Against the backdrop of civil societies standing up against illegal taxation, corruption and other issues plaguing the state, retired Supreme Court Judge, H.K Sema said “intellectual associations and bodies” in Nagaland were fearlessly raising their voices and remarked that “this is what we need in a society.”
He said this at the one-day consultation on “using the law to ensure reproductive and sexual health”, Saturday at conference hall, DBIDL, Don Bosco School Campus, here organised by Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) and supported by CAN Youth organisation. Dwelling on various aspects of “rights” in the context of Nagaland, Sema pointed out that freedom of speech and expression included formation of an organisation/association to ventilate the grievances of the public.
Maintaining that no power on earth could ban peoples’ movement, he said, “in democracy the most powerful is the peoples’ movement.”
Lamenting that the existing system in Nagaland was turning from bad to worse, he said there was a need for an institution to address the issues. Expressing concern over rampant corruption taking place in Nagaland, Sema noted that corruption was also against human rights.
Retired Supreme Court Judge also highlighted various legal remedies enshrined in the Constitution of India.
Lawyers, activists, ASHAs, student bodies, government officials, DDLSA and various NGOs converged at the day-long consultation and deliberated on various issues relating to reproductive and sexual health and the law.
During the programme, various research papers and findings were presented by intellectuals and experts from across the country.