by FARZANA VERSEY
Just when the Catholic Church is dealing with a frisky priest and a young Indian godman has been caught on camera in a sleazy video with some female devotees, the Supreme Court of India makes a supposedly progressive pronouncement. All’s well? Not quite. It uses god.
The verdict would have incensed the rightwing political organisation, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) anyway, but now they can add a religious flavour to their protest. The courts had cited the example of Lord Krishna and his consort Radha to corroborate its judgment on live-in relationships.
The protestors are angry: “The observation made by it (apex court) regarding Radha-Krishna has hurt the sentiments of billions of Hindus. We request the Supreme Court that it should withdraw this comment from the final verdict.”
Nobody quite knows the statistics about hurt sentiments, but these things work. The more worrying aspect is the Supreme Court decriminalising live-in relationships by stating, “If two people, man and woman, want to live together, who can oppose them? What is the offence they commit here? This happens because of the cultural exchange between people.”
I don’t think there is any obfuscation that living-in between man and woman is not for cultural exchange, but to share lives and a bed. By using the example of Radha-Krishna, it makes it legitimate for one community and pretty much leaves out atheists.
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