THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 15 June 2020 (The need for an anti-discrimination law (The Hindu))

The need for an anti-discrimination law (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: anti-discrimination law
Mains level: Role of anti-discrimination law

Context:

• Sport is often a microcosm of society.
• Much as we might sometimes see it as a leveller, it invariably tends to underscore more endemic inequities.
• Recent revelations made by the former West Indies cricket captain Darren Sammy, therefore, must awaken us to a problem that goes far beyond the cricket field and its narrow confines, of a society replete with racism.

Voices in Sport:

• In our country, this problem is only exacerbated by other historically ingrained forms of discrimination, along the lines of caste, class, gender, and religion among other things.
• Indeed, in reacting to Mr. Sammy’s statements, the former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan pointed not how players from the south of India routinely faced abuse from crowds in the north.
• On June 9, Mr. Pathan said, in a tweet, that racism in our country goes beyond the colour of our skins, that enforcing embargoes on people seeking to buy houses based on their faith ought to equally be seen as a feature of prejudice.
• Predictably, Mr. Pathan faced a volley of abuses for his tweet.
• A number of people told him that India had given him everything — love, fame and money — and that he should check with Pakistan on how they were doing.
• Here was a cricketer, who had ...........................

CLICK HERE FOR FULL EDITORIAL (Only for Course Members)

Zoroastrian cooperative housing society case:

• The Supreme Court, in 2005, in Zoroastrian Cooperative Housing Society vs District Registrar Co-operative Societies (Urban) and Others, endorsed one such restrictive bond, when it ruled in favour of a bye-law of a Parsi housing society that prohibited the sale of property to non-Parsis.
• This right to forbid such a sale, the Court ruled, was intrinsic in the Parsis’ fundamental right to associate with each other.
• But in holding thus, the judgment, as ..............................

CLICK HERE FOR FULL EDITORIAL (Only for Course Members)

Attempts at change:

• In India, there have been a few efforts to this end in recent times.
• Shashi Tharoor introduced a private member’s bill (drafted by Tarunabh Khaitan) in 2017, while the Centre for Law & Policy Research drafted and released an Equality Bill last year.
• These attempts recognise that our civil liberties are just as capable of being threatened by acts of private individuals as they are by the state.
• Ultimately, our rule of law must subsume an understanding that discrimination partakes different forms.
• Any reasonable conception of justice would demand that we look beyond the intentions of our actions, and at the engrained structures of society.
• This does not mean that we need to live under an illusion that a statute will resolve our systemic biases, that we will somehow magically transform ourselves into the kind of nation that B.R. Ambedkar envisioned.

Conclusion:

• But, now more than ever, as we look to reset our societal arrangements in the wake of COVID-19, a rededication to our original constitutional commitment could be worthwhile.
• To that end, the idea of enacting a law that will help ameliorate our ways of life, that will help reverse our deep-rooted culture of discrimination, is worth thinking about.

  Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

  E-Books Download for UPSC IAS Exams

  General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Prelims Questions:

Q1.  With reference to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), consider the following statements:
1. It is a statutory body.
2. Prime Minister is the Chairman of the NTCA.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: ...........................

CLICK HERE FOR FULL EDITORIAL (Only for Course Members)

Mains Questions:
Q1.  India is unique among democracies in that a constitutional right to equality is not backed by comprehensive legislation. In this c...................................