Collegiums system or NJAC???

The NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission) was a proposed body which would have been responsible for the appointment and transfer of judges to the higher judiciary in India. The Commission was established by amending the Constitution of India through the 99^th constitution amendment and the NJAC act, which were passed by both the houses of the Parliament and signed by the president in 2014. The NJAC would have replaced the Collegium System (Three Judges Cases) for the appointment of judges as summoned by the Supreme Court.

The NJAC Bill and the Constitutional Amendment Bill, was approved by 16 of the state legislatures in India. Both the acts came into force from 13 April 2015. However, on 16 October 2015 the Supreme Court maintained the Collegium System and revoked the NJAC, labeling it unconstitutional after hearing the petitions filed by several persons and bodies.

The verdict had read that if the Union Law minister is contributing to the appointment of judges, how a society can expect the judges to work without being influenced by political parties.

The NJAC had a six member panel that included the chief justice of India, two senior most judges of the Supreme Court, the union law minister and two eminent persons. The two eminent persons were to be recommended by another panel consisting of the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister and the leader of opposition.

The judgement has evoked conflicting opinions, with one fraction supporting the NJAC and the other opposing it. Those in favour of the NJAC justify their stance by citing India’s 125 crore people that rule the country through their elected representatives in the different organs of the legislature. They say that the sovereignty of the nation which lies with the people of India cannot be compromised, which is exercised by the people through Parliament. The verdict has a strong opposition from the central government and also the opposition. They say that the Supreme court has upheld only one basic structure- Independence of the Judiciary but has declined other basic structure that are the elected government, the council of Ministers and the Prime Minister.

Union Minister, Arun Jaitley in an interview launched direct attack on the judiciary, calling the judgement flawed. He said that democracy itself would be in danger if the elected are undermined. There are also other learned jurists who have criticized the existing collegiums system and raised the need for a reform. K.P.S. Gill, a former DGP, said that India is the only country where judges select themselves, determine their own transfers and discipline themselves. He recommended the setting up of a judicial commission that would not only be responsible for the appointment and transfer of judges but also for seeing to it that judges perform their duties without any favor.

On the other hand, India is based on the Montesquieu’s theory of the separation of powers which state that one organ should not interfere with the powers of another. The state is divided into the executive, the legislature and the judiciary and has separate set of functions. In short, the legislature is to make laws, executive is to perform the law and the judiciary is to defend it. The legislature however cannot make a law which violates the basic structure of the constitution, which states that all its three pillars cannot interfere in each other’s affairs.

The judiciary exists to serve the people by performing various functions like passing and upholding judgments in the interest of the people, interpreting the constitution and also exists to keep the government in check. In such an institution, will government presence not mean compromising the authenticity of the judiciary in dealing with the legislature and the executive? Is intruding on judicial territory acceptable in the name of ensuring accountability or is there any ulterior motive of the government to keep the judicial bench under the eye of the government?

Ideally, there should be a check in each and every organization and the judiciary being one of them. However, is it necessary for such a check to come from Legislature? Moreover, how can you justify the veto offered to the two eminent persons and especially when such persons are elected by a board consisting of two persons from the legislature out of three.

Many even argue that judges are human and can be vulnerable to personal biases. But doesn’t the same law apply to the legislature. If the judiciary is vulnerable to personal biasness then so is legislature. Even the so-called democratically elected prime minister is not so directly elected by us or even the leader of the opposition.

There is no denying the fact that there is an urgent need of replacing the age old and erroneous collegiums system to make it more transparent but does it have to come from an already questionable NJAC?

 

“Three Girls” doodle for the ‘Indian Frida Kahlo’

Revolutionary painter Amrita Sher-Gil has been honoured with a Google doodle of her famous painting of three girls yesterday on her 103rd birth anniversary. The doodle has been created by Jennifer Hom. She had to modify the image to match Sher-Gil’s style and signature attention to the tone, texture and colour of skin and clothing.

The reach of the Google doodle is seen in Argentina, Iceland, Portugal,Lithuania, Serbia, Slovenia, Israel, Kenya, Kazhakstan, Indonesia and Japan besides India.

Sher-Gil is considered among the most important Indian female painter of the 20th century. Like her Mexican peer Kahlo, with whom she shares Hungarian heritage, Sher-Gil was a rebellious and adventurous spirit who broke barriers in art and life.

