- As you are aware, not a day passes in the Indian context where incidents of moral policing fail to get extensive coverage both in the print and electronic medium. As it is, society is largely divided into communal lines where the polarization has taken center place further widening the already existing huge gap. Ideally speaking, fostering harmonious living among citizens should be the single most concern of any elected government. Striving to provide peaceful existence for all classes of people should assume paramount importance leaving no room for dubious elements to harm those very tenets of cordiality. Alas, we don’t live in an ideal world as there are innumerable elements wishing to wade into troubled waters for furthering their own ulterior motives.
PC: The Patterson Foundation
- The political class in the country, irrespective of party affiliations, is vastly formed based on caste equations. Parochial considerations drive our mainstream political parties and are singularly intent to uphold a labyrinthine cast conundrum to consolidate vote banks. No wonder, the caste defines every step of our being in the form of reservations and quotas. Consequently, these have become an integral part that cannot be replaced. Thus, every other caste, including the dominant, demands reservations and quotas to compete against the already existing SCs, STs, OBCs MBCs, and the ilk. The polarization is so deeply-entrenched that the conflict between the majority and the minority community invariably leads to flashpoints disturbing peace and tranquility.
- The offshoot of these caste divisions is the increasingly aggressive stands adopted by some right-wing organisations wishing to impose anachronistic, misogynistic, and patriarchal beliefs on others. Now, the Constitution confers on the citizens the choice to choose and adopt any religion/belief without discriminating one against the other. After all the democratic form of governance is nothing but for the people, by the people, and of the people. Remember, we choose the elected representatives conferring them the power to legislate and execute laws within the purview of the Constitution. The judiciary is meant to interpret the laws of the land in consonance with the Constitution. However, attempting to impose beliefs on others is unwarranted.
PC: Dushyant Dave
- As an individual, I have the right to choose who my companion will be, what my food habits are, and what I indulge in within the confines of the four walls of my home. Activists and so-called self-appointed vigilant wading into the privacy of my life by forcefully thrusting their dubious agenda largely premised on an antiquated belief system is simply unacceptable. Any mature society would allow the peaceful coexistence of every religion without sermonizing on the superiority of one over another. Sadly, what’s happening in the country is contrary to the accepted norms. Hopefully, better sense prevails in the organisations/leaders/individuals, and most importantly, the political class to allow the farsighted Constitutional standards to be upheld in the right spirit.
