HAPPY FEAST OF SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA! (July 31st 2011)

 

 

HAPPY FEAST OF SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May we truly imbibe his qualities of

Fearlessness: to fear no one, except God

Interiorisation&Involvement: to find God in all things 

Renewal:to be open- to change,to creativity,to commitment

Excellence: to strive for the MAGIS-to transcend the  

                                    ordinary and mediocre  

 

Like Ignatius we are called to be Fires that kindle other fires!

May his charism and vision enable us, with courage, to do so!  

Love and prayers

Cedric Prakash sj                   

(July 31^st 2011)

 

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PRASHANT   (A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace)
Street Address : Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052, Gujarat, India
Postal Address : P B 4050, Navrangpura PO, Ahmedabad - 380 009, Gujarat, India

 

Phone : 91  79   27455913,  66522333
Fax : 91  79  27489018
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com     www.humanrightsindia.in

 

JULY 17th-" DAY OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE!"

 

 

JULY 17^th : "DAY OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE"

-Fr. Cedric Prakash sj*

 

July 17^th, 2011, is for the first time being celebrated as 'Day of International Criminal Justice'. This date was adopted by the Assembly of the States Parties during the Review Conference of the Rome Statute held in Kampala (Uganda) in June 2011.  It also marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC), thirteen years ago.

 

The day is a celebration of the landmark steps that the international community is taking to reach a common goal of global justice and an opportunity for those who support justice around the world to make their voices heard.

 

In a message for the Day, Judge Sang-Hyun Song, the President of the ICC says, "Today, the ICC is a major international institution securing justice for victims when it cannot be delivered at the national level. Investigations in six country situations concern shocking allegations such as mass murder, rape, torture and the use of child soldiers. The total number of suspects that have appeared before the judges has doubled in the last six months. The first trial is concluding with the closing arguments set to be heard next month".

 

Today 114 countries have become members of the ICC. Grenada and Tunesia will do so in the next few months. However, some major countries like India have systematically opposed the ICC and refused to join it.

 

In 1998, India abstained in the vote which adopted the Rome Statute, saying it objected to:

• the broad definition adopted of 'crimes against humanity'
• the right given to the Security Council to refer cases, delay investigations and bind non-State Parties.
• the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction not being explicitly outlawed

Among the other concerns which India has, of the Court are:

v     the application of the principle of complementarity to the Indian criminal justice system

v     the inclusion of non-international conflicts - and hence Kashmir and other disputes within India - in the category of war crimes

v     the power of the prosecutor to initiate prosecutions

However, many of these objections / concerns are not based on facts or are based on an incomplete understanding of laws relating to the ICC. In 2000, an Indian Campaign on the International Criminal Court called "ICC – India" was launched.  This was mainly due to a concern of the existing climate of impunity in India.  This Campaign has brought together several organisations, human rights activists, jurists, lawyers and others from all parts of the country, in a relentless effort to see that India became a member of the ICC.

The growing communal violence, the consistent attacks on the dalits, adivasis and other vulnerable groups, State repression and torture ('encounter deaths') in some parts of the country, make it imperative for India to review its stand and be part of a global movement for Justice, which ensures impunity for none.

In more ways than one, we, in India, still have to wait to truly celebrate July 17^th as 'Day of International Criminal Justice'!

(*Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is the Director of PRASHANT, the Ahmedabad based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.)

17^th July, 2011

Address: PRASHANT, Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052

Phone: 79 27455913, 66522333
Fax:  79 27489018
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com     www.humanrightsindia.in

 

 

 

 

Statement on the Mumbai bomb blasts (July 13th 2011)

We strongly condemn the blasts in Mumbai!

Violence of any kind and on any one, must be eschewed!!!

Violence is NO answer for any injustice!!!!The perpetrators must be brought to book immediately and be severely dealt with.

We condole with all those who have lost a loved one..and pray that those injured, may have a speedy and complete recovery

Let us all, in a spirit of solidarity  ensure that peace and harmony prevail!!!

Fr Cedric Prakash sj

Director

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PRASHANT   (A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace)
Street Address : Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052, Gujarat, India
Postal Address : P B 4050, Navrangpura PO, Ahmedabad - 380 009, Gujarat, India

 

Phone : 91  79   27455913,  66522333
Fax : 91  79  27489018
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com     www.humanrightsindia.in

Indian Judiciary takes a stand.!!!!..(6th July, 2011)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indian Judiciary takes a stand!

-Fr. Cedric Prakash sj*

 

In the last couple of days the country has witnessed the Indian Judiciary take a forthright stand on behalf of the poor and the marginalized.

 

§        "The Salwa Judum is illegal", says the Supreme Court, while ordering the Chhattisgarh Government to disarm the SPOs and to probe their alleged crimes

§        "The Gujarat High Court has ordered" "the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to rehabilitate 10,283 families (60,000 persons) who have been displaced by the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project by October 9^th, 2011, the latest"

§        'Land acquisition is oppression', says the Supreme Court in a hard-hitting judgement on the Uttar Pradesh Government, calling it a land-grabbing State with a very sinister campaign

§        The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has threatened to take the Gujarat Government to the Supreme Court for delaying compensation payments to families of 238 Silicosis victims (most of whom are tribals)

 

The above and more is surely indicative of the need and importance of the role the Judiciary can and should be playing in our country.

