It is humorous to see the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh CMs-in-waiting N. Chandrababu Naidu and K. Chandrasekhar Rao, cash in on public money to make changes according to vaastu in their official residences besides looking for auspicious days to take the oath.
Vaastu changes are unconstitutional says P M Bhargava
I am amused because vaastu is completely unscientific and irrational. Sub-section (h) in Article 51(a) of the Constitution makes it a fundamental duty “to develop scientific temper, humanism and spirit of inquiry and reform.” So, to say that our leaders are indulging in acts that are unconstitutional is matter-of-factness.
It is the belief in irrational practices — such as vaastu, numerology, astrology, homeopathy, rahukalam and looking for auspicious dates for weddings and taking oaths, or wearing certain coloured stones — that is mainly responsible for the backwardness of our country. It is strange to see Mr Rao decline the existing Chief Minister’s camp office and go for a vaastu-compliant one.
I believe there is a serious problem when people holding high offices believe in vaastu and spend public money on remodeling or building new structures. This is even more worrisome considering the publicity their activities get. They are bound to influence crores of people. This irrationality is bound to get translated into other irrational actions.
For instance, Mr Rao says there is no place for Seemandhra employees in Telangana. It has never been defined who is a Telangana citizen and who is a Seemandhra citizen. It is amazing that these politicians’ immediate worries are about vaastu and not about how dirty our cities are.
“I believe that their concern with vaastu is a symptom of a very serious disease, that is, unscientific and irrational behaviour affecting their decision-making abilities in other areas which concern the entire population”.
Given the right to individual freedom in a democracy, their right to have certain beliefs, however unscientific and illogical they may be, is acceptable only when confined to their own personal activities.
But of course they have no right to impose them on others or use public money to gratify their whims and fancies arising out of these beliefs. This would be as truer of many leaders in our country as of our two CMs-in-waiting.