11 September, 2007

On Imposing Duties

WTF quote of the day:

[I]t is the duty of every citizen of India under Article 51-A of the Constitution - irrespective of caste, creed or religion - to follow the dharma propounded by the Bhagvad Gita.

No, these are not the words of some random crackpot, but of Justice SN Srivastava of the Allahabad High Court, as part of a ruling on a writ petition. My first reaction to it is one of shock, but then I remind myself that it is par for the course in a country where it is routine for different groups to try and impose their preferences on others. Regardless of the particular preference involved, it is wrong in principle to do that. No?

(Link via email from reader Anand Gadiyar.)