Context

Recently, the Prime Minister of India has laid the foundation stone for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the event has again brought the Indian Secularism into the limelight.

Background of Indian Secularism

• The imagination of secularism in the Indian Republic was rooted in its singularly pluralist civilisational ethos, in the lives and work of Ashoka and Akbar, in the teachings of Buddha, Kabir and Nanak.
• It was illuminated by India’s struggle for freedom, in the humanist and egalitarian convictions of Gandhi and Ambedkar, Maulana Azad and Nehru.
• It was the central iridescent idea that India as a newly-freed country would belong equally to its entire people.
• The core ethos of India has been a fundamental unity, tolerance and even synthesis of religion and it is an indubitable fact that hundreds of millions of Indians belonging to diverse religions lived in comity through the ages.

Secularism under Constitution of India

• The Preamble of Indian Constitution aims to constitute India a Sovereign, Socialist, Democratic Republic.
• The terms socialist and secular were added to it by the 42nd amendment.
• The word Secular has not been defined or explained under the Constitution in 1950 or in 1976 when it was made part of the preamble.

Significance of the term ‘Secularism’

• Guarantee of Individual and corporate freedom of religion: The secular state is a state which guarantees individual and corporate freedom of religion deals with the individual as a citizen irrespective of his religion is not constitutionally connected to a particular religion.
• State does not have a religion of its own: According to Supreme Court, secularism means’ that state shall have no religion of its own and all persons of the country shall be equally entitled to the freedom of their conscience.
• No preferential treatment to religion: While the state guarantees to everyone the right to profess whatever religion one chooses to follow, it will not accord any preferential treatment to any of them.
• Citizens to enjoy Life with happiness: Secularism helps and aspires to enable every citizen to enjoy fully the blessing of life, liberty and happiness.

Indian Model of Secularism

• It has a place not only for the right of individuals to profess their religious beliefs but also for the right of religious communities to establish and maintain educational institution.
• The acceptance of community specific rights brings us to the third feature of Indian secularism because it was born in a deeply multi-religious society; it is concerned as much with inter-religious domination as it is with intra-religious domination.
• It does not erect a wall of separation between the state and religion which allows the state to intervene in religions, to help or hinder them without the impulse to control or destroy them.
• It is not entirely averse the public character of religion. Although the state is not identified with a particular religion, there is official and therefore public recognition granted to religious communities.
• Multiple values and principled distance means that the state tries to balance different, ambiguous but equally important values.

Concerns around Indian Secularism

• Secularism at the core of public and political discourse: The secularism has paid a heavy price in our country for being at the centre of public and political discourse.
• Misuse and Abuse of Secularism: The idea of secularism has been persistently misused and abused for personal and political gains.
• Over-emphasis on Partly-political Secularism: The Indian constitutional secularism is swallowed up by the party-political secularism, without a little help from the Opposition, media and judiciary.
• Effect of party-politics on Indian Secularism: The Indian project of secularism has been thwarted as much by party-politics as by religious orthodoxy and dogma.

Respect and critique of Indian Secularism

• The Constitutional secularism is marked by two features i.e. critical respect for all religions and respectfully leaving all religion alone.
• The Indian Secularism does not blindly anti-religious but respects religion.
• Unlike the secularisms of pre-dominantly single religious societies, the Indian Secularism respects not one but all religions.
• The Indian Secularism follows that our state must respectfully leave religion alone but also intervenes whenever religious groups promote communal disharmony and discrimination on grounds of religion.
• The state can intervene under Indian Secularism; whenever religious groups are unable to protect their own members from the oppressions they perpetuate (an intra-religious issue).
• The Indian state abandons strict separation but keeps a principled distance from all religions.
• The state has to constantly decide when to engage or disengage, help or hinder religion depending entirely on which of these enhances our constitutional commitment to freedom, equality and fraternity.

Advent of opportunism through Party-political Secularism

• The party-political secularism has dispelled all values from the core idea and replaced them with opportunism.
• The opportunistic distance (engagement or disengagement), but mainly opportunistic alliance with religious communities, particularly for the sake of immediate electoral benefit is the unspoken slogan of party-political secularism.
• The party-political secularism has removed critical from the term ‘critical respect’ and bizarrely interpreted ‘respect’ to mean cutting deals with aggressive or orthodox sections of religious groups.
• The party-political ‘secular’ state, cozying up alternately to the fanatical fringe of the minority and the majority, was readymade for takeover by a majoritarian party.

Time to rebuild Indian Secularism

• Shift from politically-led project to a socially-driven movement for justice: The Indian state should focus on shifting from politically-led project to a socially-driven movement for justice.
• Emphasis from inter-religious to intra-religious issues: The Indian state should focus on shifting the emphasis from inter-religious to intra-religious issues.
• Requirement of new forms of socio-religious reciprocity: The current scenario requires a much needed new forms of socio-religious reciprocity which will be crucial for the business of everyday life and novel ways of reducing the political alienation of citizens.
• Rebuilding the Important Institutions of India: The country’s institutions demand urgently to be rebuilt i.e. he media, police, judiciary, universities, the planning process, the Election Commission of India.

Way Forward

• As B.R. Ambedkar famously observed, every aspect of religious doctrine or practice cannot be respected and respect for religion must be accompanied by critique.
• The constitutional secularism cannot be sustained by governments alonebut requires collective commitment from an impartial judiciary, a scrupulous media, civil society activists, and an alert citizenry.
• As the focus shifts from the other to oneself, it may allow deeper introspection within, multiple dissenting voices to resurface, create conditions to root out intra-religious injustices, and make its members free and equal.

