Editorial : Reject Punjab’s life term for sacrilege

The government of Punjab has done the nation a disservice(नुक़सान/अन्याय) by seeking to add a section to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that would make even reasoned debate of theology a crime that warrants life imprisonment(कारावास/क़ैद करना). The Centre should

reject the recommended(की सिफारिश की/संस्तुत) change to the IPC. The colonial-era law already contains two sections, 295 and 295A, which provide for two-year and three-year prison(जेल) terms(शर्तें), respectively, for damaging(हानिकारक/विपरीत) or defiling(अशुद्ध/गंदा करना) any place or object held to be sacred by any class of people and for hurting(चोट पहुंचाना/कष्ट देना) the religion or religious sentiments of any class of people. Punjab now proposes 295AA with life imprisonment for “injury, damage or sacrilege(अपवित्रीकरण/तोड़ना-मरोड़ना/)” to the Guru Granth Sahib, the Geeta, the Quran and the Bible.

The Akali Dal government of Punjab had proposed a similar law for defiling the Guru Granth Sahib, in the wake of repeated incidents of deliberate(जानबूझकर/विमर्श करना) attempts to incite(भड़काना) religious fury(रोष/क्रोध) by strewing (बिखेरना/फैलाना) torn pages and mangled copies of the Sikh holy book in different parts of Punjab. The Centre had turned down the proposal on the ground that it was not secular. The present amendment(संशोधन/सुधार) incorporates(सम्मिलित करना/इकट्ठा करना) the holy books of other major faiths and, so, seeks to clear the secular bar. This is the wrong response to deliberate(जानबूझकर) attempts by anti-national forces to provoke religious disturbance. The political class should unite to ask people to be on guard against such provocation(उकसावा/उत्तेजना), and seek their cooperation to defeat anti-India moves. Sensible politics and law enforcement are the right response, not tougher laws liable(जवाबदेह/अधीन) to abuse. To have such a law on the statute book is to invite abuse: the law on sedition(विद्रोह) is a case in point. Sedition cases have been rife across the land, in spite(विरोध/बावजूद) of repeated Supreme Court rulings that only active incitement(शह/प्रोत्साहन) to violence(हिंसा/क्रूरता) against the state constitutes sedition.

Important Vocabulary

1.Disservice(नुक़सान/अन्याय)
Synonyms: injustice, detriment, disfavor, harm, hurt
Antonyms: advantage, aid, assistance, benefit, blessing

2.Deliberate(जानबूझकर/विमर्श करना)
Synonyms: calculated, careful, cautious, cold-blooded, conscious
Antonyms: careless, heedless, ignorant, imprudent, inattentive

3.Fury(रोष/क्रोध)
Synonyms: acrimony, energy, ferocity, frenzy, furor
Antonyms: calm, calmness, glee, happiness, inactivity

4.Sedition(विद्रोह
Synonyms: insubordination, insurrection, mutiny, treason, agitation
Antonyms: obedience, calm, peace, submission

5.Incitement(शह/प्रोत्साहन)
Synonyms: instigation, provocation, incentive, incitation, stimulus
Antonyms: hindrance

6.Spite(विरोध/बावजूद) 
Synonyms: animosity, antipathy, contempt, despite, enmity
Antonyms: admiration, affection, approval, benevolence, forgiveness

7.Provocation(उकसावा/उत्तेजना), 
Synonyms: affront, harassment, indignity, insult, annoyance
Antonyms: compliment, discouragement, happiness, hindrance, pleasure