Secularism in India

The preamble of the Constitution of India declares that India is a secular state. [http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/ct.htm] The mention of the word "secular" was missed at the time the Indian Constitution was framed in 1950, notwithstanding the communal conflagrations during the Partition of 1947 and after and the murder of Mahatma Gandhi by an ultra-Hindu ideologue. This was sought to be corrected by the 42nd amendment in 1976, under which India was declared as a secular state. Although India has no state religion, separate laws are applicable to different religious groups according to custom.

Influence of Religion

Religious appeasement is more important for the government than separation of religion from state. Criticism say religious dogmas and beliefs are normally not accepted as a genuine right or freedom of expression. Books with even academic criticism of popular beliefs are routinely banned. The state has made laws promoting appeasement of perceived religious dogmas, such as banning slaughter of cows for beef, a common diet in many parts of the world and even acceptable diet for many communities in India. Many people in India do not relate to secularism and confuse it with religious tolerance.

It is normal in India for public money to be spent towards religion’s indirect promotion. All government schools routinely promote prayers.

A right-wing internet columnist Rajeev Srinivasan wrote about Indian Secularism:"Thus the concept of secularism was born: a separation of Church and State, so that religious considerations could be excluded from civil affairs and public education. However, the so-called 'secularism' rampant in India is a perversion of that reasonable idea: in India it is contrived to mean the active involvement of the State in supporting certain religions (Islam and Christianity) and oppressing others (Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism)." [http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/jul/05rajeev.htm]

Incomplete Separation

It is normal in Indian way of secularism for public money to be spent towards religion’s indirect promotion. All government schools, whether Christian, Hindu or Islamic (Madrassas), routinely promote religious prayers. Many political parties in India have been accused of appeasing the minority groups, which are their vote banks, by putting up candidates who have the same religion as the majority of the voters in a constituency, ensuring the voters special consideration after the candidate wins the election.

Religious Minority Status

The educational institutions established by non-Hindus can apply for the "Religious Minority Status". This means that 50% of the seats in these institutions are reserved for students belonging to a particular religion. For example, in DBIT Mumbai, 50% of the seats are reserved for Roman Catholic students.

The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) also enjoyed a minority status (50% of the seats reserved for Muslims), until the High Court declared that the status was anti-constitutional. But the Teachers' and Students' Union of AMU, as well as many political leaders protested this decision of the Court.

Many Muslims groups have also asked for quotas in prestigious institutions managed by Government. A committee set up by the HRD ministry in 2005 recommended quotas for Muslims in institutions such as IITs, IIMs and IIFT [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051117/asp/frontpage/story_5487085.asp] .

Also, the Government of India allows different laws for different religions, which it says is a consideration to accommodate for the religious differences (see Shah Bano case). For example, the Muslims are allowed to have more than one wife and divorce their wives using the triple talaq method. Many Indians (including moderate Muslims and Christians) are pressing for implementation of a uniform civil code as originally proposed in the Constitution of India.

Some other examples of alleged pseudo-secularism in India are the special concessions given to Muslims for pilgrimages (Hajj).

Criticism

Many have argued that India is not truly a secular state. Left-wing critics note that the right to change one's religion is restricted in a handful of states. While no state has ever banned conversions altogether, and while most anti-conversion laws are directed only at "fraudulent" conversions obtained through bribery, fraud, or coercion, these laws may have been implemented unfairly. Furthermore, these critics note that religious violence is a serious problem in India, as reflected in events such as the 2002 Gujarat Violence or the 1984 Sikh massacre by the Indian stateand the right-wing Hindutva movements is has supported. Right-wing critics note that Muslims, Hindus, and Christians have their own separate civil codes-and that while the Hindu code has been 'Westernized," no efforts have been made to reform Muslim civil law. They also note controversial efforts to "appease" Muslims through actions such as subsidizing pilgrimages to Mecca-though Hindu pilgrims have no benefits.

Dr. Elst Keonard noted Indologist writes " [India] isn't secular. As a political framework, secularism requires that all citizens are equal before the law, regardless of their religious affiliation. That is a definitional minimum. An Indian secularist would therefore first of all be found on the barricades in the struggle for a common civil code, against the existing legal apartheid between Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Parsis. But the only major party to demand the enactment of a common civil code, as mandated by the Constitution, happens to be the BJP. On election eve, the others run to the Shahi Imam to pledge their firm commitment to the preservation of the Shari'a for Muslims. In the West and in the Muslim world, the upholding of religion-based communal legislation is rightly called anti-secularist." [http://www.saveindia.com/an_interview_with_koenraad_elst.htm]

References

External links

* [http://www.acdis.uiuc.edu/Research/OPs/Kapoor/KapoorOP.pdf "Secularism and the Politics of Religion: Whither South Asia?"] , ACDIS Occasional Paper by Abhishek Kapoor
* [http://innaiahn.tripod.com/inn.html#4 Peculiar style Indian secularism]
* [http://mandangi.tripod.com/secular.html What is secularism? (India)]
* [http://pseudosecularism.blogspot.com/ Pseudosecularism]
* [http://www.geocities.com/rdsmarb/ Indian Secularism]