Pairokar

Why I am a Hindu: an Utterly Disappointing Book I have finished reading ‘Why I am a Hindu’, by Shashi Tharoor, a Parliamentarian and an author. Frankly speaking, I am highly disappointed with his superficial and skewed understanding of Hinduism. The book is divided into three parts: My Hinduism, Political Hinduism and Taking Back Hinduism. The first part deals with the general concept of Hinduism. One must appreciate his description of certain Indian philosophies in anecdotal style in succinct English. It gives the bird’s eye view of the Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism and also about the reformist movements of the 18th and 19th century. But in the second part of the book, the writer has become diabolic against Hindus. The book nauseates with the writer’s abhorrence towards Hindu faithful. His acid-tempered description denounces and denigrates Hinduism. The title of this book should have been ‘Why I am a Hindu’ with a

There are Acts and laws galore for the welfare and holistic development of children but most of them remain unimplemented, be it Prevention of Child Labour Act, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act or Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. That is why; the Supreme Court of India taken to task the Central Government as well as the State Governments for not properly implementing those Acts. A child is the father of the man (woman as well), said William Wordsworth in his famous poem ‘My heart leaps up’. Children are the future assets of the country and any country which does not pay proper attention for the protection and growth of the physical and mental faculties of the children is bound to suffer in the long run. Child, as defined under various Acts, 'is a person who has not completed fourteen years of age’, in certain acts this limit is sixteen years. A child of such a tender age is expected to play and study and be carefree about his or her life. But

        ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ is such an oft-repeated maxim as it has lost its impact on the common litigants in India. There is no gainsaying that the rule of law cannot exist without effective judicial system, which is capable of enforcing rights in a timely manner that inspires the public confidence in the administration of justice. For the law to govern, the system through which it is administered must measure up adequately when mapped against the three dimensions of justice- substantive justice on merits, timeliness in the disposal of cases, and proportionate use of the State’s resources. Access to justice must ensure that legal redress does not become the preserve of a few. Unfortunately, apathy and ineffective governance have created barriers to accessing justice, which has resulted in granting limited access to the full range of socio-economic and civil -political rights available. Every politician of any stature, minister or a judge will invariably lay emph