The Crisis of

Indian
Secularism

By T.N.Madan (1997)
INTRODUCTION

– Secularism is a concept that has various interpretations and what it means

depends on who uses the term and in what context.
– Madan’s chief objective is to understand why secularism in India is faced by
obstacles.
– Madan highlights three basic assumptions held regarding Indian secularism. i)
Secularism means anti-religious or non- religious ii) Secularism is accepted by all
rational thinking people iii) Secularism can be a success in India.
– In the Indian context, Madan wishes to discuss Jawaharlal Nehru’s ideology of
secularism. In order to do so, he compares Nehru’s stand with that of Gandhi
and Radhakrishnan.
A Gandhian Perspective

– Gandhi believed that every action of an individual is governed by his or her own
religion.
– Even politics was considered to be sacred.
– He perceived the state to be amoral, impersonal, distant, coercive and even violent.
– Applying
a Gandhian perspective of secularism to Madan’s objective, one may say that
the reason underlying the challenges to secularism in India could be excessive
interference of the state in the lives' of its citizens.
– While Gandhi did emphasize upon the spiritual aspects of religion, he also professed
for the state to be secular.
– By secular, Gandhi meant the, the right to profess one’s religion without hindrance,
so long as the citizen obeys the common law of the land.
Nehru on Religion, Politics and
Secularism
– Nehru was against the institution of religion to an extent that he believed that it was
not scientific and had a negative influence on humanity. Hence he propagated for a
rational world.

– Here we can see how Nehru’s worldview on religion was in contrast to that of
Gandhi.

– For Nehru, a nation should be guided by the economic factor only. This he
considered to be rational and modern.
Nehru on Religion, Politics and
Secularism (Contd.)
– In 1931, Nehru persuaded the All-India Congress Committee to insert in the resolution on
fundamental rights, ‘Freedom of conscience and of the profession and practice of any
religion’.

– This indicated to equality before law irrespective of religious differences.

– Religious neutrality of this kind set the tone for a secular stance to be adopted by India much
later.

– Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, emphasized upon the importance of spiritual values and defined
secularism as ‘non-preferentialism’ between religions rather than ‘neutrality’.
Nehru on Religion, Politics and
Secularism(Contd.)
– While Gandhi perceived inter-religious understanding to be the strength of
Indian society, Nehru equated religiosity with social backwardness.

– In the later 1900s, while religious intolerance intensified in India, Nehru’s focus
was primarily on state-sponsored economic growth.

– Nehru perceived the dams and factories as the new temples of India.