Two Writeups : Punjab - 'Law against Blasphemy', RSS Centenary - In Search of an Icon
Subhash Gatade
Punjab: Why Proposed 'Law Against Blasphemy’ Needs to be Discarded
Whether history will repeat itself, that is the question being asked about Punjab government’s renewed attempt to enact a law supposedly against 'sacrilege'?
Anyone who is a keen observer of the social-political developments in the state knows very well that it has a history of such efforts (2015 and 2018) where similar attempts were made to amend laws related to sacrilege, and both attempts proved unsuccessful as they failed on the yardstick of constitutionality.
As per reports, the proposed Punjab Prevention of Offences against Holy Scriptures Bill, 2025 (PPOHS Act), which was recently referred by the state legislature to a committee for further discussion, has come under the scanner of experts of the Constitution and concerned citizens.
A leading voice among them, namely the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG) -- a platform of retired civil servants and diplomats-- has in an open communication underlined how Punjab government’s proposed 'PPOHS Act' is ‘unconstitutional’ and is an ‘open invitation to oppressive misuse’ .
[ Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/punjab-why-proposed-law-against-blasphemy-needs-be-discarded]
2.
RSS Centenary : In Search of an Icon
Subhash Gatade | 05 Sep 2025
[Centenary celebrations of RSS - the biggest 'self-proclaimed' cultural organisation in the world -- comprising of Hindus are on.
Much is being said about its longevity etc., and much will be said about it in coming days, it remains to be seen if it is ready to take a fresh look at some discomforting aspects of its own history when it is embarking on a journey towards what it calls as ‘new horizons’]
Ram Lila, the dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama is still popular in Northern India.
Anyone who has watched this programme -- especially in villages or towns -- might have noticed a particular scene where god curses a sage for his misdemeanour that he will get a donkey’s face for his actions and will not even realise that he has got this new face.
One is reminded of this story -- which tells us the great hiatus between claims and reality -- whenever an individual or a formation starts bragging about its achievements that have no basis in reality.
Leaders of the Hindutva Supremacist movement in this part of South Asia look no different when they declare from the rooftops the “great role their political ancestors have played during the freedom movement”. It is a different matter that any objective student of India’s history -- especially of the Independence struggle -- is conversant with hundreds or thousands of pages, books, monographs written or documented to underline the contrary, their meek behaviour and compromising role during the very struggle.
[ Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/rss-centenary-search-icon]