Javid Ahmad Mir
School
of Social Sciences, Devi-Ahilya University Indore (MP).
ABSTRACT
India is a land of religions, languages
and customs. Many religions are flourishing here since long back, which have
their own traditions and beliefs. Therefore India is a multi religious and
multi cultural country from its known history. It was never mono-religious or
mono-cultural. In view
of the intrusion of religious passions and caste loyalties into politics one may
ask whether India is a truly secular or a theocratic state. Indian society is like a mighty river fed
with many tributaries and the main stream flows on and on. Hence, Indian
society is very rich, and well known for wisdom and great thoughts. Secularism
is an important aspect of Indian society, for which it is also well-known in
the world. The present paper sheds the light on Secularism in India, its
objectives and challenges in the context of India.
Key Words- Secularism, Origin, Challenges.
INTRODUCTION
The discrimination of
one community or its members by another community or its members on account of
their religious identity are the instances of religious persecution and they
reflect inter- religious domination.
Secularism is the first and foremost doctrine that opposes all such forms of inter-
religious domination. Separation, loss and sufferings are endemic to the human
condition, while large part of our suffering is man-made and hence eliminable;
at least some of our suffering is not manmade. Religion, art and philosophy are
responses to such sufferings. Secularism too accepts this and therefore it is
not anti-religious. Religion has its own share of some deep-rooted problems. In
religions such as Hinduism, some sections have been persistently discriminated.
For example- Dalits have been barred from entering Hindu temples. In some part
Hindu women cannot enter temples. When religion is organized, it is frequently
taken over by its most conservative faction, which does not tolerate any dissent.
Religious fundamentalism in parts of US has become a big problem and endangers
peace both within country and outside. Many religions are fragmented into
sects, which leads to frequent sectarian violence and persecution of dissenting
minorities. This religious domination is known as inter- religious domination.
As Secularism is opposed to all forms of institutionalized religious
domination, it challenges not merely interreligious
domination but intra-religious dominations. It
(Secularism) promotes freedom within religions and promotes equality between,
as well as within religions.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Mahmood
Tahir, (2011) “Religion and the
Secular State: Indian Perspective”
India is a unique State, believing in secularism and yet preserving its
spirituality through constitutional provisions, legislation, State policy and
judicial pronouncements. Maintaining a rational balance between secularity and
religiosity, accommodating religious sensitivities of the people to a
reasonable extent, avoiding religion-based discrimination among the citizens as
far as possible, and endeavoring to put them on a par regardless of religious
affiliation, are the basic features of religion-state relations in India. God
and Caesar both have a place under the constitutional and legal set up of the
country, but the scope of “what belongs to God” remains wider in India than in
most other professedly secular societies.
Lalu Dyavappa and
Rathod P.B (2014) “Secularism and Indian Constitution: An Overview” They
tried to show the secularism and Indian constitution which is very necessary to
build peaceful society. The study has included about the discussion of
secularism and how it acts according to the Indian constitution. The
constitution of India has adopted secularism under the article 25th to 28th,
here nobody has right to declare their religion as national religion because,
India is basically secular state therefore, all religion is treated as equal. They
concluded that India has been declared a secular state by its written
constitution and it is every Indians duty to stand by and believe in this
declaration. In the end, secularism begins in the heart of every individual.
There should be no feeling of "otherness" as we all have is a shared
history. India being a traditional society that contains not one, but many
traditions owing their origin in part to the different religions that exist here
has so far managed to retain the secular character of its polity. Lastly, the
secularism was not included in the constitution of India, but, later on it was
adopted by 42nd amendment in 1976in the preamble.
Ali, M.D Musa (2015) “Secularism in India: Concepts,
Historical Prospects and Challenges” India is a land of religions, languages and
customs. Many religions are flourishing here since long back, which have their
own traditions and beliefs. Therefore India is a multi religious and multi
cultural country from its known history. The author concluded that the Indian society is very rich, and well known
for wisdom and great thoughts. Secularism is an important aspect of Indian
society, for which it is also well-known in the world.
Objectives
of the Study
v To study the origin and the objectives of Secularism in India.
v To study the challenges faced by Secularism in India.
Research
Methodology
Research simply means search for
facts, answer to the questions and solutions to problem. Research becomes a
systematic, controlled and critical investigation of hypothetical pre questions.
In the proposed study secondary sources have been used, Secondary data have
been collected from various books, research papers and articles. In addition to
this study, data have been collected from various journals also.
ORIGIN
OF SECULARISM IN INDIA
Constitution of India has adopted a system of political philosophy
that all forms of religious faith and worship are of equal status and has
accepted the view that public education and other matters of public policy
should be conducted without the introduction of religious sentiments. 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”.
