Seema Chishti

Hyderabad rape-murder case: From Parliament to social media, from chief ministers to actors and sports stars, several invoked the “delay” in the judicial system to justify the killings.

In 1979, Kundera was stripped of his citizenship of undivided Czechoslovakia. He had published a book in France called The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, whose best known line is: “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting”.

On Saturday, AIMPLB advocate Zafaryab Jilani stopped short of saying they would go for a review, despite several members of the Board making it clear that they were “not satisfied” with the Supreme Court’s verdict.

Ayodhya verdict: The 1,045-page order — its context and contents — broken down.

Surveillance via WhatsApp: Appealing to the government to reveal information on the attack, at least 19 activists said it was a matter of public concern whether Indian taxpayer money had been spent on the cyber surveillance.

Inquilab writes “that instead of taking refuge behind these statements, the government should have appointed a committee of experts and should have started enquiries about what had happened, why and at whose behest?”

Asked what the system should do to ensure that such surveillance does not happen illegally, Justice Srikrishna told The Indian Express: “Generate strong public opinion against what you see as a clear onslaught on democratic and Constitutional rights of citizens.”

The demolition of Babri Masjid signified a total breakdown of not just the rule of law, but of the Constitution itself, says Madhav Godbole.

On November 7, a district court in the Israeli capital will hear arguments on why the country’s Ministry of Defence needs to cancel Pegasus-developer NSO Group’s export licence.

On Thursday, The Indian Express reported that Facebook-owned WhatsApp confirmed it was aware that journalists and human rights activists in India were targeted for surveillance and it had contacted each one of them.

Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, the most senior judge in the Supreme Court after CJI Ranjan Gogoi who retires on November 17, spoke to The Indian Express on his priorities, ideas and the road ahead.

It is learnt that at least two dozen academics, lawyers, Dalit activists and journalists in India were contacted and alerted by WhatsApp that their phones had been under state-of-the-art surveillance for a two-week period until May 2019.

The tussle to stake ownership over Ayodhya, and define it by the Hindu-Muslim question, has concealed the myriad other factors that have gone into making the city and, by implication, India.

The editorial goes onto say that, “instead, in Court, the Hindu side focussed on the question of the birthplace of Lord Ram and puja rights. The Court had asked for a mediation panel, which has now given its report.”

AYODHYA CASE: In its submission, the Nirmohi Akhara, which is one of the main parties to the dispute, has projected six possible scenarios and outlined its opinion on each. It argues that it is the lead claimant for building the temple, if allowed, as it holds the ‘shebait’ rights there since the 18th Century.

On the last day of hearing in the Ayodhya matter, the mediation committee submitted the contours of a "deal" to the Supreme Court premised on the chairman of the Sunni Waqf Board offering "no objections" to the government taking over the disputed portion of the land

As the 40 days of hearings are over, and just before the Lordships are set to rule on the matter, it is good to recall that it will be 27 years since the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya this December.

The parties which are part of this proposed “settlement” are the Hindu Mahasabha, Akhil Bhartiya Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Punaruddhar Samiti, and Shri Mahant Rajendradas of the Nirmohi Ani Akhara.

Sources told The Indian Express that the committee will start work and refer to the state government, as per its terms of reference, cases that merit a relook or withdrawal of proceedings.