No "Puja" On the Court Premises!

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 5 March 2024 This Country Is Fast Sinking into The Cesspool of Zealotry and Religious Obscurantism. Indians Are Neck-Deep in The Turdy Bilge of Extreme Religiosity. We're Constantly Inhaling the Offensive Miasma of It. ------ Supreme Court Judge Justice Abhay Oka has advised the legal fraternity to avoid “puja” (rituals) on the court premises and urged them to start any work by bowing down before a copy of the Constitution of India. Kudos to the SC judge for removing the patina of false secularism, a veneer in India, by advising the legal fraternity to avoid this pooja and that pooja on the court premises. This must be extended to all educational institutes and establishments in the country where lighting a lamp with a prayer to the deity or deities, Saraswati, Ganesh (now even Shivaji) is a de rigueur. Stop it forthwith. A few years ago, when India's top-notch Astro-physicist and writer Dr J V Narlikar presided over Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, he avoided going in person as there has been a tradition of worshipping Saraswati and lighting a lamp before the function. The Cambridge-educated non-believer, Dr Narlikar didn't like this silly display of religiosity during an intellectual and creative occasion. I've seen Saraswati's idol installed at varsities and colleges in India. This is exasperating. There're students of other faiths as well. Do they believe in Saraswati? Are they willing to accept that she's the goddess of knowledge and Ganesh, the god of wisdom? Even many rational Hindus don't believe in this balderdash. In the western mythology, esp. Pagan Greek Mythology, Minerva was the goddess/symbol of knowledge. But nowhere at any university in Greece, will you get to see Minerva's statue on the college or University campus. Visit Athens University. The statutes of great Greek philosophers and writers adorn the campus. Replicas of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes among others are there, not any damn god or goddess. Whenever I'm invited by any institute anywhere in India, I make it a point that I won't go through any religious rigmarole like lighting a lamp or bowing to any fictional god, goddess, 'revered' saint or Raja-Maharaja. Even prayers from all schools must be done away with to do justice to the term secularism in the broadest sense of it. This country is fast sinking into the cesspool of zealotry and religious obscurantism. Indians are neck-deep in the turdy bilge of extreme religiosity. We're constantly inhaling the offensive miasma of it. I hope the SC judge's sane advice will at least make a few people think in a rational and non-religious manner. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/puja-court-premises-religion/d/131854 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism