Unravelling the Indian Conception of Secularism: Tremors of the Pandemic and Beyond
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Current Affairs= 07-09-2020
CURRENT AFFAIRS= 07-09-2020 KESAVANANDA BHARATI Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the passing away of Kesavananda Bharati Ji. About: Kesavananda Bharati was the head seer of the Edneer Mutt in Kasaragod district of Kerala since 1961. He left his signature in one of the significant rulings of the Supreme Court when he challenged the Kerala land reforms legislation in 1970. The Kesavananda Bharati judgement, is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India that outlined the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution. Justice Hans Raj Khanna asserted through the Basic Structure doctrine that the constitution possesses a basic structure of constitutional principles and values. The doctrine forms the basis of power of the Indian judiciary to review and override amendments to the Constitution of India enacted by the Indian parliament. MOPLAH REBELLION A report submitted to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in 2016 had recommended the removal of the Wagon Tragedy victims and Malabar Rebellion leaders Ali Musliyar and Variamkunnath Ahmad Haji, and Haji’s two brothers from a book on martyrs of India’s freedom struggle. CROSS & CLIMB 2019 1 About: The report sought the removal of names of 387 ‘Moplah rioters’ from the list of martyrs. The book, Dictionary of Martyrs: India’s Freedom Struggle 1857-1947, was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week. The report describes Haji as the “notorious Moplah Riot leader” and a “hardcore criminal,” who “killed innumerable innocent Hindu men, women, and children during the 1921 Moplah Riot, and deposited their bodies in a well, locally known as Thoovoor Kinar”. -
India's New Constitutionalism: Two Cases That Have Reshaped Indian Law Milan Dalal
Boston College International and Comparative Law Review Volume 31 | Issue 2 Article 4 5-1-2008 India's New Constitutionalism: Two Cases That Have Reshaped Indian Law Milan Dalal Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, and the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Milan Dalal, India's New Constitutionalism: Two Cases That Have Reshaped Indian Law, 31 B.C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 257 (2008), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr/vol31/iss2/4 This Notes is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College International and Comparative Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INDIA’S NEW CONSTITUTIONALISM: TWO CASES THAT HAVE RESHAPED INDIAN LAW Milan Dalal* Abstract: As a nation of over one billion people and the world’s largest democracy, India is sometimes confronted with situations in which its democratic institutions clash. Under the Indian Constitution, legislation concerning land reform is placed in a special category designed to im- munize it from judicial scrutiny. This scheme, known as the Ninth Schedule, has been abused by legislators seeking electoral benefit. Simul- taneously, the country has been rocked by a series of public corruption scandals. As Parliament has sought to clean up its image by expelling dis- graced members, its actions have been challenged as unconstitutional, leading to a constitutional showdown between the legislative and judicial branches. -
Islam and Justice AAIMS Inaugural Conference on the Study of Islam and Muslim Societies
Islam and Justice AAIMS Inaugural Conference on the Study of Islam and Muslim Societies Date: 18-19 December 2017 Venue: Copland Theatre, 198 Berkeley Street, The University of Melbourne Parkville, VIC 3010 Sponsors National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies Asia Institute School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, Faculty of Arts University of Melbourne Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation Deakin University Institute for Religion, Politics and Society Australian Catholic University Routledge Taylor and Francis Group Conference Conveners Professor Abdullah Saeed AM Sultan of Oman Chair in Islamic Studies | 3 Director, National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies University of Melbourne Professor Vedi Hadiz Deputy Director, Asia Institute University of Melbourne Conference Committee Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh Deputy Director (International), Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation Deakin University Associate Professor Richard Pennell Al-Tajir Lecturer in Middle Eastern & Islamic History School of Historical and Philosophical Studies University of Melbourne Dr Joshua Roose Director, Institute for Religion Politics and Society The Australian Catholic University National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (NCEIS) The National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies aims to advance the knowledge and | 4 understanding of the rich traditions and modern complexities of Islam, and to profile Australia's strengths in the field of Islamic studies. The Centre's activities will focus on issues of significance and relevance to Islam and Muslims in the contemporary period with a special focus on Australia. The Centre's courses aim to provide a knowledge and skill foundation for students aspiring to religious and community leadership roles in Australia and will provide opportunities for professional development in relevant areas. -
