Activities of IOS Headquarters

Lecture on Judicially Derived Rights

In the first of the lectures series on the various facets of Indian law being organised by the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) a lecture titled ‘Article 21; Judicially Derived Rights As Fundamental Rights’ was held at the India International Centre, New Delhi, on 14^th September, 2003. Justice A. M. Ahmadi, the former Chief Justice of India delivered his lecture on the topic. Mr. Manzoor Ahmed, former Vice-Chancellor, Agra University presided, over the proceeding.

The program started with the recitation from the Holy Quran by Mufti Sarfarz Qasmi. In his introductory speech Prof. Z. M. Khan, the Secretary General of IOS highlighted the working of the Institute as well as of its various chapters.  He informed that the IOS up till now has conducted some 14 seminars, 12 symposiums and various other activities like Sham-e-Muzakhrah and debates under its various chapters.  Among the programs conducted by the Institute a three-day conference on ‘Fostering Inter Community Linkages in India’ and the conference on ‘Awqaf’ held at Jaipur are the recent highlights. Besides the much-awaited book ‘Hundred Great Muslims’ is due to be released very shortly. Prof. Khan informed that such is the reputation of the Institute that various government departments get in touch with it from time to time to access Data regarding various studies concerning Muslims.  This is recognized internationally and the IOS has today acquired a roaster status with the economic and social council of the United Nations. Its various chapters concentrate on various regional issues concerning the society and particularly Muslims.  He highlighted the need for greater collaboration, cooperation as well as contribution to fulfil this gigantic task and hoped that those institutions and individuals that are interested in the development of the nation will come forward.

In his lecture on the topic, ‘Article 21; Judicially Derived Rights As Fundamental Rights’, Justice A M Ahmadi praised the Indian constitution and its various articles which go a long way in preserving the fundamental rights of the citizens. It confers equal rights on citizens as well as non-citizens. Equality, Justice, Liberty, and Fraternity are the four pillars of the constitution as is evident by the preamble itself.  The Indian constitution is the longest constitution in the world only second to the former Yugoslav Republic.  Our constitution makers had a very broad perspective in view.  Articles 1 – 21 govern the individual rights of the citizens and show the generosity and the magnanimity of our constitution makers.  Article 21 – 40 deal with the collective rights governing the citizens of the country. It gives rights even to non-citizens and foreigners.  Article 14 states that no person shall be deprived of equality under any circumstances and ensures basic fundamental rights to the individuals.

Justice Ahmadi described Article 21 from its preparatory stages. Shri K.M. Munshi first introduced it in the constituent assembly. He took it from the American model. After many debates Munshi who had previously included life and liberty with the concept of property later separated life and liberty from the concept of property. Mr. Munshi then put forth the American model of  judicial review that the judiciary can strike down any law, which infringes on the fundamental rights of the people. Regarding judicial activism Dr. Ambedkar pointed out that the legislature is supposed not to make laws contrary to the fundamental rights of the citizens. Mr. B N Rao sought American expert advice from Justice Frankfurt as it was felt that it might fill the courts with review petitions.  Ultimately Article 21 was reconstituted as procedure established by law.  It reads that no person shall be deprived of his rights except in accordance with the due procedure established. Since Parliamentary decisions are sometimes governed by a brute majority which can act in different ways the court decided that the very procedure so legislated can not be arbitrary and should come in the ambit of the judicial scrutiny.  The Supreme Court thus widening its ambit observed that the court if it finds the law arbitrary can strike it down.  This was the first phase of the broadening of Article 21.

Justice Ahmadi observed that the constitution is not a temporary document. It is a document, which will serve for centuries to come.  It should develop with the society.  It should be static, then change, then that change becomes static and then again it should change. Justice Ahmadi reminded that the courts have widened the vision of the Article 21 from time to time.  Environmental issues like the presence of lead in petroleum, the right to privacy and right to life were dealt with in its ambit.  Regarding right to life Justice Ahamdi observed that in the passage of time it was felt that the right to life should not be viewed as a mere ‘vegetable existence’. So the emphasis was shifted to quality of life in which the education was considered as of prime importance. The court observed that the right to education is now element of right to life. He hoped that the element of compulsory free education would soon become the order of the day.