Born in 1913 to a Sikh father and Hungarian mother in Budapest, the artist was influenced by both eastern European and South Asian styles and standards of female beauty. She studied and practiced in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where she got her start as an artist and life consummate bohemian. After returning to India, she painted many portraits of her family and friends, the most notable being “The Three Girls.” A total of 95 of the 174 documented works she created over the course of her brief career are held in the collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art.

Sher-Gil’s art has influenced generations of Indian artists from Sayed Haider Raza to Arpita Singh and her depiction of the plight of women has made her art a beacon for women at large both in India and abroad.The Government of India has declared her works as National Art Treasures, and most of them are housed in the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.  A postage stamp depicting her painting ‘Hill Women’ was released in 1978 by India Post and the Amrita Shergill Marg is a road in Lutyens’ Delhi named after her. In 2006, her painting Village Scene sold for ₹6.9 crores at an auction in New Delhi which was at the time the highest amount ever paid for a painting in India. Besides remaining an inspiration to many a contemporary Indian artists, in 1993, she also became the inspiration behind, the famous Urdu play, by Javed Siddiqi, Tumhari Amrita(1992), starring Shabana Azmi and Farooq Shaikh. Her work is also a key theme in the contemporary Indian novel “Faking It” by Amrita Chowdhury. Aurora Zogoiby, a character in Salman Rushdie’s 1995 novel “The Moor’s Last Sigh,” was inspired by Sher-Gil.

 

Anthrium Festival: An overview

The three day (1^st to 3^rd October) Anthurium festial was held in Lengpui, about 40 kms from Aizawl. The Anthurium festival this year, like every year was organized by the state tourism department and the horticulture department. The main objective of the festival was to promote the cultivation and marketing of the Anthurium flower and attracting more tourists to the scenic beauties of the state. The festival highlighted the rich and rhythmic cultural dances and folk songs, local games, food, handlooms, and of course the enthralling Anthurium flower.

This year, Mizoram Bamboo day was also held along with the festival to promote the state’s bamboo industries and showcased handicrafts made of bamboo canes. At least 20-25 stalls were opened to showcase the artistic works done out of the bamboos by the local men and people from the neighbouring states. There were stalls from the Manipur, Tripura and Assam.

There was a mixture of both local and non local cuisines in the festival. Popular cuisines like Briyani, Chow mien, Fried Rice, Momo, Beef fry, Dosa were available. Local dishes like Sawhchair could also be tasted. The festival also served the local Mizo drink Zu-fang.

The dances that were performed included the Chheihlam, Solakia and Cheraw, which is popularly known as the bamboo dance. The festival also presented the specific dance forms of the Brus and the Chakmas. Apart from the dances there were also some live musical performances by some of the renowned local Mizo artists.

The festival had a range of sports that could be played by the visitors. The games included fish hook, dart, 3 cards and many other. The organisers also made a Quad bike circuit for the people. There was also a highlight of the local Mizo sports like Insuknawr and Inbun.

The festival was held in Reiek village in the initial years but due to the increasing number of visitors each year, the organisers have decided to shift the venue to the mini sports complex, Lunglei. The small village of Reiek could not stand the huge inflow of visitors.

Can Mizoram be the next Bamboo hub?

Mizoram, a state with a population of 10 lakhs that lies in the north eastern part of the country has an economy based on horticulture and forest products. Although the state has one of the fastest growing economies among the states in India with a per capita income of Rs 50,021, the state still lacks in self reliance and has to depend on the centre for funds.

Mizoram being a state which is mostly covered with topical forest do not have enough scope for agriculture. Most of its cultivated land is under jhum and only 20 per cent of the demand for rice could be met within the state. So there is no question of exporting agricultural products. Now remains the option of horticulture and forestry. Although the state was not doing very well until now, the government is trying to explore its true potential.

The state has abundant reserve of Bamboo forest covering 12,54,400 ha, which contributes 14 per cent of all India Bamboo distribution. Around 57 per cent of geographical area of Mizoram is under bamboo cover. A total of 20 species of bamboo are found in the forests of Mizoram and out of these species, Melocanna Baccifera is the predominant species which occupies 95 per cent of the bamboo afforestation.

The state government however in the recent years have tried to build a self-reliant economy based on its forest and horticultural resources, especially on its bamboo industry. The bamboo which was once a curse to the state in the form of Mautam has turned into the very structure of its economic up gradation. Recently I was in one of the state’s premier tourism festival called the Anthurium Festival. There I saw a huge publicity effort by the state government to popularised its bamboo products. Not only within the state, but the state government is also trying to export its products to the rest of India and the neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Bamboo can be a useful tool for sustainable development, helping in agriculture, construction, handicraft, transportation, micro enterprises and industries. Regarding the use of bamboo in agriculture, its pipes are used to irrigate vast tracts of agricultural land in different agro agricultural settings. More than a million bamboo pumps are in current use. Bamboo is also useful in making dikes, dams, sluice gates, farm implements; floats fish traps, wind break barriers and several other articles.