Human Rights and Creed Research and Consultation Report
Human Rights and Creed Research and consultation report ISBN: 978-1-4606-3360-1 (Print) 978-1-4606-3361-8 (HTML) 978-1-4606-3362-5 (PDF) © 2013 Queen’s Printer for Ontario Available in various formats Also available online: www.ohrc.on.ca Disponible en français Human rights and creed research and consultation report Contents I. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1. Setting the context................................................................................................... 1 2. The purpose of this report........................................................................................ 2 3. Criteria for assessing and developing human rights policy ...................................... 2 II. Executive summary................................................................................................... 3 III. Background and context ......................................................................................... 7 Key questions .............................................................................................................. 7 1. Current social and demographic trends ................................................................... 7 1.1 Diversity of creed beliefs and practices.............................................................. 7 1.2 Individual belief and practice............................................................................ 10 1.3 Policy and program trends .............................................................................. -
Religious Freedom As Equality 133 Frederick Mark Gedicks
Routledge Handbook of Law and Religion The field of law and religion studies has undergone a profound transformation over the last 30 years, looking beyond traditional relationships between State and religious communities to include rights of religious liberty and the role of religion in the public space. This handbook features new, specially commissioned papers by a range of eminent scholars that offer a comprehensive overview of the field of law and religion. The book takes on an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from anthropology, sociology, theology and political science in order to explore how laws and court decisions concerning religion contribute to the shape of the public space. Key themes within the book include: • religious symbols in the public space; • religion and security; • freedom of religion and cultural rights; • defamation and hate speech; and • gender, religion and law. This advanced level reference work is essential reading for students, researchers and scholars of law and religion, as well as policy makers in the field. Silvio Ferrari is professor of Law and Religion at the University of Milan. He is Life Honorary President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies and is an Editor-in- Chief of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion. He received the 2012 Distinguished Service Award from the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. ‘Few areas of contemporary legal scholarship have developed so exponentially in so short a space of time as the interface between law and religion. This outstanding Handbook not only synthesises and systematises that body of scholarship but firmly anchors it within those broader interdisciplinary frameworks which are essential to its understanding. -
Conflict Between Freedom of Expression and Religion in India—A Case Study
Article Conflict between Freedom of Expression and Religion in India—A Case Study Amit Singh Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Colégio de S. Jerónimo Apartado 3087, 3000-995 Coimbra, Portugal; [email protected] Received: 24 March 2018; Accepted: 27 June 2018; Published: 29 June 2018 Abstract: The tussle between freedom of expression and religious intolerance is intensely manifested in Indian society where the State, through censoring of books, movies and other forms of critical expression, victimizes writers, film directors, and academics in order to appease Hindu religious-nationalist and Muslim fundamentalist groups. Against this background, this study explores some of the perceptions of Hindu and Muslim graduate students on the conflict between freedom of expression and religious intolerance in India. Conceptually, the author approaches the tussle between freedom of expression and religion by applying a contextual approach of secular- multiculturalism. This study applies qualitative research methods; specifically in-depth interviews, desk research, and narrative analysis. The findings of this study help demonstrate how to manage conflict between freedom of expression and religion in Indian society, while exploring concepts of Western secularism and the need to contextualize the right to freedom of expression. Keywords: freedom of expression; Hindu-Muslim; religious-intolerance; secularism; India 1. Background Ancient India is known for its skepticism towards religion and its toleration to opposing views (Sen 2005; Upadhyaya 2009), However, the alarming rise of Hindu religious nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism, and consequently, increasing conflict between freedom of expression and religion, have been well noted by both academic (Thapar 2015) and public intellectuals (Sorabjee 2018; Dhavan 2008). -