Indirectly referring to the recent verdict of the court regarding the Gujarat riots Justice Ahmadi reminded that in the Bomai case the Supreme Court had upheld that secularism is the basic feature of the constitution.  He stated that this ruling has found its place in Article 21 where it uses the word except in accordance with the process established by the due process of law, which effectively protects fundamental rights. He stated that the courts should act as the guardian of fundamental rights and consider it their duty not to allow the abrogation of this right.  He condemned the violation of the Fundamental Rights by factors other than law by some individuals who deliberately vitiate the atmosphere. It is for the citizens to fight for their rights themselves and bring such matters to the courts he observed.  A citizen should be fearless and assertive in his approach regarding the violation of his rights.  He informed that nearly all the public interests litigations are titled citizens’ Vs the state.  It is the fundamental duty of the state to provide equal rights to all its citizens and if this is not done the citizen is at liberty to approach the court regarding the upholding of his rights. The lecture ended with a brief question and answer session where the experts ventilated the grievances regarding the various interpretations of Article 21 and the Honourable Justice, responded to them aptly.

Mr. Manzoor Ahmed in his presidential remarks said that the fundamental rights have continuously been expanded by the judicial pronouncements and nobody has played a bigger role in such expansions than our guest speaker Justice Ahmadi. He quoted Hamilton that, “ laws are a dead letter, it is for the courts to expand and define their true meaning and operation”. The fundamental rights to life and liberty have been expanded during the last fifty years beyond recognition. The Supreme Court had given a very restricted interpretation in the Gopalan case. Justice Mukherjee maintained that personal liberty is the anti thesis of physical restraint or coercion, only Chief Justice Kania also maintained that personal liberty was the liberty of the physical body and very reluctantly included the right to eat, sleep as one linked with that concept.

In gradual expansion of the meaning of right to life and personal liberty it has now come to mean also the right to a dignified life. In the Maneka Gandhi case, that right has been expanded to speedy trial and right to live with basic human dignity. Again in Babn Singh Vs State of UP case, the Supreme Court held that speedy trial and delayed prosecution was violation of the fundamental right to life and liberty.

Mr. Manzoor Ahmed said that Constituent Assembly had elected in January 47, an ‘Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minority Issues’ and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was its Chairman. This clubbing of two important subjects is symbolic. In fact, the final test for the effective enforcement of right to life and liberty will be the extent to which the minorities and the weaker sections are able to enjoy these rights.

The programme came to an end with the vote of thanks by Prof. Z A Nizami, Director (Academics) of the IOS who thanked Justice Ahamdi and the participants.

Facts about USA

Discovered by the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492 AD, the United States of America (USA) is now a federal republic, composed of a fedral district (Washington DC) and 50 states. It came into being in its present form on July 4, 1776 with the declaration of Independence of 13 colonial states of which the American Union then consisted. Other states which were its former territories were later on admitted into the union as full states.

While the victory of the allies in World War-I made the USA a world power, the end of World War-II saw it emerge as one of the superpowers and with the break-up of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) in 1991, it became the only super  power. So, unlike past records, the world has a single superpower for a long period of 12 years.

Mr. Asif said that in comparison to India, USA is 2.85 time bigger in area, but 27 times less in population and has about 32 per cent more literacy rate.  However, the most astonishing fact is that its general citizenry is mostly uninformed about the outside world, including India. That is perhaps due to its very low rate of newspaper readers and news channel viewers.

There are 83% Christians (56% Protestants and 27% Catholics), 2% Jews, 1.5% Muslims, others 5.5% and none 8% in the USA. Even as the USA is known to be a secular state, Americans pledge allegiance to “One Nation Under God”. The US currency carries the inscription: “In God We Trust”. Congress opens each day’s work with a prayer, including this recent exaltation: “Blessed is the nation whose God is Lord.” Even the High Court that decides how much God can be in public lives starts off each session with, “god save the United States and this honorable court”, and displays a portrait that includes a depiction of Moses as the “law-giver”, holding the Ten Commandments. However, this does not mean that it is a Christian State. It is rather a State wherein a religion has an important say. One is so free to perform its religious activities that the Islamic Society of Boston took a shape in a hall reserved at MIT. It was there that the daily and Friday prayers as well as weekly religious seminars of classes began. Now the society is located in the suburb of Cambridge, MA. Whatsoever the outcome of the recent battle over the Ten Commandments monument is the Alabama state Judicial Building, religious symbols, words and activities in general will continue to be embedded in the government, the courts and other public places, remarked Mr. Asif.

