Article on "Secularism in India" by Aditi Raj

 

By Aditi Raj

Course - BA.LLB

Semester - 2^nd

College Name - Galgotias University

Secularism in India

Introduction

In India secularism means equal treatment of all religions. In simple words secularism refers to an ideology which provides people with the rights to follow any religion or not follow any. Secularism also refers to the separation of the religion from government. This means that the government at any level cannot associate itself with a certain religion and that all religions are treated as equal in the eyes of law. As we know our country India has the number of religions. And India is known for its diversity. India went in for secularism at the time of independence because it wanted to offer equal status to all religions. Secularism was added to the Indian constitution by the 42^nd amendment of 1976 to preserve the rich heritage of India. The preamble of India states itself to be a secular nation and with this it also provides a few basic rights related to individuals. Under Part 3 of the Indian Constitution there has been mentioned Fundamental Rights ,where secularism is also reflected in the articles 25,26,27and 28.They are Right to Freedom of Religion. Article 25 state’s Freedom of conscience and free profession , practice and propagation of religion, Article 26 states Freedom to manage religious affairs, Article 27 state’s Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotions of any particular religion and Article 28 state’s Freedom as to attendance at religious instructions or religious worship in certain educational institutions. Also in Part 4A, Article 51Aof fundamental duties obliges all the citizens to promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood and to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture.

India is one of the most diverse country full of different religions. There should not be any discrimination based on any person’s religion in the country. And if this right of theirs is broken ,it will be deemed as a criminal activity and the person will be liable to be punished by the law. The government shall not formulate policies which discriminate between various religious communities that live in different parts of India. So they have given reservation to religious minorities so that they do not feel discriminated against in the nation. All the citizens shall enjoy equal rights irrespective of different religious beliefs. India has been successful in maintaining its secular character. Everyone is allowed to follow their own religion and one would come upon temples, mosques ,gurudwaras and churches too. People of various communities participates in each other’s religious festivals. The sheer joy that comes out of fellow-feeling shows togetherness. They live together as equal citizens of a free India. The reason for the country’s to adopt a secular set up for the people basically is Indian culture because Indian culture postulates deep respect not only for ones own religion but also respect for others religion. No profession is barred to members of any community in India. Even the police and the army have the members of the minority communities.

 Secularism has three main components and they are the grant of right of freedom of religious beliefs and practices, equality of all the religions and the distancing of the state from all religious groups. These componentssignify that the secular state is not against religion per se. It gives freedom to all religious beliefs and practices. Extending the idea further, it spreads equality to all religious groups .The equality of religious and the distancing of state from all religious groups also serve the purpose of assuming the minorities that they hold a equal important place in country and that they would not be discriminated against. Correspondingly ,it is also message for the majority groups that they would not be treated as privileged class in any manner and they cannot bully the minority class in any way . Secularism also has salient features, some of them are like it is liberal which means that the constitution not only ensures religious equality and liberty to all Indian citizens but it also protects their rights and privileges of all religious communities which reside in India. The another feature of secularism in India is that it is not absolute but qualified one which means that religious freedom is subject to certain conditions like public orders , morality and health of the people. Then the other feature of secularism state’s that it is dynamic and not a static ideology because while it disallows religion to interfere in politics, it allows state to take steps for promoting social welfare. All these features of secularism in india helps religion to secure obedience to state laws.

