more Indian elites, prone to be Xerox copies of glorious than she ever was, this motherland of Americans appear to be busy in accomplishing ours. – Swami Vivekajanda. greed, least bothering for their relatives’ well JAI SHREE RAM being and for their own rainy season. They are 5

tempted to outsource several family obligations forget that the abandonment on my part of and responsibilities to market institutions. Thus, selfishness for the sake of my family is the forst cooking has been entrusted to restaurants, child basic step necessary for climbing the ladder for bearing has been put into surrogate mothers, care reaching the ultimate goal of वसुधैव कुटुबकम ।।। and the parents have been sent to old mens’ How can we forget the golden advice given by houses! Here we feel that the institution of joint Kunti to Yudhishtir when the latter ascended the family which imbibes invaluable samskaras or throne after the Bharati War that his mind should imprint on the minds of family-members to thumb of others! Indian family fully implements the always be great! “मनते महदतुच !!!” “O my son, Marxian dream: “From each according to his may your mind be always great, be always ability to each according to his needs”. An earning broad”. member of each family accordingly accepts the The role played by the mother in the joint family claims of all relatives over his or her income. Thus is indeed basic! If we want to do away with the an infant in the cradle as well as an unfortunate cruel speed of consumerism, permissivism and aunt who has lost her husband are treated as philistinism if we want to create calm, quiet and honorable claimants over the earning of working secure surrounding around us with a view to members. The very claimant similarly keeps aside enjoying healthy, fruitful life we must strengthen his or her greed and feels satisfied in the institution of a joint family. accomplishing bare needs! Author is former member of Maharashtra's A genuine family-man gladly abandons or legislative assembly. -- News Bharati sacrifices his personal interests for the sake of the English , 1/1/2014 family. In the epic , Vidura rightly advised Dhritarashtra to give a share of the MISSIONARIES IN INDIA: kingdom to the Pandavas and to ignore the CONVERSION OR COERCION? admand demand of Doryodhana on the ground that Philip Goldberg Pandavas and Kauravas belong to the same family Imagine you're poor and living in a rural area. and one person must be abandoned for protecting Your child gets sick. You manage to transport her the family. Vidura here quoted the following to a hospital or clinic. To your relief, the condition shloka for justifying his stand: is treatable. But the cost of treatment is not just यजेदेकं कुलयाथ, ामयाथ कुलं यजेत। beyond your means, it's beyond your imagining. However, says the kindly health care worker, you , ामं जनपदयाथ ामाथ पृिथवीं यजेत॥ can get the treatment free of charge. All you have (One person may be abandoned for protecting a to do is renounce the centuries-old traditions of family, the family may be abandoned for your people and convert to a foreign religion. protecting s town, the town may be abandoned for Such offers are being made to desperate the protection of the society and even the earth people in the villages and tribal areas of may be abandoned for the protection of the Bharat. Atman) I just returned from a month in that country, to This shloka thus, convey to us that in the human mark the Bharatiya publication of my book, life the family imparts basis lessons of sacrifice for American Veda. In the 18 cities I visited, the most the society. The family condemns that fellow who frequently mentioned topic was the shady tactics being inspired by the desire of enjoying the objects of certain missionaries. of pleasure or by avarice causes pains to others. Not all of them, mind you. Not the intrepid souls Our Hindu ethos no doubt, asks us to treat the who work selflessly to help the poor, the afflicted, whole world as family. One should not, however, and the illiterate, in the spirit of their savior's 6 exhortation to serve "the least of these." Such I heard about people being told that their missionaries have been welcome in Bharat for misfortune derives from their worship of Hindu centuries, and the Hindus I spoke to are grateful deities, because the idols are really forms of the for their good works. Devil; about village strongmen being paid to What is causing consternation and anger is a new coerce conversions from other villagers; about breed of zealots, heavily financed by American women given a choice of walking a mile to haul fundamentalists, who seem driven to pile up water from their usual source or using the new numbers like door-to-door salesmen racking up well conveniently dug in front of a church. The commissions. Determined, fervent, and creative in price? Conversion, of course. pursuit of souls to save, they sound more like the I don't know if these egregious actions are snake-oil hucksters of legend than servants of commonplace or rarities. I do know that they are Christ. dishonorable. They're about coercion, not spiritual Targeting mainly the impoverished and conversion; extortion, not the exchange of ideas. uneducated, some of their tactics make the hospital And, if I may say so as a non-Christian, they are bargain I described earlier look as reputable as an affront to Jesus, whom every Hindu I've ever ordering a book from Amazon. I was told of met regards as a holy man of the highest order if missionaries giving people temporary jobs in not an incarnation of God. I can't help thinking return for converting, and then threatening them that he would be as outraged by the deception with job loss -- not to mention eternal damnation - being perpetrated in his name as he was about the - if they reconvert to . Families have moneylenders in the temple. apparently been torn apart because the converts I told people in Bharat that most American are made to disassociate from the heathen. Christians would be appalled if they knew what I heard about missionaries who dress in orange was being done