6/2/2020 Secularism : Introduction, Meaning, Examples and Overview

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Secularism : Introduction, Meaning,

Examples and Overview
NOVEMBER 11, 2017 BY SOCIOLOGY GROUP

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secularism introduction

The early man, curious of the events of nature, was desperate to seek an answer.
Curiosity about the natural phenomenon along with the desire to control them
drove our ancestors to shelter under the belief of a supernatural power, which
gradually evolved to religion. Religion is not merely the belief in God, but a way of
life, a provider of direction to confused humans, a unit to distinguish between the
right and wrong. But the civilizations underwent the modernization process, that
changed the mode of thinking in men. The modern man is no more dependant on
religion to direct his life. The detachment of modern man from religion has given
rise to the comparatively new concept of secularism.

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6/2/2020 Secularism : Introduction, Meaning, Examples and Overview

The Western world strengthened their hold on secularism when they decided that
divine and temporal matters need to be separated, and the powers of Church over
matters of state were contained. Now let us get close to home. The Constitution of
India recognizes India as a secular state, and thus, it oi is all the more important for
us to understand the notion of secularism.

secularism meaning

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Secularism described

Though secularism in the literal sense refers to a doctrine that rejects religion and
religious considerations, in a wider sense, secularism can have two di erent

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interpretations. Secularism may mean the separation of state and religion, or it may
mean the equality of all religions.

In its rst connotation, secularism refers to a precondition where there exists no

state religion and the state is not concerned with any kinds of religious beliefs or
practices. It extends typo the state allowing the citizens to choose any religion of
their choice, and the state is not to discriminate citizens on the basis of their
religions. The second interpretation is peculiar took a nation like India, where
secularism means treating all religious groups equally. However, we should learn to
di erentiate between secularization and secularism, as both are not essentially the
same. Secularization is not a prerequisite for a state to adopt secularism as a state
policy, and both may exist independent of each other. Secularization is modern
phenomena, where’s in the modern age of science, people are no longer
dependant on a collection of religious beliefs tool frame their life, but let their
intellect and rationality take the role. Religion, of course, is not completely irrelevant
and secularization does not mean that either, but just that the presence of religion in
a society has less in uence on the political and social life of people.

Secularization derives its validity from certain notions. First of all, due to the
separation of political and religious matters, the state is now independent of
religion, that is, it does not require the power of religion to legitimise the authority of
the state over people. The state leaves it upon the private spheres of people to
carry on with their religious duties unless it harms the secular values of the state. It
is upon the people to balance between the secular and religious aspects of society,
thus allowing the state to seclude from all forms of religious considerations.

Thinkers on secularism

Gandhi:

Gandhi was the core power in di using all communal identities and fusing people
from all sections together into a common national movement for freedom. His
doctrine of “sarva dharma sambhava” or equality of all religions was designed to
bring people from all religions together while not undermining the value of religion
in people’s lives.

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Nehru:

Nehru believed in “dharma nirapekshata”, which meant that the state would not take
any religious considerations into account while framing policies.  Nehru’s ideal state
gave freedom to all religions and honoured all faiths equally while asking the state
to be devoid of being attached to any particular religion.

Former Chief Justice P. B. Gajendragadkar:

Besides restating the common notions of how the state must not attach itself to one
religion and give equal freedom to all, he emphasized on how the socio-economic
problems of a citizen were not dependant on his religion.

Rajeev Bhargava:

Bhargava recognizes three kinds of secularism. The rst kind or the hyper-
substantive secularism is where the religion and state are separated by autonomy,
development or reason. Then comes ultra-procedural secularism separating
religion from the state through bureaucratic and technocratic rationality. The third
kind is contextual secularism where there is a non-absolutist separation between
the state and the religion. He prefers this type over the previous two.

Failure of secularism
The secularism of India has come under threat on various occasions, and communal
violence has made its way to mainstream politics. Incidents such as the demolition
of the Babri Masjid are among the many examples where the validity of India as a
secular state was questioned.

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The destruction of the Babri Masjid on December 6 was a violent humiliation of

India’s Muslim minority. The task carried out by a government and party o cials was
followed by a number of riots , giving a blow to the secular nature of the Indian
state.

The Shah Bano case of the mid-1980s brought forward the incident of a Muslim
woman asking for maintenance from her divorced husband, where the court ruled
in favor of Shah Bano. But her husband moved to supreme court claiming he was
not required to pay maintenance after oi iddat. The Supreme Court rejected his
claim, in the purview of the secularism of India. But the Muslim community,
especially the ulama opposed the judgment and there was nationwide uproar. The
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi gave in, and the Muslim Women Bill was passed,
ensuring that the Muslim men do not have to pay maintenance to their divorced
wives after the iddat. Thus the state stepped back from its secular nature by
showing its favour for s particular religious group.

Many other events of communal violence have come about, not only shaking the
ground of secular harmony in the Indian civil society but also making the state show
its a nity towards some particular religious group or the state is directly involved in
religion-centric activities.

Thus, it’s high time we step up in preserving the secular nature of the Indian state.
All parties must come together to oppose any rising communal power. The
government should not fear the risk of unpopularity and take strict action to counter
any incidents that have the potential to shake  India’s secular base. The secular
actors should be more active than ever before and work to ensure peace in a strictly
secular sense. Only then can India’s secular legacy be preserved and the land of
multiple religions can continue to live in harmony like it always has.

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