Sep
11
High court judge rules Gita should be followed by all citizens
September 11, 2007 posted by indiatime |
Last week, a judge in the Allahabad high court, put words in the constitution’s mouth and handed a judgement so activist and so far-fetched that it has little chances to go any further. Justice S N Srivastava, while deciding a temple property case, ruled that “…It is the duty of every citizen of India under Article 51-A of the Constitution of India, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, to follow dharma as propounded by the Bhagawat Gita…”.
Bhagawat Gita, the battlefield wisdom of Lord Krishna that underlines the basic tenets of Hindu philosophy, is a fascinating self-help guide to a life-philosophy and can be practised by any human being irrespective of their religion, color, race. etc. Nobody doubts that. Its one single take-home lesson - “..working hard without expecting anything in return..”, or its enlightening disclosures about death and beyond, and its reassurance that there is hope when the planet gets overloaded with sinners - all those could soothe, reassure, and bless any human being irrespective of where he or she comes from. It is an unbelievably lucid ‘Life for dummies’ straight from Lord Krishna’s mouth.
Let me also mention that I’ve known the original sanskrit version of Gita by heart since I was in grade 4. And it has always brought me solace, inspiration, and peace.
Having said that, however, a high court of a democratic nation is NOT the place where we want to hear a discourse on Bhagwat Gita from. India’s constitution explicitly declares India to be a secular nation. That constitution alone, should be adhered to like a scripture book by its defenders and implementors. Justice Srivastava quotes article 51A from India’s constitution, but here is the detailed article 51A and it says nothing about Bhagwat-Gita, not a word:
Article 51A Fundamental duties
It shall be the duty of every citizen of India -
(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem
(b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom
(c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India
(d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so
(e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women
(f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture
(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures
(h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform
(i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence
(j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement
In fact, what justice Srivastava is saying could actually be construed as hurting items e and f of the article 51A.
If justice Srivastava wants to talk further about Bhagwat-Gita, he needs to resign from the high court, because saying what he is from where he is, he is insulting
a) the high court that he represents by bringing his personal religion into his rulings
b) this nation’s secular constitution by citing it falsely
c) and he is even insulting the Bhagwat Gita by unnecessarily dragging and invoking a religious philosophy into legal arguments.
Such judges have no place in India’s courts. It doesn’t even matter whether their arguments are philosophically right or not.
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Sir,
A judge, who takes oath of faith & allegiance in the dreaded predator & pirate Indian Constitution has no moral right to speak on Gita.
Eradication of human race is imminent. Human race has lost wisdom. A Government that extorts taxes over 17% of the produce is extortionist. A religion that snatches freedom of worship cannot be secular. The words, “Public Interest” & “Social Justice” are weapons to usurp the belongings of the haves. The end payers of corporate tax, VAT and even Income tax are poor people. The industrialists and traders are being blackmailed to loot the poor and pass the booty to the dreaded democratic Governments. If one says that the tax is used for the welfare of poor, one is patently wrong. Bofor Chor Rajiv Gandhi, the so-called Mr. clean, had already told the nation in 1985 that 85% money of exchequer was being siphoned off by the intermediaries during his tenure. Now the position has further deteriorated. Look! Poor Jehovah has no share in booty. Poor Allah takes 20% only. (Koran 8:41). However, Pratibha and thief Antonia Maino and their servants gallop 85% of the exchequer as per the admission of the ex PM of this dreaded Democracy!
Right of private defence provided vide Sections 102 & 105 of the Indian Penal Code is being denied by the Presidents & the State Governors, who are armed with Sections 196 & 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Judiciary has held Koran & Bible religious books. No court can sit in to judgment against these books. (Chandmal Chopra v State of West Bengal AIR 1986 CALCUTTA 104; 1986 Cr.L.J. 182). Armed with the section 196 of Criminal Procedure Code that restrains citizens, police and judges from taking any action against Azan & Namaz u/s 153 & 295 of the Indian Penal Code, President & Governors are deliberately protecting assassins, robbers and rapists to eradicate Human race as such are culprits punishable u/s 108 of the Indian Penal Code. Police THAT cannot arrest Muslim Imam, who shouts Azaan and thus insults Ishwar and Vedic culture, are deputed to protect Muslims, who abuse non-Muslim faiths & incite communal violence. No judge can take cognizance against Azaan, Koran & Bible under the very section 196. No Police can be prosecuted under the section 197.
While Muslims & Christians are armed with draconian Article 29(1) of the Indian Constitution to eradicate Vedic culture, President Pratibha, Governors, & District Magistrates have been armed with sections 196 & 197 to protect Muslims & Christians with incentive to usurp the belongings of the haves under Article 39(c) of the Indian Constitution.
The fundamental Right to Property provided vide Article 31 of the Indian Constitution could not be snatched even by the Britons and the Constitution Committee. This Article 31 was amended by the dacoit Parliamentarians and upheld by the apex Court. Now the Article has been omitted from the Constitution since 20.06.1979.
Apt
Dear Sir,
Gita is not a battle field philosophy. Life is the symbolic battlefield - Arjuna is one of the myraid lives who seek solace. The fact that Gita has stood the test of time for over two millennium should speak something about its universality and timelessness. What are you afraid of? Your testing two millennium old Gita against democratic concepts which are but barely couple of hundred years old, that too, mostly tested only in the twentieth century. You, who claim to know Gita by heart, must point out what is undemocratic about Gita. Not speak in generalities and try to expell the judge from the court.
Do you think this happens in USA, if a US court judge admires Bible?
Your plaititudes to democracy and denigrating Gita is rank hypocracy.
Yours faithfully,
B.N.Gururaj,
Bangalore.
Gururaj,
A judge who sits on any court in India, must adhere and rule by the constitution. Whether we like it or not, that is how it works.
I know several judges in Mumbai who rule strictly by the constitution from their bench, while practise and preach Gita in their private life. In fact, some of these judges, when invited as public speakers, often speak about Gita as a guiding principle. I don’t have a problem with that, as I myself feel that Gita is the finest discourse on life-philosophy known to mankind.
Here is where the problem is. India, in 1950, decided that it will have a legal document called the constitution, and all the laws of this land will have to adhere to whatver is in that constitution. If you want to change or make amendments ot that constitution, there is a legal process through our parliamentary system through our local representatives. If enough people agree that Gita needs to be followed by all the Indians, then that may very well happen. For now, however, that is not the case. So any judge who speaks outside of the constitutional principles is really not being honest to his or her oath of office.
As for your reference to a US judge admiring the bible. Sure there have been cases where judges in the US have admired the bible from their bench. In fact, some judges have gone further and ruled to have stone inscriptions with ten commandments inside court premises.
But ther has NEVER been a case where a US judge has ruled that every US citizen has to follow either the bible or Christianity.
To Mr. J. M. James High court judge……………………………………Dear Sir I am writing to inform you your brother Antony Mosses / Mosses Miranda son is now in U.S.A. please call me my email is antonymosses@yahoo.com please send one message after I will send you my personal phone number.