From http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/11/stories/2006071104580200.htm
The Human Rights Law Network, headquartered in New Delhi and Mumbai, provides free legal aid to the poor in the country. In a conversation with Sangeeth Kurian, its founder director Mr. Gonsalves airs his views about present-day legal profession.
When Colin Gonsalves' parents decided to put their son through a five-year programme at a prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, little did they realise that he would chuck away his B.Tech to become a lawyer.
"After investing so much money on me, I did not have the courage to tell my father that I wanted to switch professions. So I decided to hide the fact from him till I became a lawyer," said Mr. Gonsalves, founder director of Human Rights Law Network and a native of Tangassery, Kollam. He was talking toThe Hindu on the sidelines of a two-day workshop on `Human Rights and Law' organised by the law network in the city on Sunday.
His decision to switch profession came in the wake of the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi. "I was studying for my final year at the IIT then. And there was wide-spread resentment against the move."
Egged on by his strong sense of social justice, Mr. Gonsalves decided to champion the rights of the slum dwellers and the workers in Mumbai after completing his graduation. But the going was not smooth. For five years he served as a social worker among the working class and slum dwellers for a paltry sum of Rs.500, before going on to take his graduation in law.
"Those five years were the happiest days of my life. I earned the least and learned the most," said this senior lawyer of the Supreme Court who has rocked the rarefied world of Supreme Court advocacy through his aggressive pursuit of public interest cases, including the famous `right to food' case, which was instrumental in providing noon-meals to schoolchildren.
Some of the other areas which the 200-strong members of his law network are actively involved are Dalit rights, disability, torture, HIV, trafficking issues and displacement.
However, according to Mr. Gonsalves, there is a noticeable change in the nature of the Public Interest Litigations (PIL) that are filed in the country today.
"In the Eighties and the Nineties, PIL was an instrument for the benefit of the poor. But now PILs are hijacked by the middle class and used against the poor," Mr. Gonsalves said. "The poor are losing faith in the judicial system and moving towards naxalism. The trend is visible in some of the north and middle Indian States. Dalits and tribals have stopped going to the court."
Mr. Gonsalves was of the view that there has been a steep decline in the ethics of the legal profession.
"The entire legal profession has joined the bandwagon of globalisation. There are very few lawyers who are working according to the selfless principles of the legal profession," he said.
"Lawyers should shed their conservatism, a tacit approval of male dominance and patriarchy and fight against traditions that opposed to the constitutional principals of equality," Mr. Gonsalves added.
His law network headquartered in New Delhi and Mumbai has around 20 centres across the country. The centres provide fast, free, and qualified support to those who have little or no access to law.
Now, he has taken farmers suicide case, hope it give a relief. 50% India is farmers, but not clear reforming to ensure their basic survival.
ReplyDeleteMost of farmers sold their land, paid hefty school fee to get into other profession.
No young in agri now, India imports edible oil, pulses, wood in spite of being agriculture country.
Govt employee salary is getting increased, based agri products price index, mysterious calculation.
Hoping he will do something