Scientific temper important to fully claim Right to Life: Retd Supreme Court Judge Abhay Oka
Oka said, 'If Article 21 of the Constitution has given us a Right to Life with dignity, what does it mean? It is not just living with respect but also living meaningfully. Reading good literature and good thoughts, artwork, watching a comedy film or a stand-up comedian's show, this makes life prosperous. This is how we fulfill the Right to Life. Therefore, it is important to develop a scientific temper and spirit of enquiry to fully claim the Right to Life with prosperity.'
The retired judge also talked about how people use scientific equipment in their daily lives but do not develop a scientific temper: 'In Article 51(a) of the Constitution where scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform come together…Just using scientific equipment does not mean that people have scientific temper. In a lighter vein, DJs are used in many of our festivals. These hurt the ears and are their levels much above the permitted decibel limits according to the rules. DJ systems are created by science, but just because we are using it we cannot say that we have scientific temper.'
At the same event, Retired Supreme Court Judge Hemant Gokhale said, 'We killed Dr Dabhokar, also killed comrade (Govind) Pansare. This is the disposition of Maharashtra today. And the way minority and minority religion people are being harassed, this is against scientific temper…You all must have read that day before in Jamner, a young man was killed because he belonged to a religion. What kind of scientific temper is this?'
The lecture was held before the 12th anniversary of the assasination of Dr Narendra Dabholkar on August 20, who was one of India's foremost rationalists and anti-superstition activists. Dabholkar was gunned down in Pune in 2013 while on a walk. Two people were convicted for his murder in 2024 by a special court in Pune while three others, including the mastermind accused, were acquitted due to lack of evidence. All accused had links to extremist Hindu organisation Sanatan Sanstha. MANS and Dabholkar's family have questioned the CBI for not appealing the acquittals in higher courts.
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