 

 

(* Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is the Director of PRASHANT, the Ahmedabad based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.)

 

6^th July, 2011

 

Address: PRASHANT, Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052

Phone: 79 27455913, 66522333
Fax:  79 27489018
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com     www.humanrightsindia.in

 

 

 

 

 

Awake Ahmedabad! Awake!...1st July, 2011

 

 

 

 

"Awake Ahmedabad! Awake!"

-Fr. Cedric Prakash sj*

 

July 1^st comes as a powerful reminder to each one of us, of the supreme sacrifice of two young men Vasant Rao Hegishte and Rajab Ali Lakhani, who sacrificed their lives to save men and women from across the community divide.

 

The Rathyatra on the first day of July in 1946 once again unleashed unbridled passions with large sections of Ahmedabad city taking to the streets - killing, arsoning and looting. The city was engulfed in a communal conflagration, as never before.

 

Vasant and Rajab, two good friends and Seva Dal volunteers were very active in the freedom struggle and were ardent followers of Mahatma Gandhi.  That fateful day, they were in the Congress office in Kand-ni-Sheri.  Several times during the day, their heroic acts saved people from both communities. Late that afternoon, when they heard that some Dalit families were surrounded by a murderous mob, they went to the area to pacify the mob, but their pleadings fell on deaf ears. They had no alternative but to lie down in front of the mob to prevent their advance, saying that they could touch the Dalit families only over their dead bodies. The unrelenting mob lynched them to death then and there.

 

Full 65 years after their martyrdom, a fairly large section of Ahmedabad and in fact Gujarat, seems untouched by their heroic act.  Communal harmony and creating bridges between the two communities does not seem to find a place in the mind-set of many.  It is true, that token gestures and acts of cosmeticization, do take place time and again; however, everyone knows that these acts do not address the reality.

 

Almost ten years after the Gujarat Carnage of 2002, the victims still cry for justice. Ahmedabad (and several other towns and cities of Gujarat) continues to be sharply divided on communal lines. If one is a Muslim one cannot easily buy / rent an apartment / shopping establishment easily in the western up-market of the city. Bye-laws of some Cooperative Housing Societies clearly instruct their members not to sell / rent out their flats to Muslims. Blatant discrimination against minorities continues in several other sectors very specially in education and employment.

 

In this the 600^th year of Ahmedabad city founded by the visionary Ahmed Shah who was able to transcend the narrow confines of religion, Ahmedabadis and the people of Gujarat need to celebrate the memory of Vasant-Rajab, true icons of Communal Harmony.

 

The rich heritage which these martyrs have left us must be kept alive through very concrete and meaningful actions of accepting one another.  It is high time we all realise this.  Awake Ahmedabad! Awake!

 

 

 

(*Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is the Director of PRASHANT, the Ahmedabad based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.)

30^th June, 2011

 

Address: PRASHANT, Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052

Phone: 79 27455913, 66522333
Fax: 79 27489018
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com     www.humanrightsindia.in

 

 

 

 

 

Now the Pope 'tweets!"

 

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Pope's first tweet brings Vatican 50,000 Twitter followers

By Kevin J. Jones

 

Denver, Colo., Jul 2, 2011 / 05:32 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI's first tweet has catapulted the Vatican's presence on Twitter to new heights.

Thousands of Twitter users retweeted the Pope's June 28 announcement that launched the Vatican website News.va, and thousands more subscribed to the Vatican's English-language Twitter account.

The English channel follower count stood at over 65,000 as of Friday evening, an increase of almost 54,000 from the period before the Pope's message.

"Dear Friends, I just launched News.va," the Pope said through an iPad tablet device. "Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI."

Twitter allows users to broadcast to their followers short messages of 140 characters called tweets. The site has particularly caught on among news outlets and celebrities.

The growth of the Vatican's English-language Twitter channel, "news_va_en," was massive compared to the Vatican's Twitter accounts in other languages. The Spanish-language channel has about 11,000 followers, while the Italian-language channel sits at only 3,500.

The Twitter accounts won't be for the Pope's personal use. Instead, they will serve the Vatican's first multimedia news portal News.va, which allows readers to view all of the Vatican's media in one place.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, told CNA on June 27 that the Vatican is trying to provide Vatican news in "a modern and accessible way, using new technology."

Ahead of the launch of the Vatican's new site, Fr. Federico Lombardi said that the Pope's tweet will be "a simple but powerful and symbolic action."

The News.va website integrates with social networks. Its design is geared toward mobile devices such as Apple's iPad.

"This is a new approach for us," Archbishop Celli noted

- - - - - -     - - - - - - - -    - - - - - - -   - - - - -
PRASHANT   (A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace)
Street Address : Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052, Gujarat, India
Postal Address : P B 4050, Navrangpura PO, Ahmedabad - 380 009, Gujarat, India

 

Phone : 91  79   27455913,  66522333
Fax : 91  79  27489018
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com     www.humanrightsindia.in