Politics piggybacking religion

A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court has raised penetrating questions about the legitimacy of the use of religion in election campaigns to gain votes. That the court reportedly expects to come out with an interpretation of the relevant law in tune with the basic secular values on which India’s democracy is built is like a gleam of light in an increasingly oppressive time. The guise (of narrative in India) is quasi-religious, and it uses the alibis of nationalism and Indian culture to stifle everyday freedoms of life.