This thought had struck me more than a year ago, when I saw this particular television advertisement. Then the ad slowly disappeared from TV screens. However, I saw it again during the recent India-England cricket series. So hitting a mauke pe chauka, I thought to pen my thoughts finally.
First, take a look at the ad: Continue reading
“The meaning of nationalism has been reduced to a joke by fans of this regime. Anyone criticising the government is branded anti-national. This is a dangerous trend that can’t be good for healthy democracy at all.”
So said a self-declared liberal person. And it’s not a new grouse. This has been being repeated ever since the JNU incident came to light in the beginning of this year, where the government unwittingly made a lout like Kanhaiya Kumar a hero for the self-declared liberals. Continue reading
In India, more than being a liberal – where you are willing to accommodate dissenting voices – it is important to appear a liberal – where you shout every hour that you’re liberal and thus drown out the dissenting voices.
This shouting is a form of virtue signalling that helps people with otherwise sad credentials to aspire for respectability in a particular social circle.
And a lot of so-called liberals indulged in collective shouting yesterday after mobile wallet brand Paytm released an ad that hurt their guilty conscience. Continue reading
One of the oft-repeated arguments put forward against Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is that this is against the fundamental right to practice one’s religion. It is argued that the act of the state to legislate in matters, which ought to be governed through religious texts, is an attack on religious freedom.
Outwardly it might appear so, but in practice, UCC doesn’t take away any religious freedom. Yes, it takes away the rights of religious bodies to control a group – and that’s why those who fancy themselves as representatives or leaders of a religion are opposing it – but it doesn’t strip an individual his freedom to follow certain religious practices or rules. Continue reading
Last week, the government took a stand in the Supreme Court against triple talaq, arguing that such practices were regressive and needed reconsideration. Around the same time, the Law Commission of India issued an appeal (pdf link) seeking public consultation on the issue of Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Continue reading