So far as the origin of Muslims in the USA is concerned, it is said that they comprised even Columbus’ exploration team that reached the Bahamas, Cuba and other West Indian Islands by the end of the 15^th century. However, the mother mosque of America in Cedar Rapids, lowa, built in 1934, is said to be the first in the country that was classically designed for exclusive use as a mosque. Forming 1.5 per cent population of the union, Muslims have got about two dozens organisations, societies and institutes. Besides ISNA and ICNA, there are a number of Islamic centers and schools along with mosques in different cities and towns. About four dozens newspapers and other periodicals are being brought out by Muslims in English, Urdu, Arabic and other languages. There are also found a number of Islamic publication groups. About 8 million Muslims have joined different streams of American society, including media. The tradition of “hijab” among Muslim women is not so uncommon here. One noticed it in full swing at Chicago in the 40^th annual convention of ISNA participated by 35,000 Muslims.

However, it is also a fact that the USA is not the same union in many ways after 9/11. There has been a change, big change, particularly in its approach and vision, said Mr. Asif. Whether it is Pentagon or State Department, home police or fire department, airports or railway stations, Senate or Congress, think tanks or universities, every institution/organisation is still engaged in anti-terrorism planning and activities. It seems that the issue of security has dominated the scene at official and intellectual levels and it will take time for the US to come out of the dogma of terror. The actions by the US with its allies in Afghanistan and Iraq are seen in this context, said Mr. Asif.

However, the issue does not seem to bother the opposition Democratic Party and also the general people as a whole. They have now begun to speak publicly against the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act enforced a few days after 9/11. When asked the authorities concerned have no clear-cut and straight answers to the question: Is it justified to link the acts of some persons to their particular religion? What was the evidence to prove Osama Bin Laden’s or Taliban’s direct hand in the 9/11 attacks? Why did the US with its allies decide to move towards Iraq even before accomplishing the task in Afghanistan? Why did the US with its allies act against Iraq without the UN approval? Why has the US so far failed to show the evidence of existence of nuclear weapons during the Saddam regime in Iraq? Who has given the authority to the US to play the role of a liberator and establish democracy in any third world country? What concrete measures is the US taking to counter the apprehensions for a clash of civilisations as predicted by the Harvard Professor Samuel P Huntington?

Interestingly, the democrats and some of the people have also begun to ask these questions. Experts in the US opine that the fate of the Bush regime now depends much on the answers to these questions. However, it is to point out that the US administration and the general people clearly reject the apprehensions made by Prof. Huntington in his national bestseller, “The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of the World Order”, said Mr. Asif.

While visiting the USA, one gets the impression of the general people that it has been successful in establishing “an ideal welfare state”, but it has yet to reply to the above raised questions particularly about its foreign policy, said Mr. Asif.

Mr. A.U. Asif, who expressed his views at a programme organized on September 20, 2003 in New Delhi by the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS), was one of the six media-persons from South Asia to visit the USA recently under the International Visitor Programme and covered “The US Engagement in the Post-9/11 World”. He also participated in the 40^th annual convention of ISNA held at Chicago. He is now the chief of Delhi bureau of Mumbai Times group and the Jeddah-based Arab News group.

The Role of IOS Discussed

A meeting was held to discuss the challenges faced by the Muslim Ummah and the role of IOS in serving the Ummah and humanity in 21^st century on 1.8.2003. Following persons participated in the discussion:

1.        Mr. Manzoor Ahmed in chair

2.        Dr. Manzoor Alam

3.        Prof. Z. M. Khan

4.        Prof. A. R. Momin

5.        Prof. Z. A. Nizami

6.        Mr. Sajjad Shahid (Hyderabad)

7.        Dr. Ishtiaque Danish

8.        Mr. Ameen Usmani

9.        Prof. P. Koya (Calicut)

10.     Mr. Ziyaul Haque

It was eventually decided that working papers on specific issues as detailed below may be prepared for further and more focused discussions. These papers may be ready by 6.9.2003 and soon after steps would be initiated for further action.

Theme                            Author

1.   Global Scenario,         Prof. A. R. Momin

      Issues and challenges

2.   Challenges before       Mr. Manzoor Ahmad

      Muslim Ummah in

      21^st Century

3.   Status Report &         Prof. Z.  M.  Khan

      Challenges before

      Indian Muslims