Bamboo’s natural elegance and easy workability make it a choice material for handicrafts. The Mizos are very good bamboo artists, making elegant handloom products. The high rising Chinese manufacture more than 8000 bamboo and rattan items. There is huge scope for the Mizos to enter the bamboo handicraft industry and compete with the Chinese, with such a massive resource backing. When it comes to micro enterprises, it makes extensive use of bamboo in furniture, handmade paper, handlooms, curtains and blins, toothpicks, incense sticks and various other products. The incense stick industry in India has over 3800 production units that generates nearly 400 us dollar from domestic and export marts.

Bamboo is also an ideal raw material for many industries. The bamboo shoot industry in china earns 130 us dollar per year from exports. About half of India’s bamboo consumption is for making paper pulp. Other major uses of bamboo are in the production of rayon, activated charcoal and flooring and panelling products.

Now the real question is how to explore the bamboo potential of the state which seems to be underutilised.  My argument is that each state of our country has an individual identity of its own. It’s my firm believe that the state of Mizoram has huge potential to emerge as the bamboo state of India. Anybody from this state will take pride in the thought that there state can come up to be known as the bamboo state of India rather than a simple state in the north eastern region. Moreover with the coming of the look east policy, Mizoram can be a bamboo hub for Myanmar and other South East and East Asian countries.

Raghuram Rajan @ MZU

Mizoram University, today, was blessed with the presence of one of the most charismatic personalities in our country, the governor of RBI, Raghuram Rajan. He is considered to be the most popular governor of our generation. Raghuram Rajan served as the chief economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance before being the governor. He was also the chief economist at International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2007.

The prime purpose of his visit to Aizawl was inaugurating of a regional RBI branch in Aizawl. He came to Mizoram University for an interaction programme organised by the department of management.

The programme started with the national anthem sung by the management students and then felicitating him and the vice chancellor. It was followed by a Mizo song and a welcome speech by the HoD of management department, Mr E Nickson Singh. The VC (Vice Chancellor) then offered Raghuram Rajan with some mizo gifts.

Before the interaction session started, Raghuram Rajan briefed the audience on where India stands on the global market. He talked about his recent visit to the IMF meet in Peru. He said that the Indian economy is highly respected in the global scenario. “India is a bright spot in the global market.” He however said that India is not growing as par as its true potential. He talked about the global slow down. India is also hit by the global slow down as most of the big Indian companies are listed in the global market. He said “as the world slow down we slow down.””We try to compensate.”

He discussed the three aspects of the economy. He explained fiscal deficit, current account deficit and the country’s monetary policy. He talked about the recent cut of interest rate and how it will encourage the people to invest more. He also said that that some of the policies which might not suit the people in the short run will help them in the long run.

Talking about growth of the economy, he said that the countries economy has grown at a high pace of seven to eight percent from 2002 to2012. The growth rate however has become lower. The reason for it was that the industries have reached its institutional capacity. There was a time when mineral ores were distributed in the first come first basis. But now there is a huge push and pull for the resources. He also talked about inflation and the measures to control it. He talked about the land acquisition bill and also about sustainable development.

He talked about the payment bank, where the mobiles will serve as the mode of transferring money. He talked about implementing the same within the year. He finally concluded his speech by encouraging the Mizo youths to think about an alternative career in the RBI. After his speech, there were some questions asked by the various department, specially the management, economists, commerce, mass com and the education departments. The questions ranged from the mizo economy to the national economy and of course his personal ambitions.

Naga Village Culture

It’s a culture I’ve always considered the most unique in our diverse country.  Reading more about Naga culture led to a fascination which lasted for years. Now that I have visited this amazing place in pursuit of knowing more about them only added to my fascination.

What follows is an abstract from the book “Traditional Naga Village System and its Transformation” by A Nshoga. Hope it helps you to learn a bit more about the Naga culture. I might also come up with a piece on how the traditional Naga village is shifting towards the global Christian community.

