Display of Religion in Public Domain

Should there be secularization of the cultural environment and a decline in public display of religious activities? Should religious beliefs of any kind be treated as a private eccentricity rather than a central and driving force?

The previous few years have seen a multifold increase in the incidents of religious intolerance. It may in some ways be attributed to the growing public display of religion and the impact of the developing trends of increasing declaration of faith.

The number of people who have turned to religion as a shield for their identity is alarming. The current format of religion following is a result of the increasing insecurity amongst the puritans that the developing world is attempting to wipe out the “culture” preserved over the years. This is then juxtaposed with the new developers who wish to break free of the bondages of the older religion. The expressions of both against the other have brought religion to the streets like never before.

The current scenario in the world points to the increase in religious fundamentalism and radicalism. The need to become cultural and moral protectors stem from the insecurities in the geopolitical sense and the fight for power. Be it the latest Mangalore Pub attacks or the Salman Rushie blasphemy in Satanic Verses or the Danish cartoonist who was murdered for blasphemy points to the increasing intolerance and religion leaving private practice domain into the pubic sphere.

Is there a need to regularize and clamp the freedom of expression under which the hooliganism of religion is spreading or is it a violation of the right? India was declared as a secular country even before the word secular appeared in the constitution during the emergency period but the application of the same still has not perpetrated through the years. Religion has become the driving fore of this country with the majority of the population being Hindu and vote bank politics the trump card of the politicians who have divided people on the name of religion. Parties such as BJP under the shadows of VHP function as the mouthpiece of the religious fundamentalists.

The practice of a religion is a matter of personal choice and comfort but spread on the streets of a country it defines the direction of the populace and creates havoc.