[Q/A] Sabarimala: Rationalising Skewed Perspectives | Anand Prasad | Swami Ayyappan
115Main Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8HKH09yX_A&t=695s
In this Q/A session Anand Prasad answers the questions from the audience.
In main talk, Anand Prasad talks about understanding the Supreme Court ruling on Sabarimala. He questions why is it difficult for the court to see the traditional Indian viewpoint? The notion is that a secular State is viewed as a godless state, as against a State that accepts all gods. The court is an institution of rational thought and hence struggles to sanctify an argument in myth. There are multiple schools of Hinduism and they differ from each other. The problem arises when the court applies principles of the bhakti school (or the idea of “faith”) to other schools of Hinduism.
For presenting the arguments in review before the Supreme Court, the science of temples need to be understood, the science of energy needs to be understood. It is also important to understand that there are different rules for different rituals and how the difference to one set of people may look like discrimination to another set of people.
An abuse of the rules of a temple could result in a depletion of the temple’s specific energy and an eventual destruction.
About Speaker: -
Anand Prasad is a corporate lawyer, based in Delhi, with more than 27 years of experience representing both domestic and international clients on a variety of legal and commercial issues within and outside India.
In late 1999/early 2000, Anand helped co-found Trilegal, which today is one of the premium law firms in India. In March, 2017 Anand left Trilegal in the hope of contributing directly to society while at the same time practicing law as an independent counsel. In this role, on a bro bono basis, Anand’s work has included (i) assisting start-ups with financial investment transactions and generally structuring/restructuring their businesses, and (ii) advising citizens from poorer sections of society on a variety of civil and criminal law issues. He has also been providing mentorship to individual lawyers and small law firms and advising them with their practice development.
Other than being a lawyer, Anand has a keen interest and spends considerable time studying ancient Indian history, including in a religo/spiritual context. In his view, defining the multiple religious/cultural traditions in India as one religion, i.e. “Hinduisim”, is a major error coming from the days of European rule in India, which continues to be perpetuated in today world. This viewpoint has been the biggest contributor to the divisions in modern Indian society. Anand has written a few articles on these and associated issues and is in the process of penning a book on the topic.
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