One Brave Secular Tamilian and his fight against religious communalism

by Guest Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:36 pm

Madras High Court Judge Hari Paranthaman, while addressing a conference organized by the Advocate wing of ‘Fascisa Ethirpu Makkal Kootamaipu’ in Madurai on Saturday, expressed his condemnation of the statement of Supreme Court Judge A.R. Dave who had recently stirred a controversy by stating that if he had been the dictator of India, he would have introduced Gita and Mahabharata in Class I to learn how to live life.

Making a very strong statement on the subject, the High Court Judge said that if the recent massacre of school children in Pakistan could be called Muslim Taliban extremism, then the demolition of Babari Masjid and Godhra incident could be termed as Hindu Talibanism.

Justice Dave had surprised all sectors in August last year, by his statement regarding Mahabharata and Bhagwad Gita, while speaking at an international conference on ‘contemporary issues and challenges of human rights in the era of globalization’ in Ahmedabad.

Justice Hari Paranthaman opined that “such words from a Supreme Court Judge that too in a public forum, is unwarranted,” and insisted that people should realize the difference between the religious faith and communalism.

Justice Paranthaman expressed his concern over the recent trend where Communalism was being given a color of patriotism, which was very dangerous. He said that he would fight against communalism in all religions including Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, etc., in whatever form it might be. He stated that though he was a non-believer of religions, he has the right to intervene in the religious belief of others. He asserted that the Right to Freedom of Religion guaranteed by the Constitution cannot be curtailed.

“All holy books of other religions carries many good doctrines. Further, religious books should not be taught in schools as part of syllabus, since there were many moral and ethical books like Tirukkural”, he added.

He also slammed the move to install statues of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Gandhi, by the Hindu Mahasabha, Hari Paranthaman, ranting that such a move was the peak of communal extremism and a threat to secularism guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

http://www.livelaw.in/madras-high-court-judge-condemns-justice-daves-gita-remarks/