RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS- IS IT NECESSARY?

I write this with reference to a rather innocuous news report that appeared in today's newspapers. It pertains to the decision of the Kerala State Government to provide a restricted holiday to employees belonging to a certain caste on March 12, being the birthday of "Vaikundha Swamy", whoever that may be.

In the present day chaos based on the mass conversions reported from various parts of the country, isn't this act of the government another effort towards a minority appeasement? Will it not create another divide among various sections of the employees? By granting such a holiday restricted to only a section of the employees, isn't the government depriving the other employees of the facility of one day leave? I am sure the employees association will raise these questions in the coming days, which may put the government in another tight spot, after the Bar imbroglio.

I request the government to rethink on the present decision and avoid taking such decisions based on caste, religion etc. in our "Secular" country

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

The other day I went to watch the Aamir Khan movie "PK". While watching the same I was wondering why no "religious " leaders have so far come out against the screening of the movie on the ground that it "hurt" the religious feelings!! The comments made by the character portrayed by Aamir Khan raises some pertinent questions which needs to be answered by the so called religious leaders. It also depicts how the so called "spiritual" leaders take the believers for a ride and how the believers are being exploited.

And when I got the newspaper today (23.12.2014) I saw the report saying that somebody has filed a PIL petition seeking a ban on the movie!!! So my expectation was not off the mark! We still have people who cannot tolerate any constructive criticism. I hope the honorable court will take a balanced view after seeing the movie and dismiss the petition, as I do not find anything in the movie which abuses any religion. At the same time it has questioned the false beliefs of all religions and their leaders also. This should not be a reason for banning the screening of the movie. It is high time we learnt to accept the constructive criticisms in its stride