Indian Opinion

Mukesh Devrari Supreme Court Judge A. K. Patnaik said, “Freedom of speech and expression is incomplete without the right to information act as uninformed opinion has no meaning. It is of no use. People must have access to information so that they could have an informed opinion on issues. Supreme Court of India gives paramount importance to personal liberty and freedom of speech and expression. It vigorously guards these rights against state’s encroachment”. He was delivering a lecture on Right to Information Act (2005) in the CUJ (Central University of Jharkhand) on 12 April 2014. Justice Patnaik described in detail the rationale behind introducing RTI act and procedure of using it. He also highlighted the grounds on which information can be denied. It includes anything which harms sovereignty and integrity of India, forbidden to be published by court of law, considered as a breach of parliament or state legislatures, fiduciary relations, information received from foreign ...

Mukesh Devrari  Experts from across the the country participated in the round Table Conference on ‘Naxalism, Development and Crisis of Governance in the Context of Jharkhand’, which was organized by the Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Management of Central University of Jharkhand on 26th March 2014. Conference was divided into four sessions ‘Is the Maoist Movement Critical’, ‘Dynamics and Drivers’, ‘The State as Problem and Solution’ and ‘Can the Future Be Better’. Open invitation was extended to all faculty members and students of Central University Jharkhand to attend the round table and freely express their views. However, during the discussion none of the participants explicitly mentioned that Maoists are actually fighting an ideological war with the state. Many of them preferred to describe rebellion in central India as land reform movement which has been degenerated into law and order problem of large proportions.  Practical suggestions were put f...

Mukesh Devrari  The debate initiated by William Westerman, Adjunct Professor at City University of New York, after giving a very brief introduction of his paper ‘Critical Edge of Cultural Work’ was enlightening and gave insights into the European worries as the economic fortunes of the western world is dwindling.   Here is basic information for the readers to understand the context.  Center for Tribal Folklore, Language and Literature  of the Central University of Jharkhand is organizing a seminar on ‘Tradition, Creativity and Indigenous Knowledge: Winter School of International Folkloristic and Indigenous Culture’. It is open to all students and faculty. Not many turned up but that is a different story.   The first day of the seminar was emblematic of the geopolitical realities of the 21 st century. China was confident. The US was worried, funds are drying up. What will be the future of arts and social sciences in the western world is a paramoun...

Mukesh Devrari  William Westerman Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York claimed in his paper titled ‘Disruptions to Culture: The Refugee Experience, Cultural Sustainability and Finding Accord with Indigenous Folks’ that native and migrant populations could live peacefully side by side by respecting each other in five different areas of human activity. He gave a simple theory in his paper presented in a seminar organized by  Centre for Tribal Folklore, Language and Literature of   Central University of Jharkhand on 12 Jan. 2014.  Westerman lists five arenas, where he claims that a varied set of people should treat each other respectfully. He increases the dictionary of ‘being respectful’ for his theory.  Here respectfully means acting without any coercion, force and exploitation. Here is a remedy given by him.   First is land, the only finite supply of land is available on earth and on every nation also and native inhabitants be...