The Village

The village is a group of dwelling houses, built it cluster with cultivable and uncultivable land around it. It is a habitat place for them and a center of community. The village may be located in high, low and plain (ideally top of the hill) with all the forest around it. The Naga Village is characterised by man-made enclosed bamboo spike fence and ditches with thorny or itchy plants around the village to act as a defence. The size of the village was mostly of that space upto which the lowing of a cow at the end of the village can be heard at night.

Selection of Traditional Village

To select a new village, it is a custom and tradition of the Nagas to send a team of experts, who would go in search of an uninhabited land by setting up a camp in the virgin soil and halt a night or two to examine the suitability of the site, whether the site is safe and secure from defence point of view, as well as the portend through the interpretation of their dreams to decide the selection, followed by settlement. The site is summarily rejected if the omen of their dreams was a nightmare or signify portend, though the site is suitable for habitation and in a defensible location.  The site should also be suitable for cultivation and should be near a water spring.

Location of the village and village boundary demarcation

The strategic location of the Naga village is the direct consequence of their head hunting culture. On account of the Naga warfare characteristic, the village is often isolated from one village to another. Every Naga village have their own defence arrangement by locating the village on an elevated position. The Naga village is generally demarcated by erection of boulders along the border of the area or designated with the help of a stream, river, ridge or mountain ranges. The demarcation of the inter-village boundary is defined with the consent of the two villages, performing a rituals according to the custom of the village in the form of oath that whoever violated the boundary would entail curse or death. Sometimes, inter village war took place due to encroachment of neighbouring villagers. The inter village relationship and ties between the two villages depended on well defined boundaries and how respecting they were for one another.

Nomenclature of a village

The Naga village is established with a distinctive name given to it. Naga villages are invariably named after the founder f the village, nature of the site, name of a river, peak, incident etc. Sometime, the name is given from the names of two or more villages into a common name for proper identification of the people. The name of the village is given after due consideration of the place and the nature of the environment. Improper use of name is said to have led to the believe that the inhabitants would suffer from diseases, famines, plagues, misfortunes and other natural calamities. In view of this belief, the naming ceremony of a village takes place by propitiating the deity or spirit with an animal sacrifice and offering of eggs, rice beer, chicken and rice. Naming of a village is given great precaution and intelligence. It is the custom and tradition of the Nagas that the name of the village is invariably given by the wise men, warrior, eldest member of the village or the founders of the village. Nomenclature of a village may be ascribed to anything thing but it is necessary to ascribe suitable title to it. For example- Viswema village is named after the founder’s name Vise and then to Viswema means ‘men of Vise’. It is believed that Jakhama is named after the term ‘Mejakha’ which means ‘to stop the ‘Mejamia’, the Northern tribes- Semas, Lothas, Aos etc from invading Angami tribe and thereby the word Mejakha came Jakhama.

Village Stucture

The village is the institution of political, social, economic and religious organisation, where all the cultures and customs are evolved. As already mentioned, every village is located in a defensive position to thwart surprise attacks from enemies. Proper arrangement of the houses according to the lie of the land in uniformity of the village was another unique feature of traditional Naga village structure. All houses were built in uniformity, where the front gable is arranged. The only difference in houses of the rich and the commoners was that a rich man’s house was decorated with a horse-horn, carved post and semi-circular gable roof but a poor man’s house is built with simple structure.

The village was divided according to clan or topography into Khel. A Khel is the smallest unit of a village institution, where the eldest member of the Khel represents as the head of the Khel. Each khel of the village has a Morung which serve as the defence of the Khel and the village. In some villages, Morungs were constructed in the middle of the village, while in the others it was constructed a few yards away from the village. There were also some villages, where the Morungs were constructed at the entrance of the village near the gate. The reason of constructing a Morung near the gate was to guard the village from enemy attack. The village defence is the foremost priority for the formation of a Naga village. In the past, no village could survive without a proper defence arrangement. All Naga villages were individual village-states.

The entrance of a Naga village was marked by a Village gate. A village gate was/is the index of village life and culture. It indicates the pride of the village. A gate is usually hewn out from a single tree trunk and engraved with various motifs, symbolizing various animal heads, sun, moon, stars, dao- case, ladies’ breast and a life size of hornbill, snake etc. The main object of constructing a strong wooden gate is the defence of the village. A village gate is also an indication of unity and integration of the people.

