What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of Secularism?. (UPSC IAS Mains 2019 General Studies Paper – 1)
India, since Independence, has been following a peculiar nation of secularism, where all religions are treated equally and supported by the State. However, this concept, at present, is undergoing a paradigm change wherein Constitutional morality is being considered a significant component of secularism by the judiciary. Another characteristic of this change is the growth of misguided perceptions about secularism. The ultimate outcome of these changes is the rise of various challenges to our diverse cultural practices. Thus, we have a logical classification of these challenges under two dimensions:
Challenges posed by misguided perceptions
- Religiousness is anti-secular and pro-fundamentalist: Thus perception discourages various religious practices like rituals, clothing, thoughts etc. People who wear the saffron dress, who keep beard and pat skull cap (Taqiyah) and all considered fundamentalists.
- Secularism is equated to atheism and apostasy: Those who do not believe in good or abandon their religious beliefs are marked as secular. This thought is leading to a slow degradation of cultural practices.
- Restrictions to food choices: Some states, through following the majoritarian religious sentiments, restrict the sale of beef.
- Judiciopapism: Sometimes, the judiciary also takes a narrow glimpse of secularism and interferes into religious celebrations and practices. Ex. Rajasthan High Court’s ban on Santhara and Supreme Court’s ban on the sale of crackers on Diwali.
Challenges due to rise of Constitutional morality
- Right to Equality: The practice of triple talaq and the ban on entry of women in Sabarimala temple were all declared unlawful by the Supreme Court. Those were done on account of gender inequality and gender exploitation inherent to these practices.
- Animal Rights: Supreme Court banned the traditional practice of Jallikattu because of the cruelty to animals involved in this.
- Objection to Harmful Cultural Practices: The illegality of female genital mutilation (FGM), practices in Dawoodi Bohra Community was brought into the limelight in 2018. The centre and the Supreme Court are having the opinion to ban this practice in India.
Thus, it is obvious that while some of the challenges are the outcome of the misleading notion of secularism, others are due to the exploitative and discriminatory nature of cultural practices only. The solution lies in getting all the stakeholders like religious leaders, judges, right’s activists, civil society groups, NGOs and government representatives together over a common platform to discuss the challenges and to bring unanimity for preserving the cultural practices of our country.
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