Obscurantism is word that comes to us from the word obscure.
Obscure, we all know, means to make things less visible or clear. It is making things hazy.
And obscurantism is a policy of opposition to enlightenment or the spread of knowledge, that is to make knowledge obscure. We can say it is the practice of making things obscure.
Dictionary definition for obscurantism:
1. Opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge. (noun)
2. Deliberate obscurity or evasion of clarity. (noun)
Obscurantism in Context:
The given context for this word is fact one of the best ones that can define the word: the kind of issues women face in countries such as Pakistan is as much an outcome of obscurantism as anything else. Isn’t it so?
PLEASE NOTE:
The following is an extract from The Hindu used for educational purposes: ‘Nothing in the world scares me more than the thought of being born a woman or a eunuch in a country like Pakistan, where obscurantism has deep roots. It is very unfortunate that we make tall claims, full of pride, about the rights of woman granted by our religion and yet when I look around in underdeveloped Muslim countries in general and Pakistan in particular, I find things totally the opposite.’
Read further on:
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2162165.ece
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