Shaan Katari Libby

By Shaan Katari Libby ...

By Shaan Katari Libby ...

India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and does not have a national framework regarding refugees. But continues to grant asylum to a large number of refugees from neighbouring States and respects UNHCR’s mandate for other nationals, mainly from Afghanistan and Myanmar.

Even as the pandemic left behind thousands of orphans, the centre has put into place a system which makes it easier to adopt them. This includes a tracking portal, making the process relatively straightforward.

Both systems have pros and cons. While a good monarch with an ear to the ground can be an invaluable neutral voice, a president in a constitutional democracy can act as an advisor and a ceremonial head.

Rather like the passports of today, these would function as verifiable, credible, digitised records of inoculation that will be accepted across countries and enable one to bypass quarantine requirements.

India is considered the worst country for women due to sexual violence. Women are often seen as chattel and raped. In some nations, violence is needed for the crime to be seen as rape. Only a change of mindset can tackle this horrendous crime.

As an increasing number of political prisoners and activists are being put to jail, it seems like history repeating itself. Political persecution is a real threat to democracy and needs to be curtailed.

As diamond merchant Nirav Modi faces extradition from the UK on February 25, the fact is that India has not had much success in this sphere. With Vijay Mallya too facing extradition, the issue is a complex one.

The Data Protection Bill has been in the pipeline for a couple of years and it is a mystery when it will become an Act. Justice BN Srikrishna had led the committee that drafted the Personal Data Protection Bill.