Minority judgment, leisure & jazz yatra

The recent judgment of the SupremeCourt regarding minority educational institutions is the second instance when aneleven judge Bench was constituted. The previous occasion was in GolakNath.One remarkable feature is that none of the leading Supreme Courtjudgments on minority educational institutions has been unanimous. In itsadvisory opinion in Kerala Education Bill, Justice Venkatarama Iyer gave adissenting judgment which was not in favour of minorities. In the celebrateddecision in St. Xavier''s College, the two justices, Baig and Dwivedi, in theirdissents accepting the arguments of the then Additional Solicitor General F SNariman ruled against the minorities. In St. Stephen''s case Justice Kasliwaldissented and rejected the claim of minority educational institutions. Therecent decision is also marked by dissents. Two judges, Quadri and Ruma Pal,have fully accepted the claims of aided minority educational institutionsregarding admission of students belonging to the minority community whereasJustices Variava and Ashok Bhan have rejected these claims. The majority strucka balance and accorded limited preference to aided institutions in the admissionof students of their community. Sadly, the Court could not speak with anunanimous voice.There are picturesque passages in Chief Justice Kirpal''smajority judgment. "The essence of secularism in India can best be depicted if arelief map of India is made in mosaic, where the one billion people are thesmall pieces of marble that go into the making of a map. These small pieces ofmarble, in the form of human beings, which may individually be dissimilar toeach other, when placed together in a systematic manner, produce the beautifulmap of India. Each piece plays an important part in making of the whole but whenone small piece of marble is removed, the whole map of India would be scarred,and the beauty would be lost". In Justice Ruma Pal''s view the Constitution doesnot proceed on the ‘melting pot'' theory. It "rather represents a‘salad bowl'' where there is homogeneity without any obliteration ofidentity". Marbles in a mosaic are preferable to an unappetising saladbowl.***********Different tests have been suggested for judging thecivilised state of a nation. One is the treatment meted out by a State to itswomen. Another is the effective extent of protection to vulnerable groups.Tolerance and freedom to dissent are regarded as indispensable hallmarks. Adown-to-earth criterion is the state of public sanitation in governmentbuildings particularly at railway stations and airports. According to IrwinEdman in his essay, On American Leisure, "the best test of the quality of acivilisation is the quality of its leisure. One can tell much about a man bynoting the objects and pastimes to which he spontaneously turns for joy. Thesame may be said of a nation". Leisure "is not a chronological occurrence but aspiritual state. It is unhurried pleasurable living among one''s nativeenthusiasms", which for me, "would be an afternoon spent browsing withoutpurpose in a library". ***********Delhites had a refreshing exposureto jazz last Friday at the yatra organised by Jazz India Delhi in collaborationwith the Norwegian Embassy. Two Norwegian groups Karin Krog/John Surman Quartetand Knut Riisnaes Quartet provided exciting musical fare. Karin Krog withexcellent accompaniment by John Surman on the soprano sax delighted the audiencewith her singing of Caravan. Knut Riisnaes did wonders on the tenor sax with hiswarm tone and technique. Dag Arnesen was superb on the piano. Terje Gewelt onthe bass and Frank Jakobsen on drums provided a fine rhythm section. Theperformances warmed our hearts and whetted our appetite for more.