SECULARISM By Arijit, Manya,

Nikitaa and Peehu

PHOTO BY RAJENVER / CC BY-SA 3.0

 Introduction
What is Secularism?
Secular State

CONTENT The Western Model of Secularism

S Indian Model of Secularism

Criticism of Secularism
Articles related to Secularism in the Indian
Constitution
INTRODUCTION
India is a diverse country. Multiple religions and cultures coexist. This can also become a
source of conflict and tensions in the country.
So India has followed secular principles so that every religion and community is respected
and are given equal rights.
Nehru’s view was –
“Equal protection by the state to all religion“.
He wanted a secular state to be one that “protects all religions but does not favour one at
the expense of others and does not itself adopt any religion as the state religion.”
Indian secularism is fundamentally different from western secularism. It does not focus
only on Church- State separation and the idea of inter-religious equality is crucial to the
Indian conception.
Secularism means equal treatment of all religions by the state.
It is a normative doctrine which seeks to realise a secular society,
i.e., one devoid of either inter-religious or intra-religious
domination.
Put positively, it promotes freedom within religions, and equality
between, as well as within, religions.

WHAT IS
SECULARISM?
INTER RELIGIOUS
DOMINATION
Oftentimes, past history and differences in beliefs can incite strife amongst people
belonging to different religious communities. Members of a particular religious
community might undergo religious persecution. This dehumanisation of a particular
religious group may readily turn into violence.
Some examples are the 1984 Delhi riots wherein Sikhs were massacred in large
numbers, the 2002 Gujarat riots that resulted in the death of more than 1000 people.
Inter religious domination may be triggered by religious bigotry (i.e. members of a
dominant group denigrating religions other than their own) or even by the state itself
when it views a particular religious group as a threat to its interests or security.
 "Religion is the opium of the people" is one of the most frequently
paraphrased statements of German philosopher and economist Karl
Marx.

INTRA- The quotation originates from the introduction of Marx's work A

Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right.

RELIGIOU Some people believe that religion is merely the ‘opium of the masses’
and that, one day, when the basic needs of all are fulfilled and they lead

S
a happy and contented life, religion will disappear. Such a view comes
from an exaggerated sense of human potential. It is unlikely that human
beings will ever be able to fully know the world and control it. We may

DOMINAT be able to prolong our life but will never become immortal. Disease
can never be entirely eliminated, nor can we get rid of an element of
accident and luck from our lives.
ION Separation and loss are endemic to the human condition. While a large
part of our suffering is man-made and hence eliminable, at least some
of our suffering is not made by man. Religion, art and philosophy are
responses to such sufferings. Secularism too accepts this and therefore
it is not anti-religious
However, religion has its share of some deep-rooted
problems.
For example, one can hardly think of a religion that treats
its male and female members on an equal footing. In
religions such as Hinduism, some sections have faced
persistent discrimination. For example dalits have been
barred from entering Hindu temples. In some parts of the
country, Hindu woman cannot enter temples.
When religion is organised, it is frequently taken over by its
most conservative faction, which does not tolerate any
dissent. Religious fundamentalism in parts of the US has
become a big problem and endangers peace both within the
country and outside.
Many religions fragment into sects which leads to frequent
sectarian violence and persecution of dissenting minorities.
 SECULAR STATE
What is the need for a secular state?
What are its key features?
NEED FOR A SECULAR STATE

Now the question which arises is what needs to be done to prevent conflicts and tensions in
society?
Education is very important for inculcating the right values in individuals. Mutual respect
and love need to be shared.
Besides education we need a secular state. State should not be run by religious heads rather
should be directly elected by people. There needs to be separation between religion and
political institutions. A state should also not have any formal or legal alliance with any
religion. If they do such as the Papal States Of Europe ,Taliban Controlled States, they are
known for their hierarchies and oppressions and reluctance to allow freedom of religion to
its members
But that does not mean that separation of religion and state will be sufficient to create a
secular state. Many states which are non- theocratic continue to keep close relation with
certain religions. Example: 16th Century England and Pakistan (presently)
 A secular state does not has any official religion.

It neither encourages nor discourages the practice of any

KEY religion.

FEATURES All citizens are free to propagate, profess or practice their

own religion.

No discrimination is made among citizens on the basis of

religion
 THE
WESTERN
MODEL OF
SECULARISM
PRINCIPLE

Secularism is the principle of the separation of government institutions and

persons mandated to represent the state from religious institutions and religious
dignitaries.
One manifestation of secularism is asserting the right to be free from religious rule and
teachings, or, in a state declared to be neutral on matters of belief, from the imposition by
government of religion or religious practices upon its people.
Another manifestation of secularism is the view that public activities and decisions,
especially political  ones, should be uninfluenced by religious beliefs or practices.

PHOTO BY MCKAY SAVAGE FROM LONDON, UK / CC BY 2.0

 The state and religion are separate, with independent
jurisdiction

There is no illegitimate intrusion of religion in the state

KEY
FEATURES The state cannot aid any religious institution.

