Rage Over Rituals

A controversial mutt ritual near Trichy has been banned for being "a violation of human rights". Similar rituals in other places in India have stirred controversies and courts have had to step in to restore order

- Dr Swati Jindal Garg

Opinion/Religion Vs Human Rights

No other culture in the world has the variety of weaves that India has and ensuring that this variety coexists and makes a beautiful tapestry is not easy. The Indian Constitution has time and again taken up the daunting task of demarcating the secular domain from the religious one, but more often than not, courts have been called upon to resolve various issues that arise due to the clash between religious rituals and human rights.

Even though courts have tried to formulate standardised and clear-cut definitions of many notions such as religion, custom, usage, and ritual in order to make them manageable within a legal context, litigation and discontent on these issues is unavoidable looking at the cultural diversity in India.

Time and again, courts have been called on to ascertain what is essential and integral in a religion and what is conversely non-essential. Court decisions have been wide-ranging and although different judgments may hold different opinions, most tend to view religion from an idealist perspective. A practice that finds no mention in religious tenets is usually termed as non-essential and even superstitious and therefore, amenable to courts' reformist action.

As far as religion is concerned, the Preamble to the Constitution ensures all citizens the liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; and Article 25 (1) stipulates: Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.