Towards 75 years of adopting the Constitution, it is time for a new beginning.

‘Secularism is the religion of humanity …. It is a protest against theological oppression, against ecclesiastical tyranny, against being the serf, the subject or slave of any phantom, or of the priest of any phantom. “

– Robert Green Ingersoll

Simple ideas are perhaps the most difficult to implement.

For a country of around 1.4 billion, which has witnessed internecine violence on religious lines at the time of Independence, and which has turned a new leaf by adopting a Constitution based on secularism, which abhorred even mentioning the word God, why it is still difficult to avoid religious rituals in public domain, at least in the precincts of the courts?

Justice A S Oka, one of the finest judges of the Supreme Courts, who never fears to speak his mind, through his judgements and his talks, raised this question some time ago, while laying the foundation stone of a court building in Pune district, albeit in not so many words.

The proposal was quite simple:

This November 26, India completes 75 years of adopting our Constitution. The best way to show our respect to its core principles and values is to stop doing pooja archana or lighting lamp kind of rituals during any events related to Judiciary and instead bows down before its Preamble to start any event. The honourable judge shared his own experiences at Karnataka High Courts where he was able to reduce such rituals considerably, although he could not stop it completely.

In an ambiance suffused increasingly with religiosity, the proposal itself was a breeze of fresh air. ( Please read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/stop-pooja-archana-bow-preamble-court-premises)