The state cannot hinder the activities of religious

communities as long as they are within the broad limits
setup by the law of the land.
 THE INDIAN
MODEL OF
SECULARISM
How is Indian secularism distinct from the Western Model?
How did it originate and attain its present form?
 The Indian model of secularism essentially seeks to
treat all religions equally or to maintain ‘principled
distance’. This does not mean that the state cannot
intervene in religion and its affairs, but that any
PRINCIPL intervention should be within the limitations
prescribed by the Constitution. Sometimes this might
E even call for differential treatment across religions,
which would be valid so long as such differentiation
can be justified on the grounds that it ‘promotes
freedom, equality, or any other value integral to
secularism’.
AS AN INBUILT FREEDOM
The word ‘secular’ did not originally feature in the constitution. It was included in
the Preamble by way of the 42nd Amendment (1976). This does not mean that the
drafting members of the Constituent Assembly were skeptical about the values of
secularism. Rather, the word ‘secular’ was not included because the Constituent
Assembly took India’s secular status for granted. To them, any republic that purports
to grant equality before the law to all its citizens, that purports to recognise people’s
rights to free speech, to a freedom of religion and conscience simply cannot be un-
secular. To be so would be an incongruity. Secularism, as would be clear on any
morally reasonable analysis, is inbuilt in the foundations of constitutionalism, in the
idea of a democracy properly understood. In the case of our Constitution, it flows
from the series of fundamental rights guaranteed in Part III.
ORIGIN
Within the Constituent Assembly there existed two differing visions of secularism-
the first being the separation of state and religion and the second requiring the state
to treat all religions equally. The latter eventually prevailed.
The need for a model distinct from the Western model is best explained in the words
of KM Munshi - “The non-establishment clause (of the U.S. Constitution) was
inappropriate to Indian conditions and we had to evolve a characteristically Indian
secularism… We are a people with deeply religious moorings. At the same time, we
have a living tradition of religious tolerance — the results of the broad outlook of
Hinduism that all religions lead to the same god… In view of this situation, our state
could not possibly have a state religion, nor could a rigid line be drawn between the
state and the church as in the U.S..”
INDIAN SECULARISM AND
WESTERN SECULARISM
 CRITICISMS OF
Indian secularism has been
subjected to fierce criticism.
What are these criticisms? Can
INDIAN SECULARISM we defend secularism from
them?
 Several critics of Indian secularism maintain that given the
pervasive role of religion in the lives of the Indian people,

ABSTRAC
secularism, defined as the separation of politics or the state
from religion, is an intolerable, alien, modernist imposition
on the Indian society. This, I argue, is a misreading of the
T OF Indian constitutional vision, which enjoins the state to be
equally tolerant of all religions and which therefore
CRITICIS requires the state to steer clear of both theocracy or
fundamentalism and the "wall of separation" model of

M OF secularism. Regarding the dichotomy, which the critics

draw between Nehruvian secularism and Gandhian

SECULARI
religiosity, I suggest that what is distinctive to Indian
secularism is the complementation or articulation between
the democratic state and the politics of Satya and ahimsa,
SM whereby the relative autonomy of religion and politics
from each other can be used for the moral-political
reconstruction of both the religious traditions and the
modern state.
ANTI-RELIGIOUS STATE
Partition of India lead to the creation of a Muslim dominated Pakistan. Logically,
India should have become a Hindu State. Instead, India's Constitution described
India as a secular state and secularism meant being anti-religion. However this
argument is invalid because our secular republic is neither anti-religious nor
indifferent towards all religions. Indian secular state accepts all religions.
SECULARISM IS A
WESTERN NOTION
In European States, Christianity was the majority religion. Secularism
in Europe meant that the State was free from the influence of
Christian Church. In western world, as we discussed, secularism
meant a complete separation of state and religion. Therefore,
secularism was totally a western notion. This meant that Indian
secularism was not secularism at all. Indian secularism respects all
religions equally and does not completely separate religion from
politics. This argument is invalid because : (a) India decided to be
secular after a painful partition in order to bind people to love and
sanity and (b) Indian Constitution chose to be different from western
view of secularism. Our Constitution gave special rights to religious
minorities to help them live with dignity and respect.
 DANGERS OF ENCOURAGING
MINORITY COMMUNALISM
The critics of Indian Secularism argued that it is wrong to give special privileges to
people on ground of religion. Morally, a civilized state has a duty to protect members
of minority communities and their interests. The critics argued that while special
privileges for the physically handicapped are justified, concessions like giving
subsidies to Haj pilgrims are not justified.
MORE INFERENCE IN ONE
RELIGION THAN IN OTHERS
It interferes excessively with the religious freedoms of communities.
Indian secularism follows the concept of principled distance which also allows
non interference.
Interference does not automatically mean coercive intervention.
The State reformed the Hindu society by means of laws such as Hindu Marriage
Act and the Hindu Succession Act. These laws were particularly welcomed. But
the government did not interfere with the social customs and beliefs of other
communities. Many people felt that the government was unjust by interfering in
one religion more than in others. A Common Civil Code is a feature of every
advanced democracy. But the Government of India was unable to discharge its
Constitutional obligations.
 SECULARISM HAS BECOME A
POLITICAL WEAPON
Politics is a game of numbers, because power belongs to those who command the
highest number of votes. Religion and Caste are being used by some parties to seek
political power. Many parties have been using "Secularism" as a slogan to create a
divide between the majority and minority communities.
ARTICLES •Article 14
•Article 15
RELATED •Article 16
TO •Article 25
SECULARI •Article 26
SM IN THE •Article 27
INDIAN •Article 28
CONSTITU •Article 29
TION •Article 30
•Article 44