The worst is probably yet to come. The apparent success of Jallikattu agitation in Tamil Nadu has reawakened some hitherto dormant movements across the country. The Karnataka government has bowed to pressure from a people’s agitation — similar in some respects to the one in Tamil Nadu — seeking that the ban on Kambala, a traditional buffalo racing sport, be lifted.
The cabinet there has decided to move a draft bill to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act during the legislative session from February 6 to 10 to facilitate the conduct of the sport in the coastal belt of the state.
In the West, Haryana has been put on high alert and section 144 imposed in parts of the state with the Jats threatening to restart their agitation seeking reservation as OBCs January 29.
In Maharashtra, too, there are rumblings of a movement favouring the revival of traditional bullock cart races.
The agitations and growing unrest are proof that laws have proven to be inadequate in making the injustice involved in disputed practices evident to the majority. Public opinion favouring the restoration of traditional practices shows the clear lack of strength in legal diktats to convince the majority that they would deliver greater good to all. Laws have not been proven, beyond reasonable doubt, to be the best things for the people in these cases.
The situation calls for pragmatic approaches to the application of laws. Practices with deep cultural roots cannot and should not be uprooted with the firm hand of law. They should be carefully studied and pruned delicately to retain their best outcomes.
Although law appears to have gained the upper hand over tradition in some recent cases, such as the entry of women to the Haji Ali Dargah or the Shani Shingnapur temple, the latest agitations offer reasons to suspect that we may not have seen the end of it.
Social changes should be brought about through careful experimentation such as the one Uruguay had undertaken. In 2013, Uruguay under its then president Jose ‘Pepe’ Mujica became the first country in the world to legalise marijuana trade.
The move was termed a great social experiment that was aimed at weaning the country off the herbal drug menace and found support to the extent of its passage by the legislative bodies there. The idea was to discourage illegal trade, which had been thriving in the absence of legal supply of the drug.
The move even earned Mujica, who was known as the world’s poorest president, a nomination for Nobel peace prize. Although, the efforts have since hit roadblocks and Uruguay is yet to cement its laws on the subject, the path that the Latin American country has shown is worth following.
Large social experiments should be carried out to find out whether a proposed law would fit in with the specific social, cultural and economic contexts of a nation. Laws are bound to be more effective if they are preceded by the gathering of adequate evidence favouring their implementation.
In the absence of people’s backing, no law can be implemented with lasting effect. The fact that the BJP has reintroduced Ayodhya Ram Temple in its election manifesto for UP is proof that the party still believes in the relevance of the subject in fetching it people’s mandate. It will take change in perceptions of people from the youngest to the oldest to bring about essential reform. The mere passage of laws won’t suffice to achieve such ends.