Gandhi ji’s view was that “Religion is a personal affair of each individual,
and it must not be mixed with politics or national affairs. 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. Indian constitution has elaborated the principle of
secularism in great detail. It specifies that the state should refrain from
either penalizing or favoring any of its people on religious considerations. In
fact, India adopted secularism to facilitate the promotion of religious
tolerance and cultural co-existence. It is true that the word ‘secular’ did not
first occurs either in article 25 or 26 or in any other article of Preamble of
the constitution. By the forty-second Constitution Amendment Act of 1976, the
preamble was amended. Since then India becomes a sovereign, socialist, secular
and democratic republic. The constitution says that, there shall be no ‘state
religion’ in India. The State will neither establish a religion of its own nor
confer any special patronage upon any particular religion. It follows from this
that; the state will not compel any citizen to pay any taxes for the promotion
or maintenance of any particular religion or religious institution (Article
27). No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution
wholly provided by state funds Article 28(1). According to Article 28, every
person is guaranteed the freedom of conscience and the freedom to profess,
practice and propagate his own religion, subject only (a) to restrictions
imposed by the state in the interests of public order, morality and health, (b)
to regulations or restrictions made by state relating to any economic,
financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with
religious practice, but do not really appertain to the freedom of conscience,
(c) to measures of social reform and for throwing open of Hindu religious
institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus.
Subject to above limitations, a person in India shall have the right not only
to entertain any religious belief but also to practice the observances dictated
by such belief (Article 25).
Differences in Indian Secularism:
·
Indian secularism equally
opposed oppression of Dalits and women within Hinduism. It also opposes the
discrimination against women within Indian Islam or Christianity and the
possible threats that a majority community might pose to the rights of the
minority religious communities.
·
Indian secularism deals not
only with religious freedom of individuals but also with religious freedom of
minority communities; i.e., individual has the right to profess religion of
his/her choice. Likewise, religious minority also have a right to exist and to
maintain their own culture and educational institutions.
·
Indian secularism has made room
for and is compatible with the idea of state supported religious reform. For example,
Indian constitution bans untouchability under article 17. There is also
abolition of child marriage and lifting the taboo on inter-caste marriage
sanctioned by Hinduism.
CHALLENGES OF SECULARISM IN INDIA
Indian
is known for its cultural heterogeneity with respect to language and religion.
Hindus constitute the majority, while the Muslims constitute the largest
minority. The animosity between the Hindus and Muslims was largely the creation
of the British rulers. In order to keep themselves in power, they adopted a
policy of ‘divide and rule’ and tried to promote feelings of hostility among
the members of these two communities. After a long history of independence, at
present too, the lack of proper adjustment between them has often resulted in
violent outbursts and communal riots, which unfortunately becomes a serious
challenge to the secular identity of our country. On the other hand, very often
the political parties, including the national parties, too sometimes, do not
allow secularism to take precedence over their political interests. The
electorate in India, guided by tradition, tends to be responsive to appeals
based on caste, religion and language. By announcing various schemes favoring a
particular community, political parties, openly violate the idea of secularism
they claim to stand for. While distributing tickets during elections, nearly
all political parties take religion of a candidate into consideration. Such a
practice in India poses the greatest threat to secularism.
One of
the challenges deals with education. The State claims a leading role concerning
education as a tool for fostering democracy and shaping the profile of
responsible and proactive citizens. This role has been growing in recent years
because both International organizations and States are aware that education is
vital to overcome some critical aspects of post-modernity and globalization. At
the same time, religions claim to have an important role in education too, both
as an agent promoting education at the service of parents and society,
according to their own perspective and worldview, and as an important subject
of the educational syllabus. These claims may clash between them and cast many
questions: Does the State have the only leading role in education? Is it proper
to the State to have the monopoly of educational issues? Can be religion be
part of the educational syllabus at the different levels? And, how can religion
be part of the syllabus?
CONCLUSION
To sum up, India has been declared a secular state by its written
constitution and it is every Indians duty to stand by and believe in this
declaration. In the end, secularism begins in the heart of every individual.
There should be no feeling of "otherness" as we all have is a shared
history, India being a traditional society that contains not one, but many
traditions owing their origin in part to the different religions that exist
here, has so far managed to retain the secular character of its polity. It is
point to note that we need proper educational plan too, to slightly redesign
our existing curriculum in the schools and colleges. The text books presenting
distorted historical facts have to be changed and secular ideas will have to be
inculcated in the innocent minds of our young generation. All religions should
get their weightage in the textbooks of history. The culture, traditions and
festivals of any particular religion should not be over-projected. The
sacrifices and hardships of all religious communities and their contribution
towards freedom and development of the country need to be focused in the books
of the history at school and college level. The importance of various culture
and traditions of different religions in the peculiarity of the country should
have to be discussed properly.
REFERANCES:
Ø Majid, A. (1985).
Secularism and National Integration in the Indian Multi-Ethnic Society. In.
Ø Talesra, H. (2002).
Sociological Foundation of Education. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers,
Distributors.
Ø Rizvi, M. M. A. (2005)
Secularism in India: Retrospect and Prospects. The Indian Journal of Political
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Ø
Mahmood Tahir, (2011) “Religion and the Secular State: Indian Perspective” see, National
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Ø
Lalu Dyavappa and Rathod P.B (2014) “Secularism and Indian
Constitution: An Overview” International Multidisplinery Research Journal.
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Ø
Ali, M.D Musa (2015) “Secularism in India: Concepts, Historical
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