A Comparative Reading of Taylor and Gandhi on Holistic Identity
The Metaphysics of Diversity and Authenticity: A Comparative Reading of Taylor and Gandhi on Holistic Identity Author: Joshy P. Varghese Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:104265 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2013 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College Graduate School of Arts and Science Department of Philosophy THE METAPHYSICS OF DIVERSITY AND AUTHENTICITY: A COMPARATIVE READING OF TAYLOR AND GANDHI ON HOLISTIC IDENTITY a dissertation by JOSHY P. VARGHESE Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April, 2013 ©Copy Right by JOSHY P. VARGHESE 2013 ABSTRACT THE METAPHYSICS OF DIVERSITY AND AUTHENTICITY: A COMPARATIVE READING OF TAYLOR AND GANDHI ON HOLISTIC IDENTITY By Joshy P. Varghese Director: Prof. Jeffrey Bloechl The human self and society in general have always been in transition and transformation. Our senses of ourselves and of our society are in dialectical relation with our sense of whether or to what degree we feel part of important dimensions such as religion and politics, which are both an expression of our identity and factors that may sometimes change our identity. In modern western society it seems that identity has shifted from what Charles Taylor calls “embeddedness” in religion to a mode of life where religion is, to a great extent, expected to be a personal matter and even a personal choice. This is not impossible to understand, and historical work shows us that there are important continuities between the modern reason that rejects religion and the religion that it rejects. -
Good Governance Is Not a New Concept : Justice Bn Srikrishna
Vol.21 No. 1. January - 2020 WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS - 2020 AND HAPPY MAKARA SANKRANTI GOOD GOVERNANCE IS NOT A NEW CONCEPT : JUSTICE B.N. SRIKRISHNA Lighting the lamp by Justice B.V. Nagarathna, Judge, Karnataka High Court on the occasion of Shri Nani A. Palkhivala Centenary Lecture. Others in the picture from left... Justice B.N. Srikrishna, former Judge, Supreme Court of India, Shri H.N. Suresh, Director, BVB, Shri K.G. Raghavan, Vice Chairman BVB, Shri Peeyush Jain, Hon. Treasurer, BVB. 1 [email protected] Justice Shri B.N. Srikrishna, Retired Judge, Supreme Court of India being honoured by Shri. Peeyush Jain, Hon.Treasurer, BVB. Nani A. Palkhivala was Vice President of Bharatiya a legend in the legal world in Vidya Bhavan Worldwide. India, and an intellectual giant. Shri.K.G. Raghavan, Celebrating his centenary year, Vice Chairman, Bharatiya Bharatia Vidya Bhavan, Vidya Bhavan, Bengaluru, Bengaluru Kendra, and Kulapati welcoming the gathering, said Dr. K.M. Munshi Institute of that there could be no better Good Governance, presented way of celebrating Palkhivala’s the Nani Palkhivala Centenary centenary. He said that Palkhivala lecture at Khincha Hall, on was a great lawyer, an eminent December 8. jurist, an insightful economist. The lecture focused Shri Raghavan added that befittingly on Good Governance Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan itself, and the Constitution. It was founded by an equally eminent delivered by Justice Shri. B. N. jurist and constitution maker, Srikrishna, Retired Judge, Dr. K.M.Munshi, was based Supreme Court of India. on the principles of dharma. Palkhivala was for a long time Justice Shrikrishna was the Vice President of Bharatiya Chief Justice of Kerala High Vidya Bhavan, and hence it was Court, and Judge of the Supreme apt for Bengaluru to have his first Court of India. -
1. State Legislature Can Prescribe Residence As a Condition for Certain
Q.1) Consider the following statements: general rule of equality of opportunity in public 1. State Legislature can prescribe residence as a employment: condition for certain employment in a State. 1. Parliament can prescribe residence as a 2. The State can provide for reservation of condition for certain employment or appointments in favour of any backward appointment in a state or union territory or class that is not adequately represented in the local authority or other authority. As the state services. Public Employment (Requirement as to Which of the statements given above is/are Residence) Act of 1957 expired in 1974, correct? there is no such provision for any state except a) 1 only Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. b) 2 only 2. The State can provide for reservation of c) Both 1 and 2 appointments or posts in favour of any d) Neither 1 nor 2 backward class that is not adequately represented in the state services. Ans) b 3. A law can provide that the incumbent of an Exp) Statement 1 is incorrect. (Article office related to religious or denominational 35(a)(i))Parliament shall have and the legislature institution or a member of its governing body of a state shall not have power to make laws - should belong to a particular religion or a) Prescribing residence as a condition for denomination. certain employments or appointments in a Source) Page 166, 195 laxmikanth 5th edition state or union territory or local authority or other authority (Article 16). Q 2.) Which of the following provisions of the b) Empowering courts other than the Supreme Constitution seek to achieve political equality in Court and the high courts to issue directions, India? orders and writs of all kinds for the 1. -
