My Letter to the Chief Justice of India
My Letter to the Chief Justice of India,
Supreme Court, New Delhi.
I have addressed the following letter to the CJI. The letter is sent by Speed Post.
Copies have been sent by ordinary post to The President of India, Shri Arun Jaitley, BJP Offices in New Delhi, Shri Ram Madhav (RSS) and Dr. Praveenbhai Togadiya (VHP)
18th November 2013
The Chief Justice of India
Supreme Court
Tilak Marg, New Delhi 110001
Your Lordship,
Sub: Prayer for stopping the
Subversion of our Constitution
Hindu Voice is a registered Monthly magazine, published in English and Hindi, since April 2002, espousing the cause of Hindutva. We have subscribers all over the world, to whom copies are sent every month by post.
Hindu Voice is a registered Monthly magazine, published in English and Hindi, since April 2002, espousing the cause of Hindutva. We have subscribers all over the world, to whom copies are sent every month by post.
I
am concerned at the blatant subversion/violation of our constitution,
by our Central and State Governments. Hence I am writing to you,
requesting for remedial measures.
Enclosed
is a copy of a letter dated 31st October 2013, from the CPIO and the
Under Secretary to the Govt. of India, New Delhi, addressed to a reader
of Hindu Voice, Shri Anil Shantaram Gudekar, giving information under
the RTI Act, 2005, on Articles 29, 30, and 350 A&B.
Article
29 of our Constitution titled ‘Protection of interests of minorities’
says: “Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or
any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its
own shall have the right to conserve the same”. The Article does not
talk about ‘Muslims’ or ‘Christians’ or religion, but only about
‘language, script or culture’. So, the question of ‘religious minority’
does not arise at all.
I
am a Tamilian (from Tuticorin) and am settled in Mumbai since January
1970. Article 29 gives me the right to conserve my ‘language, script or
culture’. Looking at the diversity of our nation (with different castes,
languages, scripts, life styles, etc), the framers of our Constitution
have prudently inserted Article 29, with a view to strengthening
national integration.
However,
this Article 29 meant for protecting the ‘language, script or culture’
has been distorted to give it a religious (read communal) colour. The
Article is twisted to mean only Muslims and Christians, against the
intention of our Constitution framers. The term ‘language, script or
culture’ is given a go by and the term ‘religious minorities’ has taken
its place.
Further
this right to conserve the ‘language, script or culture’ is denied to
those who have settled in J&K, Nagaland, Mizoram, etc. from other
parts of our country, by the majority community there. On the contrary,
the majority in these states are still treated as a minority.
This is a subversion of our Constitution by the continuous governments at the Centre and in the States.
Further,
the Govt. of India has enacted a law - National Commission for
Minorities Act, 1992, without defining the word ‘minority’. However,
under this act, the Govt. has declared five religious communities -
Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Bhuddists and Parsis - as minorities.
Article
15 (1) of our constitution says: “The State shall not discriminate
against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place
of birth or any of them”.
When
the constitution prohibits any discrimination of the citizens on the
basis of religion, how can a law be enacted discriminating people on the
basis of religion? Hence, the National Commission for Minorities Act,
1992 is unconstitutional.
First,
the Govt. of India has snatched away the rights available to me as a
linguistic minority in Maharashtra and has wrongly conferred it on
religious minorities, i.e. Muslims and Christians, violating Article 29
of our Constitution.
Second,
by enacting a law - National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 - the
Govt. of India has violated Article 15 (1) of the Constitution.
I therefore pray to your Lordship:
I therefore pray to your Lordship:
(1) To declare that the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 is ultra vires Article 15 (1) of our Constitution.
(2) To declare unconstitutional the pronouncement of our Prime Minister that ‘Minorities, particularly Muslims, must have the first claim on our resources’ made on 9th Dec. 2006 at the National Development Council Meeting in New Delhi.
(3) To ban all reservations by the Central and State Governments, made on the basis of religion, violating Article 15 of our Constitution.
(4) To order all state governments to wind up their Minority Affairs Ministry, or instruct them that the MAM should protect and conserve the ‘distinct language, script or culture’ of people of other states settled in their states, and no religious tone should be attached to MAM.
(5) To order all political parties that any reference to religious minorities amounts to dividing the citizen on the basis of religion and is a violation of our Constitution and hence it should be stopped forthwith.
(6) To declare that all the schemes, special privileges and monetary benefits given to anyone on the basis of religion and all pronouncements made favouring religious minorities, either by the Central or State Governments, are null and void.
(7) To ban the establishment of “Special Courts” for speedy trial of Muslims, and also to ban all Sharia courts.
(8) To order the abolition of Minority Commissions established by all state governments on religious basis.
(9) To ban the establishment of ‘Minority Cells’ based on religions, by all political parties.
(10) To ban the appointment of any Committee, present or in future, to recommend welfare schemes for the benefit of any section of the citizens on the basis of religion.
Your
Lordship will understand that ours is a secular nation, and anything
done on the basis of religion is against the canon of secularism
enshrined in our constitution. But the Govt. of India is tomtoming about
secularism and at the same time is providing special privileges to a
section of the people purely on the basis of religion. This is just
oxymoron, apart from being unconstitutional. Also, discrimination on the
basis of religion is against the canons of Justice, Equality and
Fraternity as enshrined in the Preamble to our Constitution.
I hope your Lordship will take this letter as a PIL, hear my appeal favourably and grant my prayers.
Yours truly
(P. Deivamuthu)
Editor, Printer & Publisher
Hindu Voice
(P. Deivamuthu)
Editor, Printer & Publisher
Hindu Voice
.