In a recent statement in Kolkata, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud rightly said that courts should not be described as temples of justice and judges should not be treated as deities. Even though judges are addressed as “My Lord”, the CJI was frank enough to admit that they are not divine. There is an in fact great advantage to be human as humans can err.

Humans are “incurably religious,” Indians are more so. Indian society displays a “manifest tendency towards an outlook that is predominantly religious.” Sir Harcourt Butler had noted that “Indians are essentially religious as Europeans are essentially secular.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly said that the only holy book for him is the Constitution of India. “Holy” carries religious connotations. All kinds of accused say that they have full “faith” in the judiciary. “Faith” too is a loaded term with theological connotations. The big question is: Why are we all obsessed with religion?

Most of our Lok Sabha members and Union ministers recently took oath in the name of God rather than by saying “I solemnly affirm”. In 2019, the raising of the slogans, Jai Shri Ram and Allah, in the House demonstrated the place of religion in the Lok Sabha – which is also described as the “temple” of democracy. In fact, the Jai Samvidhan slogan does not seem to have wide acceptability. The debate in the Lok Sabha on the President’s address too had references to religions and arguments and counterarguments on what is the true meaning of religion in general and Hinduism in particular.

Indian society, it seems, is not at ease with the idea of secularism. Religion dominates the electoral campaigns despite its prohibition in law. Indira Gandhi was called Durga by Atal Bihari Bajpai. In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi launched his campaign for the Lok Sabha elections from Ayodhya. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was called the 11th........

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