Source: The Hindu

Context

Recently, the Prime Minister of India has laid the foundation stone for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the event has again brought the Indian Secularism into the limelight.

Background of Indian Secularism

• The imagination of secularism in the Indian Republic was rooted in its singularly pluralist civilisational ethos, in the lives and work of Ashoka and Akbar, in the teachings of Buddha, Kabir and Nanak.
• It was illuminated by India’s struggle for freedom, in the humanist and egalitarian convictions of Gandhi and Ambedkar, Maulana Azad and Nehru.
• It was the central iridescent idea that India as a newly-freed country would belong equally to its entire people.
• The core ethos of India has been a fundamental unity, tolerance and even synthesis of religion and it is an indubitable fact that hundreds of millions of Indians belonging to diverse religions lived in comity through the ages.

Secularism under Constitution of India

• The Preamble of Indian Constitution aims to constitute India a Sovereign, Socialist, Democratic Republic.
• The terms socialist and secular were added to it by the 42nd amendment.
• The word Secular has not been defined or explained under the Constitution in 1950 or in 1976 when it was made part of the preamble.

Significance of the term ‘Secularism’

• Guarantee of Individual and corporate freedom of religion: The secular state is a state which guarantees individual and corporate freedom of religion deals with the individual as a citizen irrespective of his religion is not constitutionally connected to a particular religion.
• State does not have a religion of its own: According to Supreme Court, secularism means’ that state shall have no religion of its own and all persons of the country shall be equally entitled to the freedom of their conscience.
• No preferential treatment to religion: While the state guarantees to everyone the right to profess whatever religion one chooses to follow, it will not accord any preferential treatment to any of them.
• Citizens to enjoy Life with happiness: Secularism helps and aspires to enable every citizen to enjoy fully the blessing of life, liberty and happiness.

Indian Model of Secularism

• It has a place not only for the right of individuals to profess their religious beliefs but also for the right of religious communities to establish and maintain educational institution.
• The acceptance of community specific rights brings us to the third feature of Indian secularism because it was born in a deeply multi-religious society; it is concerned as much with inter-religious domination as it is with intra-religious domination.
• It does not erect a wall of separation between the state and religion which allows the state to intervene in religions, to help or hinder them without the impulse to control or destroy them.
• It is not entirely averse the public character of religion. Although the state is not identified with a particular religion, there is official and therefore public recognition granted to religious communities.
• Multiple values and principled distance means that the state tries to balance different, ambiguous but equally important values.

Concerns around Indian Secularism

• Secularism at the core of public and political discourse: The secularism has paid a heavy price in our country for being at the centre of public and political discourse.
• Misuse and Abuse of Secularism: The idea of secularism has been persistently misused and abused for personal and political gains.
• Over-emphasis on Partly-political Secularism: The Indian constitutional secularism is swallowed up by the party-political secularism, without a little help from the Opposition, media and judiciary.
• Effect of party-politics on Indian Secularism: The Indian project of secularism has been thwarted as much by party-politics as by religious orthodoxy and dogma.

Respect and critique of Indian Secularism

• The Constitutional secularism is marked by two features i.e. critical respect for all religions and respectfully leaving all religion alone.
• The Indian Secularism does not blindly anti-religious but respects religion.
• Unlike the secularisms of pre-dominantly single religious societies, the Indian Secularism respects not one but all religions.
• The Indian Secularism follows that our state must respectfully leave religion alone but also intervenes whenever religious groups promote communal disharmony and discrimination on grounds of religion.
• The state can intervene under Indian Secularism; whenever religious groups are unable to protect their own members from the oppressions they perpetuate (an intra-religious issue).
• The Indian state abandons strict separation but keeps a principled distance from all religions.
• The state has to constantly decide when to engage or disengage, help or hinder religion depending entirely on which of these enhances our constitutional commitment to freedom, equality and fraternity.

Advent of opportunism through Party-political Secularism

• The party-political secularism has dispelled all values from the core idea and replaced them with opportunism.
• The opportunistic distance (engagement or disengagement), but mainly opportunistic alliance with religious communities, particularly for the sake of immediate electoral benefit is the unspoken slogan of party-political secularism.
• The party-political secularism has removed critical from the term ‘critical respect’ and bizarrely interpreted ‘respect’ to mean cutting deals with aggressive or orthodox sections of religious groups.
• The party-political ‘secular’ state, cozying up alternately to the fanatical fringe of the minority and the majority, was readymade for takeover by a majoritarian party.

Time to rebuild Indian Secularism

• Shift from politically-led project to a socially-driven movement for justice: The Indian state should focus on shifting from politically-led project to a socially-driven movement for justice.
• Emphasis from inter-religious to intra-religious issues: The Indian state should focus on shifting the emphasis from inter-religious to intra-religious issues.
• Requirement of new forms of socio-religious reciprocity: The current scenario requires a much needed new forms of socio-religious reciprocity which will be crucial for the business of everyday life and novel ways of reducing the political alienation of citizens.
• Rebuilding the Important Institutions of India: The country’s institutions demand urgently to be rebuilt i.e. he media, police, judiciary, universities, the planning process, the Election Commission of India.

Way Forward

• As B.R. Ambedkar famously observed, every aspect of religious doctrine or practice cannot be respected and respect for religion must be accompanied by critique.
• The constitutional secularism cannot be sustained by governments alonebut requires collective commitment from an impartial judiciary, a scrupulous media, civil society activists, and an alert citizenry.
• As the focus shifts from the other to oneself, it may allow deeper introspection within, multiple dissenting voices to resurface, create conditions to root out intra-religious injustices, and make its members free and equal.

Source: The Hindu