Religion vs science

Offcourt...

Resignation by a minister or suspension of an officer who might have prepared the draft of the affidavit submitted to the supreme court (SC) in the Ram Setu case may not serve the purpose of secularism. Nor will it have the various study reports by Archeological Survey of India (ASI), the basis of the controversial affidavit, expunged. In fact, the crisis could be viewed as between religious faith and scientific evidence collected through new technologies.

It is said that the matter of religious belief can’t be subjected to adjudication. The SC has repeated this even in small matters such as what should be the decibel level of noise that merry-makers make during dandia or Ganesh Chaturthi.

The court also upheld the claim by members of Jehovah’s Witnesses that their faith doesn’t permit them to sing the national anthem or stand in respect of the national flag. There was furore against this judgment and Mohd Yunus, then chairman of the Trade Fair Authority of India, sought deportation of the judges who passed this verdict. That judgment raked up a debate on the twin basic principles of religious faith and spirit of patriotism. None took to the streets. Judges also rejected the contempt plea filed against Yunus, a family friend of Indira Gandhi.

If the government has been accused of discriminating against Hindus in the matter of Ram Setu, it can’t be charged with concealing facts.

ASI stated whatever it could rely on various expert reports, including its own and that of NASA, on how the Setu was conceived. Mythological texts can’t be said to be a historical record to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the “characters” or the occurrence as detailed in Ramayana. This part of ASI’s averment has been withdrawn. The veracity of religious beliefs can’t be decided by courts. Scientific reports at most help in keeping certain sensitive matters pending for a long time.

The SC didn’t take long to dispose of the presidential reference in 1993 that sought its opinion on who came first - the Babri mosque or the birth place of Lord Ram at Ayodhya. “It is not our suggestion that court of law is not competent to decide such a question. It can be done if expert evidence of archaeologists and historians is led, and is tested in cross-examination,” judges said. But religious belief and faith don’t have scientific basis.