Religious discrimination in India: Now Institutionalized
Until now, the impression I'd had was that India had laws that guaranteed equal rights to people of all faiths and ethnicities and that discrimination was limited to individuals in society. I'd faced discrimination because of my (Roman Catholic) surname only once, in New Delhi from a doctor at a government run health center. But in general at the official level, there used to be not much discrimination.
But today I've come across this news that the Supreme Court has upheld a ban on the sale of meat during a particular festival of the Jain religion in the city of Ahmedabad, which is majority Jain who are vegetarians. They said "there was no need to be over-sensitive about a short restriction especially when it was being done out of respect for the sentiments of a particular section of society, in a multi-cultural country." They also cited a 16th century Mughal emperor who had banned meat consumption for 6 months.
Respecting the different culture and religion of another group is fine, but is imposing their restrictions on everyone else? Aren't there people whose livelihood is being affected here? An autocratic 16th century emperor as an example?
Applying the same standards, if India is truly a multicultural country, the sale of all food and alcoholic beverages may also sought to be banned during the daytime during the period of Ramadan, out of respect to India's Muslim community. The Hindu spring festival of Holi usually falls during Lent, the 40 day period of fasting and abstinence for Christians. Since I was keeping the fast in 2005, I had to stay in my students' hostel room the whole day, as the revelries went on outside. No-one sought to have the Holi festivities banned.
It must be remembered that India's Muslim and Christian communities are centuries old and are not a recent phenomenon that has resulted from immigration or conversion, and so deserve to have their traditions respected as well.
In any case, in my opinion its not fair to impose the restrictions you have on account of your religious affiliation, on anyone else. This leaves me wondering about how free, democratic , and secular that country is (was?).
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P.S. I have to mention this as an example of GOAN multiculturalism: Goenkars, especially Hindu Goenkars, are very considerate to others' feelings. The day Mother Theresa passed away in 1997 happened to fall during the Hindu Ganesh Chaturthi festive season. The day the funeral was aired on state television, there was not one firecracker lit on the streets of Panaji.
But today I've come across this news that the Supreme Court has upheld a ban on the sale of meat during a particular festival of the Jain religion in the city of Ahmedabad, which is majority Jain who are vegetarians. They said "there was no need to be over-sensitive about a short restriction especially when it was being done out of respect for the sentiments of a particular section of society, in a multi-cultural country." They also cited a 16th century Mughal emperor who had banned meat consumption for 6 months.
Respecting the different culture and religion of another group is fine, but is imposing their restrictions on everyone else? Aren't there people whose livelihood is being affected here? An autocratic 16th century emperor as an example?
Applying the same standards, if India is truly a multicultural country, the sale of all food and alcoholic beverages may also sought to be banned during the daytime during the period of Ramadan, out of respect to India's Muslim community. The Hindu spring festival of Holi usually falls during Lent, the 40 day period of fasting and abstinence for Christians. Since I was keeping the fast in 2005, I had to stay in my students' hostel room the whole day, as the revelries went on outside. No-one sought to have the Holi festivities banned.
It must be remembered that India's Muslim and Christian communities are centuries old and are not a recent phenomenon that has resulted from immigration or conversion, and so deserve to have their traditions respected as well.
In any case, in my opinion its not fair to impose the restrictions you have on account of your religious affiliation, on anyone else. This leaves me wondering about how free, democratic , and secular that country is (was?).
****
P.S. I have to mention this as an example of GOAN multiculturalism: Goenkars, especially Hindu Goenkars, are very considerate to others' feelings. The day Mother Theresa passed away in 1997 happened to fall during the Hindu Ganesh Chaturthi festive season. The day the funeral was aired on state television, there was not one firecracker lit on the streets of Panaji.
posted by The ManU man at 5:39 AM
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