Ownership of village land

Land is the greatest assent of the Nagas, like any other community. This asset is held by the individuals, family, clan, khel and village. A land, which is held by the village, is the common property for the whole community in the village. Community land is possessed by the time when the village was founded. From this land, a sizeable plot of land is portioned out and residential and agricultural purposes in the village. In such type of land, every inhabitant of the village is the owner of the land but the allotment of such land can be done only by the chief and his Councillors of the village. Illegal encroachment of such lands is controlled by the village authority and a fine is usually imposed on the encroachers.

Traditional Naga village culture

Megalith culture is associated with the Naga’s origin. The ancestors of the Nagas trace back their origins from the cave. The Angami, Rengma, Lotha, Sema and Chakhesang traced their origin of migration from Khezhakenoa stone, while the Aos and the Phoms pointed their origin from Longterok (Rock of six stones) at Chungliyimti. On the basis on this tradition, Nagas have been associated with the stone culture. The ancestral remains of the Nagas are marked with menhirs to commemorate their past glories. Stone monuments have been found in all the Naga inhabitated  place and location from their erection of monoliths and megaliths where ever they migrated. The Naga feasts of prestige are often associated with the erection of monoliths infront of doner house to symbolise the deeds of men to cherish in the succeeding generations. It is tradition of the Nagas that the village is enclosed with stone walls for the fortification of the village to prevent the enemy’s attack. The Angamis ‘kuda forts’ are often built with massive megalith stones to fortify its village.

Tattoo: The practise of tattooing was one of the Naga culture found among the Aos, Konyaks, Phoms, Sangtams, Changs and Khiamniungans. The custom of tattooing was found both in men and women among the Konyaks, Changs and Phoms. Every Naga village has their own pattern of tattooing. After a head hunting expedition, the victorious warriors were traditionally allowed to have the beheaded man’s image tattoted in their bodies. The Konyak Naga, in particular, cover the faces of warriors with an extensive pattern of curved broad lines, giving them a fierce expression. The tattoos on their chests consist of geometric patterns combined with small figures of men which represents enemies killed in war.

Head hunting:  Nagas are bellicose in nature and head hunting was their favourite sport. Naga warriors were associated with head hunting, which was considered a benevolent act of bravery and manoeuvre. The practice of head hunting though barbaric in nature, yet it fulfilled the basic aspiration of the Nagas tradition and culture. According to the traditional tale of the Nagas, the origin of head hunting began from an orphan boy. It so happened that one day, an orphan boy brought a piece of wood, locally called ‘chingkho’, from the jungle and engraved a human figure thereon. To make it more perfect he decorated its ear holes with a kind of animal hair. Then with a cane, he tied the engraving to a bamboo post and placed it on a road side. Everybody that passed the spot saw the lovely human image. On seeing it they thought, “it would be more beautiful and lively to look at if human heads were kept on dangling by the road side”. Soon after that they decided to kill each other and since then head hunting began.

Naga Festivals

Angami- Sekrenyi                                       Ao- Maotsu

Chakhesang- Sukhrunye                          Rengma- Ngada

Chang- Naknuyulem                                  Khimaniungan- Tsokum

Konyak- Aoleang Monyu                           Lotha- Tokhu Emong

Phom- Monyu                                               Sumi- Tuluni

Pochury- Yemshe                                        Sangtam- Yemshe

Yimchungru- Metemniu                           Zeliang- Hega, Chega, Gadi

Naga Customary law exist where there is no written law exists where there is no written law. Naga customary law is unwritten law which varies from tribe to tribe and village to village. Customary law is the highest authority in a village and it is obeyed by all individuals, clans, groups and tribes. There is no authority or power above the customary law. Customary law cannot be rectified or amended. It is a fixed decision making body, which does not possess any short comings.

Dresses and ornaments: Who said Naga means ‘naked’? The paucity of clothes on the body of the Nagas cannot be the basis for speculation that the Nagas were naked. No doubt, during their remote past when the use of cotton was unknown, the Nagas at par with other primitive societies, lived with certain degree of nudity, but it cannot be speculated that they were devoid of using clothes out of necessity. The ancestors of Nagas have been living in isolation for many centuries without any interference from outside. That is why the technology of manufacturing clothes came much later in the Naga world. Therefore, when the foreigners came in contact with the Nagas they simply appellated the Nagas as ‘Naked’ on the basis of their physical description through a conjecture.

Nagas have a rich and unique culture of wearing ornaments by both men and women which is very unique from the outside world. The ornaments are made from different birds, animals, bamboos and even sometimes from human remains. The design of the ornaments varies from tribe to tribe and even from village to village.

Other unique customs of the Nagas

Feast of prestige

Beating of a Log-drum

Bachelor Dormitory