Former Supreme Court judges raise concerns over misuse of UAPA
The Hindu
Point to trauma of kin of accused, conflating dissent with terrorism, ‘soft torture’ in prisons
Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Madan B. Lokur, on Saturday said the courts, society and the state should consider the mental trauma afflicted on the families of activists, journalists and civil society members accused of sedition under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and languishing in jail for months. Justice Lokur asked what kind of society is being built where the families and friends of these incarcerated people have to face barbs about their loved ones being branded traitors for expressing their dissent. “Look at the emotional, psychological impact on his family, him... His children... They will go to school where classmates will say your father is a ‘terrorist’ for something he has not done... We are not looking at the mental aspect,” Justice Lokur said in a virtual conference on ill-effects of UAPA and the law of sedition mediated by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj.![](/newspic/picid-1269750-20240610150845.jpg)
Demanding State and Union governments to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and to open Mettur dam on June 12, members of Tamizhaga Cauvery Vivasayigal Sangam, headed by its general secretary P.R. Pandian, started a two day protest march to Mettur dam from Poompuhar, one of the prominent tail end part of the Cauvery, on Monday
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The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru on Monday hosted a three-day National Conference on Classical Languages of India, with the objective of encouraging the development of language, linguistics, and literature by researching, and promoting the rich heritage of classical languages in view of NEP-2020.
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Actor and Hindupur MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna relaunched the Anna Canteen and NTR Arogya Ratham here on Monday amidst much fanfare. The twin occasions marked Mr. Balakrishna’s 64th birthday celebrations. Speaking to the media, Mr. Balakrishna said that the people of Andhra Pradesh had given a historic verdict to the NDA, and “I shall tirelessly work to fulfil all the promises made to them.”