THRISSUR: A former Supreme Court Judge V.M. Tharkunde said here recently that though India has curbed militancy in Kashmir, the bittemess among the people of Kashmir against India is more.” This is because of the way we have been dealing with the militants there, the law-enforcing machinery there has changed into law-breaking machinery,” Justice Tharkunde said.

Inaugurating the two-day national convention of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) al the Sahitya Akademi hall here, Justice Tharkunde said that “terrorism” is the worst enemy of society. Even those militants who fight for good causes cannot justify it as they violate human rights _ and civil liberties.

But a democratic state should not counter terrorism in the same coin.

It should control itself through legal and democratic means so that it will not become counter-productive, Emphasizing the need for a stable government at the Center, Justice Tharkunde said that political instability could lead to communal parties coming to power, resulting in theocracy and denial of civil liberties and human rights to the minorities” Although the apprehensions of an authoritarian government at the Center had subsided after lifting the emergency, the country is still facing instability as the Center does not have a majority. This is a danger to democracy and civil liberties, Ananti-communal movement is the need of the hour, he said. He called upon the PUCL workers not to confine their activities to human rights and civil liberties issues alone but take up those like corruption by politicians and bureaucrats, child labor, environment, pollution etc.

Describing Kerala as the “hot bed of corruption,” he said that every act of corruption leads to discrimination and sufferings to the common man, He said that Society and the government should ensure a pollution-free environment and any act of pollution is an encroachment on the civil liberties.

Child labor is yet another important issue to be taken up Seriously by the PUCL. Every employed child throws out an adult out of employment and the situations of children earning for unemployed adults is common in India, He said that children are employed as it is €easier to exploit them. It prevents the younger generation from attending ‘schools leading to Perpetuation of their sufferings and poverty.

Article extracted from this publication >> January 6, 1995