In India secularism has come under the concept of a Hindu Rastraand is being asserted aggressively. So, now a days biggest challenge to the Indian nation is coming from forces claiming to represent the mainstream majority. There is emergence of extremist voices that claim to speak for Hindus and they are laying down demands that threaten the very idea of a secular India. This has been regarded as biggest area of concern. Because the ideology of  secularism which forms basic structure of constitution has got very roots in India and one of the reason for this is that there is wide spread feeling that Congress party which is ruling country since independence has used it to appease the minority communities at the cost of Hindu majority communism instead of developing this ideology in its proper perspectives. Secularism is been exploited by political leaders. As they are using name of religions for getting political mileage. Political leaders approach religion leaders for getting votes for their parties. For getting vote bank political leaders are exploiting secularism. Instead of strengthening secularism, political parties are weakening it .Politics operatesthrough communalization of social space by spreading myths and stereotypes  against minorities. Politicization of any one religious group leads to the competitive politicization of other groups ,thereby it results in inter-religious conflict. Also as a rise of Hindu nationalism in recent years has result into many crimes like mob lynching on mere suspicion of slaughtering cows and consuming beef. Islamic fundamentalism pushes for establishing Islamic state based on Sharia law which directly comes into conflict with conceptions of secular state. There have been many incidences in the recent years that Muslim youth being inspired by groups like ISIS which is very unfortunate for India as these leads to terrorism.

In a pluralistic society ,the best approach to nurture secularism is to expand religious freedom rather than strictly practicing state neutrality. This may lead to burden for the people living in India. It is necessary us to ensure value education that makes the younger generation understands and appreciates not only it’s own religious traditions but also those of the other religions in the country. There is also need to identify a common set of value which allows the diverse groups to live together. Secularism undoubtedly helps and aspires to enable every citizen to enjoy fully the blessings of life, liberty and happiness, but in the pursuit of this ideal those who believes in secularism must be inspired by a sense of ethical purpose in dealing with their fellow citizens.

 Conclusion

India is a unique country in many respects. Its vastness, abundance, richness and variety have led the growth of many thoughts and habits. So in such a variety, the dominance of one particular thought is not possible. That’s why many thoughts, cultural habits and religious practices have co-existed in India. Hindus , Muslims , Sikhs, Jains, Buddhist, Parsees and Jews live in India. There is no religion in India that is treated as superior to others. Every religion has right to exercise their freedom until and unless they interfere with the freedom of any other religions.Both people and the government respect their ideas and practices of all of these religions. Now people living in India have developed a broad outlook and has also believed in the concept of live and let live . India’s Secularism has its roots in the universal outlook of promoting the message of peace and harmony. Indiahas done its best to keep religion out from government. But issue of secularism in India is definitely downgrading these days due to religious extremists. Action against them should be taken at the earliest as it definitely can affect the way India will develop. Despite these issues secularism has inspired modern India. By knowing the fact that India’s secularism does not completely separates religion and state .The Indian Constitution has allowed extensive interference of the state in religious affairs. Rights of both individual and religious community are protected. It also permits partial financial support for religious schools ,as well as the financing of religious buildings and infrastructure by the state.The state interfere in religion so as to remove evils in it as states provides equal protection to all religions. Secularism in India was widely considered under threat because of the BabriMasjid in Ayodhya led to riots and killings by Muslims and by Hindus. These massacres led very bad impact in India’s secularism.

My point of view on the topic are as follows-

As per my point of view secularism in India is very important. Not only it will help to create a better society but also a much refer and developed society. The aspect of secularism is its separation of religion from state power. So this is important for a country to function democratically. As being citizen of India I think government should not interfere in Indian secularism. As the Indian constitution have does not permit, mixing religion and state power. Mostly it has been seen that majority are ruling .If there is majority religious groups has access to state power ,then it could quite easily use this power and financial resources to discriminate against persons of the other religions. The majority could quite easily prevent minorities from practicing their religion. Domination based on religion is violation of rights that a  democratic society guarantees to each and every citizen irrespective of their religion. The Fundamental Rights are been violated that results in one of the reason that’s why it is important to separate the state and religion in democratic societies. The reason that we need to protect the freedom of individuals to exit from their religion ,embrace another religion. The concern of Hindus practicing untouchability , however it means that if state power are in the hands of those Hindus who support untouchability then we might face a lot of resistance from fellow members of community. So there are various ways to prevent domination that can led India to be secular. Secularism in India has spread by using the strategy of distancing itself from religion. The Indian state is not ruled by the religious groups and nor does it support any one religion particularly. Also in India government schools and offices are not supposed to display or promote any one religion which is a great initiative to protect minorities. All these restrictions are related to secure secularism in India.