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Customs and traditions suppress reason leading to obscurantism. Do you agree? (UPSC GS1 2020)

Customs are traditional and widely accepted course to behave or do something that is clearly defined to a particular society, whereas traditions are about the transmission of these customs or beliefs from generation to generation. The fact is that they have to be passed on in this manner. Unless customs are followed and practiced with lots of self-control and discipline, they can’t be passed on from one generation to another as unique cultural traditions specific to their society. This means it is limited, or in fact, no scope for change. How the customs/traditions suppress rationality We encounter frequently these traditions in our daily lives, starting from the harmless ones to the most brutal and inhumane customs.
Some of the them that prevail in India are as follows: 

• Made Snana is a ritual where devotees roll over leftover food by Brahmins to cure skin diseases, marriage problems and infertility. It is conducted during three-day annual celebration outside Kukke Subramanya temple in Dakshina Kannada district between November-December. It is also practiced in parts of Tamil Nadu. 
• FGM is the name given to procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical or cultural reasons, and is recognized internationally as a violation of human rights and the health and integrity of girls and women. It is one of the most brutal ritual that is practiced in various countries including India among the Dawoodi Bohra community. 
• Self-flagellation is a ritual of religious significance done in the name of atonement of one’s sins is practised widely even today and the people engaging themselves into the act confess that they do not experience any sort of pain as they are in a religious trance. 
• It is a ritual involving hitting oneself with a whip or whips of chains with attached blades. Practised among the Christian communities in the Phillipines and Mexico on Good Friday and among the Shi’a sect of Islam in countries like India, Pakistan, Iraq and Lebanon during the month of Muharram. 
• The Devadasi is a Sanskrit term which means servant of Deva (GOD) or Devi (GODESS). This is a kind of religious practice carried on basically in the southern part of India in which a girl in her pre puberty period was dedicated to worship and service of deity or a temple for the rest of her life by her parents. 

How it leads to obscurantism? 

• Often these traditions are justified using either pseudo-science or interpretation of religious texts. For example, triple talaq and nikah halala have been defended irrationally by quoting various texts. In Sabarimala case, despite the ban on the entry of women is against the Right to Equality as ensured in the Constitution, has been also defended. 
• Since the change in these customs is not welcomed at all, these justifications even suppress the reason of the greatest importance. Sometimes they stand so rigid that a reason looks completely helpless and further leads to obscurantism. 
• These obscurantisms protect the customs and traditions from reason, evolution of human and dynamic social order. 
• Communal politics, lack of spirit of rationality, lack of education, etc. further aggravate the situation. 

Conclusion 
In a democratic polity, whenever there is a conflict between reason and customs, state apparatus esp. judiciary has the task to strengthen the idea of rationality. But, in many cases, state too struggles in doing so. This is the reason that despite the Constitution in Article 51A (h) directs state to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform among the citizens, still the situation is far from the desired result. Customs and traditions need to make people the rational beings taking account of reasons, rather than becoming a reason for obscurantism, ignorance and faithlessness.

Topics Covered - Communalism, Regionalism