harbans wrote:BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s remark that he was a ‘Hindu nationalist’ stirred a debate earlier this year, but the Jammu and Kashmir high court has ruled that any person claiming affiliation with any form of religious nationalism shall be barred from contesting elections.
“In our constitutional scheme, a citizen of India is only an Indian. No person can claim himself to be a Hindu nationalist, Muslim nationalist, Sikh nationalist, Buddhist nationalist or a Christian nationalist,” justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar said in the ruling on Thursday.
“The constitutional provision is loud and clear (about it) and in unambiguous terms forbids using such expression,” he added.
Justice Attar said a very serious and potential threat is posed to the very existence of the idea of India by “the fringe elements, who take cover under various types of ‘isms’ other than Indianism”.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-new ... 33976.aspx
Wonderful logic! Indian judiciary never fails to amaze me with the profundity of their divine insights and feats of super-logic.
If that argument is acceptable, then there should not be recognition of religious qualitatives for Indian citizens either - since the Constitution apparently recognizes only "citizens" and no further qualifiers. In fact the word "nationalist" is not defined anywhere in the Constitution. No provincial, linguistic, sub-sub-sub identity can then be recognized by the state for any legal purpose.
This is not supportable based on reading of the Constitution. The Constitution does recognize further qualifiers on Indian citizens, especially based on their religious identity.