It’s the issue that has been raging the most the past fortnight or so. It has raised fundamental questions about the freedom of association as enshrined in our constitution; and has caused so much furore the President addressed it in both his State of the Nation and Independence Day speeches to the nation.
I refer, of course, to the brouhaha surrounding the question of whether students of differing faiths in our educational institutions should be forced to partake in activities not of their faith.
It has become such a contentious issue, with claims and counter claims by adherents to both Christianity and Islam. The Christians are essentially saying ‘if you go to Rome, you do what Romans do’, the Muslims are saying this is a secular state and one should not be forced to adhere to the tenets of a religion they do not believe in. The argument rages on with neither side ready to budge an inch.
The root cause of all these, of course, is religion. Good old Christianity and Islam, just another point of division in a country chock full of them already.