ISSUES AND CONCERNS

CONSTITUTIONAL SECULARISM & HINDU TEMPLE ACTS Secularism in its broadest sense is an act of acceptance of another man, including woman, for whatever he is, in his entirety. Secularism is practiced in India not because it is inserted into the pages of Indian constitution by Indira Gandhi and her lame-duck parliament in 1976, during the emergency days. What those who talk about Constitutional Secularism must know is that secularism has been a way of life for Indians of all hues from the days of yore, for thousands of years, into the unwritten history. Truly speaking, Indians do not need lessons in what constitute secularism. Why did the Parsis persecuted by the invading Arabs in Persia come to India more than 1200 years ago, and continued to come to India for over 150 years! Why did Jews, persecuted all over the world, decided to make India their home? Historians believe that it was around 1200 AD Jews started to migrate to India. The idea of Constitutional Secularism was not hear...

NEW DELHI: Ever since Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, aka N.V. Ramana, assumed office of Chief Justice of India on 24th April 2021, he has been in the news for all kinds of reasons. He appears to be labouring to convey the independence of judiciary and that he himself should not be taken for granted by the executive or the legislature. Prima facie there is nothing wrong with that. But the apparent haste to portray oneself as different from the flock or from one’s predecessors is wrought with the possibilities that the vastness of the probable differences may be beyond the time at one’s disposal to mend or make amends to the existing lacunae in the judiciary or the judicial processes across the country. Therefore adage “Look before you leap”, holds true, or else avoidable political quick sand may not be far off. So, it’s best to “play by the ears”. It is no secret that there are millions of cases pending across the national judicial spectrum. Public space informs that details from N...