Published Online:June 2024
Product Name:The IUP Journal of English Studies
Product Type:Article
Product Code:
Author Name:Nilanjana Debnath
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Arts and Humanities
Download Format:PDF
Pages:9
U R Ananthamurthy’s novel Samskara and Ashapurna Devi’s bildungsroman The First Promise were published in consecutive years and have some striking similarities in the sociocultural issues they highlight. Together, they provide a comprehensive view of a society on the brink of social transformation from a predominantly religious one, to one governed by a constitutional secular democracy. Even though the transition seems easy in theory, certain recent legal and cultural events beg a re-examination of the politics of sacred and profane.
When Maharashtra revised its Animal Preservation Act in early 2015, tightening restrictions and increasing the penalty for the slaughter of cows, bulls, and bullocks1 , there were strong protests against what was perceived as a ban on beef. This law has been interpreted as a coercive action taken by an autocratic government and has been touted as an imposition of majoritarian religious practices on a communally diverse population. Setting aside the moral debate of right and wrong, a contextualized approach to the amendment and the public reaction to it highlights a sociopolitical issue that India has been dealing with since its independence. Despite being a constitutionalized democracy on paper, everyday governance in India is founded on a negotiation between the contradictory aspects of the religious and the secular.