Hijab splits SC; China faces US heat; Hindi naysayers
Opinion Watch
Hijab splits SC
At a time when teenagers are being killed in Iran for burning hijab, one judge in the Supreme Court drags equality to the court of fragile wisdoms of religion-ordained collectivism, exposing the art of interpreting liberal values selectively.
The Pioneer stands out with its Editorial with clarity of thoughts, weighed on scales of practices and apex court judgments, while The Indian Express and The Hindu beat around the bushes to peddle their editorial povertarianism to stick to the idea of secularism of the 1990s that even the Muslims are now disowning.
Is the choice indeed a personal decision, asks The Pioneer. Do the girls studying in schools and colleges really want to wear hijab to their classrooms; or, they’re wearing their parents dress diktats? Those who come up with lightening ‘yes’ had always been patronizing the practice of instant divorce also among the Muslims. Essentially, The Hindu and The Indian Express seek to convey that the state should mind its own business in the affairs of Muslims. Both the dailies again surrender to status quoist thoughts.
The doctrine of essential practice has served India well and also upheld by the Supreme Court – Muslims cannot keep beard and Hindus cannot sport ‘tika’ in armed forces. Justice Dhulia and his cheer gang lean on the right of choices. Classrooms are not places of bhajan and kirtan, and where one would spread a mat to offer namaz. That the Supreme Court gave a split verdict should be a cause of concern for a progressive society.
China faces US heat
The National Security Strategy unveiled by the Joe Biden administration puts in the fine print that China is a challenge, and Russia is an immediate worry. The US, a much evolved democracy than India, accords values to practices such as putting out statecraft documents in the public domains, submit executive to the Parliamentary scrutiny even if a demigod becomes President.
The Times of India wishes that India too should put out its strategic document. The daily lists out countries who are transparent with such documents, which includes France, the UK and even the floundering Pakistan. Barring the 2004 Indian Army doctrine, India offers its people no scope to weigh the country’s strategic thoughts, as governments shut out everything in an opaque casket, and subject people to listen to speeches.
The Economic Times has also commented on the issue, and it being a business daily has jumped to the idea of the economic gains that could be lapped with the US making an enemy out of China. But Elon Musk doesn’t make his business decision on the basis of the strategic paper of the US. His tribe looks at the scale of operation and technological agility for customized manufacturing bases. India is still on the bumpy road to cheer a strategic paper of the US.
Hindi naysayers
Politics makes its followers slaves of faded ideas, and Hindi hatred in Tamil Nadu and some other southern states by some affirm the stereotype. Here, the people cannot be given the choice by a section of the political class to either accept or reject Hind.
Some of the newspapers, which should challenge such regressive politics, invariably become associates of a class hatred for Hindi.
The Bengaluru-based Deccan Herald commits intellectual bankruptcy by claiming that “imposition of Hindi’ would destroy higher education, federalism and even research. The daily has commented on the Amit Shah-headed Parliamentary committee on official languages, which has called for educational instructions in either Hindi or local languages. Any attempt to dilute the use of English is met with fierce opposition, as seen with the Editorial of Deccan Herald, even while the advocates of English may not write a 200-word copy in the language without the help of Google.
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