Religion is unofficially considered to be the central and foremost concern of a majority of the people, at least in this country. The right to faith and the protection of inanate objects associated with it is a sworn duty taken up by the people themselves. Excersice of this right is more essential than anything, be it civic responsibilities, good morality, environmental concern or sometimes even the life of others. No doubt, there is great stock put into religion. Sadly, this mentality is one of the primary reasons for the woefully primal nature of our state. Ignorance and blind Faith is a recepie for fanaticism, and our leaders, instead of promoting education to cull this barbaric extremism, are exploiting it to ensure thier position of power.
Law, however, at least in theory, has no affiliation with religion. Although a lot of religiously motived activity has been given a free pass from legal justice in India, the recent orders by the Bombay HC is a spasm of life in this decaying body.
The Maharashtra Government was ordered by the Bomaby HC to execute the demolition of illegally constructed shrines in 2015. The government, in response, established a committee whose job was to find out which structures were to be demolished and which ones were to be merely regularised. The said committee was never heard from again after this. After deliberate inaction by the government, the HC asked for a situational report. The government submitted requests for extension to carry out the order 3 consecutive times. The request by the government on the 23rd August makes it the fourth one. However, the Court was irked by the negligency by the government, and has now ordered immidiate actions to be taken, failing which, the Court would initiate inquiry against the government officials in charge of the project. The matter is said to be heard again in 2 weeks. Considering the obviously religious conservative nature of the ruling party in the state of Maharashtra, one can only be skeptical about the future of this case, and the inaction is almost verging on normalcy, so deeply rooted are the infectious throes of religious fanaticism in the populace.
Courtesy/By: Utkarsh Yadav
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28 Aug 2018
