Achi news desk-
The main function of the parliament is to enact legislation. When we elect members to the Lok Sabha, we elect who will write and pass our laws. In India, laws are now passed without debate, both at the Union and State levels. This means that parties that have a majority and an ideology can legislate what they want, without pushback.
As we choose a government for the next five years, let us examine many of the laws and amendments that were given to us in the previous decade.
1. The Right to Information Law (Amendment), 2019: This amendment gives the union the authority to determine the salary and service conditions of the information commissioners at the union and state levels. Instead of fixed periods, commissioners can be appointed on arbitrary terms and salaries. India has dropped from second place in the global RTI ranking in 2014 to ninth place currently.
2. The Illegal Activities (Prevention) Amendment Law, 2019: Prior to this amendment, UAPA only allowed organizations to be classified as “terrorists”. The state can now classify any person as a “terrorist”. These people don’t even have to be affiliated with any of the 36 terrorist organizations mentioned in the law to be classified as terrorists, and then imprisoned.
3. Karnataka Education Act Order 2022 (1983): In 2022, Karnataka banned Muslim women and girls from covering their heads in schools and colleges that have uniforms. Even in colleges that did not have prescribed uniforms, head coverings were prohibited by Muslims because ‘garments that interfere with equality, integrity and public law and order should not be worn’. Sikhs were excluded from the order.
4. The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2015: After the prime minister’s speeches against what he called the ‘pink revolution’, countries began to criminalize the possession of beef. This started a series of violent attacks that the media called a “cattle lynching”. Anyone accused of eating a beef sandwich can be sent to prison for five years. This first law started a series of copycat laws in other BJP-ruled states.
