Daily Briefing Current Affairs

When "Public Order" Becomes a Permanent Alibi for Policing Belief

Punjab's Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, which extends "sacrilege" to cover words, signs and electronic representations alongside physical desecration, has reopened a much older question about whether a secular state can ever honestly separate protecting public order from protecting religious belief itself.