Secular India
The Supreme Court of India cleared the Haj pilgrimage subsidy for 2006, while questioning the central government "Tell us whether any such subsidy is given to any other yatra. You can make arrangements like running special trains for the Kumbh Mela, provision for law and order, hygiene and other facilities, but can you grant financial subsidy?"
I find it very interesting how a "secular" government can get entangled in attending to various patently religious activities. As in, if those particular religious practices had not existed, the government would never have incurred the expenses therein.
I guess the answer lies in the fact that "secular" in India's context does not mean a divorce between religion and state.
I find it very interesting how a "secular" government can get entangled in attending to various patently religious activities. As in, if those particular religious practices had not existed, the government would never have incurred the expenses therein.
I guess the answer lies in the fact that "secular" in India's context does not mean a divorce between religion and state.
posted by Anand at 10:16 PM
1 Comments:
The word secular seems to also mean a long term occurence (like secular phenomenon in astronomy or secular trends in time series.
But, coming back to the point of the state giving subsidies to religious piligrimages -- i dont see why it is different from having specials buses to pakistan when an india-pakistan series was being held in pakistan!
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