by their overly aggressive robes to look like swamis. Gullible and desperate brethren. I was tempted to wait until after villagers are told that their traditional gods are Christmas to test that thesis, but I decided that this actually corrupted versions of Christ; that the season of goodwill might be the ideal time. So, venerable saints and sages of Bharat's past were what do you think, my Christian sisters and really Christians; that the three horizontal stripes brothers? Is there some cosmic war for souls going traditionally drawn on the foreheads of on, in which anything goes? Or are there rules of devotees stand for the Holy Trinity; that the engagement that civilized people should observe? Upanishadic prayer that includes "Lead us from What would Jesus say? – Huffington Post, darkness to light" was meant as a cry for Jesus to 20.12.2013. save them. A mother is sick? A father loses his source of WHY DISCRIMINATE income and can't feed his family? The bus filled ON BASIS OF RELIGION with youngsters suddenly "stalls" on a dangerous Arun Jaitley mountain road? Well, say the missionaries, try The founding fathers of our Constitution praying to your Hindu gods. Hmmm, imagine that: envisaged the Directive Principles of State Policy nothing changes. Well then, see what happens if in Part IV of the Constitution. Article 44 of the you pray to Jesus. Constitution states, “The state shall endeavour to Wow! Lo and behold! The mother receives ensure for the citizens a uniform civil code medicine. The father gets a one-day job that puts throughout the territory of India”. Uniform Civil rice on the table. The bus engine starts again! If Code can only deal with rights of the citizens and one prayer to Jesus produces miracles like those, not religious rituals. However, some people imagine what converting will do! misguided themselves to believe that a uniform 7 civil code would be an interference in their crime because a criminal practices in a particular religious rights. The framers of our laws while still faith. States are now being mandated by the Union permitting separate personal laws dealing with Home Ministry to review cases of only persons civil rights did not make any exception with regard belonging to a certain faith. An atheist, agnostic to criminal law. A crime is a crime irrespective of and believers in faith would admittedly the birth marks of the criminal. His religious be kept out. A contradiction would also be there. beliefs cannot determine his guilt or innocence. The believers of Hindu faith would constitute a The Union Home Minister, Shri Sushilkumar minority in Jammu & Kashmir and certain States Shinde, has announced that he would be writing to of North-East. Would they be eligible for review all Chief Ministers to review terrorism cases in these States or would the majority in these against members of the minority communities. States be treated as national minority and be Obviously, he has only religious minority and not eligible for review of cases? What would happen linguistic minority in his mind. He expects the to cases (say against the Maoists) where some of State Government to set up Review Committees to the co-accused belong to one religion and others deal with cases against a category of citizens and belong to a different community. There can be no not all persons who have been charged for doubt that the criteria adopted by the Union Home terrorism offences. This raises certain fundamental Minister is clearly violative of the constitutional questions with regard to the propriety and the guarantee of equality since it is not based on legality of the move initiated by the Home rationale or intelligible criteria. Minister. The power to withdraw a prosecution is The move is clearly political. There are several circumscribed by section 321 of the Criminal persons charged with offences of terror in Bharat. Procedure Code. It is only a Public Prosecutor The provisions have been invoked against those who after application of mind for ‘good reason has associated with certain radical Islamic groups. In the power to move the court seeking withdrawal of the last few years there are a few members of the a case. The judge has to apply his mind to allow majority community also who were charged in a the withdrawal of a case. Criminal law does not set of cases. Maoists have been charged in terror provide for any review Committee for withdrawal offences in several parts of the country. The of pending cases where charge sheets have been provisions of the anti-terror laws have been filed. Whenever law makers have felt the need, invoked against some persons in the North-East they have specifically provided for such a Review and Jammu & Kashmir. There are pre-2004 cases Committee. An extra legal review committee pending under POTA. Subsequent cases are which substitutes the discretion of the public predominantly under the Unlawful Activities prosecutor and the judge follows a procedure (Prevention) Act. A move that only a certain unknown to law. The same is clearly violative of category of cases would be reviewed on the eve of even the provisions of criminal law. elections is intended to link the otherwise uniform The directive/advisory of the Union Home application of criminal law with vote bank politics. Minister to the States to discriminate between Such a move is clearly unconstitutional. Article 14 criminals on basis of religion is based on an guarantees to every citizen a right to equality. improper policy. It violates the constitutional There can be a reasonable classification based on guarantee of equality. It is violative of the an intelligible and distinctive criteria. The criteria fundamental principles and provisions of criminal that the facility of reviewing terror cases would be law. The States are not bound by such extended to persons depending on which faith they unconstitutional directives of the Home Minister. believe in or are born into is clearly (Writer is Leader of Opposition in the Rajya unconstitutional. A crime does not cease to be a Sabha) — The Pioneer, Bhopal, January 12, 2014. 8