The Enduring Ambiguities of Japan's Postwar Secularism
THE ENDURING AMBIGUITIES OF JAPAN’S POSTWAR SECULARISM David Rangdrol Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctorate in Philosophy degree in Political Science School of Political Studies Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa © David Rangdrol, Ottawa, Canada, 2018 ABSTRACT Following decades of state control of religion, a secular constitution was introduced in Japan in 1947, presenting favourable prospects for safeguarding freedom of conscience and equality. However, the vague language used in Articles 20 and 89 of the constitution arguably complicated the task of creating a strong, liberal secular regime. This thesis, therefore, will describe how institutional flaws have compounded the secularism-related challenges linked to the revival of Shinto’s public role in the postwar era, as well as the controversies surrounding the creation of a powerful Buddhism-based political party, the Komeito. In this regard, the Japanese case provides an opportunity to reflect on similar issues elsewhere in the world. Indeed, attempts at fostering citizens’ civic cohesion are being challenged in nation-states worldwide; on one hand, by the absolutist goals of religio-political movements, and on the other, by state-led constructions of national and religious identities. The Japanese case can especially contribute to the debates concerning the introduction of secularism in non-Western societies – notably where the notions used to articulate secularism, such as the religion–state dichotomy, either are absent or lack deep cultural and historical roots. By focusing on the impact of key ambiguities found at the core of Japan’s secular rules, the thesis will argue that institutional design choices, rather than cultural barriers, are responsible for some of the most important challenges confronting secularism in Japan today. -
“Secularism, Religion and Multicultural Citizenship”
ˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉˉ UDK: 299.5 316.74:2 Geoffrey Brahm Levey and Tariq Modood (eds.): “SECULARISM, RELIGION AND MULTICULTURAL CITIZENSHIP” Cambridge University Press; Cambridge, 2009. What is the optimum relationship between a state and the religions to which its citizens adhere? Does secularism constitute a viable paradigm for the organisation of contemporary multicultural, multi-faith societies? Do Muslims represent a specific type of challenge to Western, liberal democracies in this regard? These questions, first forced into public, political and academic consciousness by the controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, are here re-addressed on the twentieth anniversary of its publication. Amongst a myriad of significant developments in the intervening years, an increase in religiosity and mobilisation on the basis of religiously grounded social identities and the global, national and local repercussions of 9/11 have ensured that they remain salient. This volume is the product of a symposium on Religion and Multicultural Citi- zenship held at the University of NSW, Sydney in 2005. Its academic contributors write from a variety of disciplinary perspectives across the social and political sciences. The four chapters which comprise the first of two parts examine the history, terms and limits of Western secularism. Each, in its way, mounts a critique of hegemonic conceptualisations of secularism as liberal monolith and posits, in stead, an understanding of secularism (or better, secularisms) as historically contingent. The logic underpinning the collective project of re-imagining secularism as both de-and prescriptively multiplex is twofold. Firstly, it facilitates a rediscovery (and recovery) of the ‘principled pragmatism’ inherent in original attempts to separate the temporal (state) and spiritual (religious) realms in the interest of civil peace. -
A Hindu Perspective
Interfaith Study in Secular Context: A Hindu Perspective Prabhakar Bhattacharyya* “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah sarve santu niramayah Sarve bhadrani pasyantu ma kascid duhkhabhag bhavet” “Let everyone be happy, everybody recover from illness, let everybody see good things alone and let no one suffer” This prayer is the expression of spiritual and cultural heritage of India and general inclusivistic attitude of the Hindu people towards all around including animals, plants even inanimate nature. Naturally, in these days of communal conflicts such inclusivistic sayings may seem mere lip service to the victims of such conflicts. However, history of communal violence is not very old in India and are the result of English education, western life style and alienation of the common people from educated elites. In this connection I like to quote from the proceedings of the British Parliament. Lord Macaulay acknowledged in the parliament on 2nd February, 1985 : “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such moral values, people of such caliber that I do not think we would ever conquer this country unless we break the very backbone of this nation which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and therefore, I propose we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.” The present paper is an humble attempt to show that Indian Secularism is not the legacy of western tradition, rather the direct inheritance of ancient and medieval social and political practice.