Secularism

Secularism, in its western denotation, means separation of religion from the state,
whereas state denotes the overall structure of political system in a society and
includes all of its branches namely legislature, executive and judiciary. The
religion is considered to be matter of personal domain and has no relation
whatsoever to the public domain of state. The State needs to maintain neutrality
towards religion. It neither supports nor persecutes any particular religion. The
citizens enjoy full freedom to profess any religion or none at all. Though, State is
held above religion in esteem and can interfere in religious sphere of individuals if
rationality and public good like health, morality or national security warrants so.
Sometimes, Secularism is interpreted to be in its extreme form and is taken as an
alibi for curtailment of religion. This was the case in former Soviet Union and
other communist states of Europe.

Secularism, as a concept, is a corollary of philosophy of Scientific

Humanism which puts great confidence in capability of human reason to manage
the worldly affairs. Like, John Locke maintains that religion is required for
stability of spiritual and personal aspects of human life. It tries to explain the other-
worldly phenomenon. It is a folly to apply it to the political sphere which is a this-
worldly phenomenon and would be better served if governed with the faculty of
human reason and not religious dogma.

The Indian concept of Secularism is different from western one in

its approach towards religion. Latter preaches the State to maintain a passive
attitude towards religion but the former expects from a State to have an active role
to play in fulfillment of religious freedoms of its citizens. Especially, it is expected
to safeguard the interests of religious minorities in the presence of vast majority of
and to help them in realization of their religious duties. The ‘apathy’ of Western
secularism transforms into ‘sympathy’ in Indian concept. This is demonstrated by
funding of ‘Haj’ pilgrimage and other religious institutions by the Indian
government. In Indian context, State takes due cognizance of all the religions and
maintains an impartial equidistance to all of them. This is demonstrated by the
recognition of different personal laws for different religions. Thus, Indian concept
looks more dynamic and inclusive than its western counterpart.
 The state’s active approach in the realization of religious freedom of
the citizens is not endorsed by all. It is this very distinguishing feature of Indian
secularism which is often criticized the most. There are situations when religious
freedom of an individual conflicts with the celebrated democratic ideals of liberty,
equality and fraternity. Absence of Uniform Civil Code in India demonstrates this
aptly. Due to different personal laws, the followers of different religions enjoy
different degrees of freedom towards inheritance of property, divorce, and
marriage etc. According to critics, If Indian democracy claims to provide equality
before the law to every citizen then why these inequalities based on religion? They
opine that by discriminating on the basis of religion state, in effect, is weakening
the roots of nationalism in India. According to them, a common feeling of
brotherhood amongst all citizens of India is difficult to be fostered as long as the
law adjudicates their personal matters on different parameters. Also, religious rules
and beliefs are not always in harmony with modern progressive ideas. In words of
a critic: If state, on account of respecting the religious freedom of individuals,
abstains from implementing such ideas for a particular religion then doesn’t it
amounts to violation of their more basic right of equality?

Very often, Indian secularism is termed as pseudo-secularism. The

state’s promotion of religious freedom of, in the garb of Secularism, may be used
as a tool by shrewd politicians to appease a particular religious community. This,
in turn, enables the rival politicians to abet the other religious communities. What
follows, ultimately is creation of a malfunctioning democracy characterized by
religious vote banks. Thus, the whole idea of secularism is made to stand on its
head.

Despite all these strong criticisms, Indian version of secularism cannot be

brushed aside. The religion forms a critical part of Indian social structure. The
religious values are inbuilt into the Indian psyche. Historically also, the religion
had a great influence on policy of Indian state. The state can ignore the religious
aspirations of its citizens only on its peril. Based on few clashes between modern
progressive ideas and religious values, the whole of religious value systems cannot
be neglected. There are enough instances of social reforms being triggered by the
progressive legislations. State can utilize its legislative power in an innovative
fashion to instill forward-looking attitude amongst its citizens. Moreover, for India
being a multi-religious democracy, it is imperative that state provides some help to
the minority religious community in realization of their religious freedoms.
Otherwise, it is feared that their interests will not be secured in the presence of vast
majority population of other religion. Finally, with the increasing awareness of the
populace regarding their rights, it will be increasingly difficult for the so called
pseudo-secular politics to ply them.

Prince Kadyan

Add’n1{Preamble of Indian constitution declares India as a secular state too. While

translating Indian constitution from English to Hindi, ‘Secularism’ is not written to
be ‘Dharmanirpekshta’ but as ‘Panthnirpekshta’. Dharmanirpekshta means
separation from ‘dharma’ and Panthnirpekshta means separation from sects.
‘Dharma’ has a special meaning attached to in the Indian tradition. It is the ethical
system which has its own existence independent of religion.}

Add’n 2 Sarvadharmasambhava{Every nation will have to learn to deal with the

political, cultural and social consequences and implications of this growing
phenomenon of diversity. No modern and open society can be a monolith. Our
Constitution is based on equal respect for all faiths. This idea of equality is
important. The numerical notions of majority community and minority community
are based on political and social concepts. They are not spiritual categories –
Manmohan Singh }