SECULARISM

In India

Maira Sharma
11th A
 SECULARISM
Definition

Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of

religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened
to a similar position seeking to remove or to minimize the role
of religion in any public sphere.

Secularism is not atheism but has the same faith in all religions
and there will not be no particular religion of the state. Political
system will not be governed by religion. Citizens of different
faith may be living in the states. Every citizen has the right to
live freely according to his/her religion.

Secularism in India

India is a secular nation with no state religion and therefore

every citizen residing within the territory of India has the right
to follow the religion he/she believes in. Religion is personal
matter and everyone has right to follow one’s own religion.
India has always been a secular state from times immemorial.
Although, the word secularism was not mentioned in the
constitution since the beginning, it was embedded in our
country as its philosophical phenomenon.
Secularism can be defined in the following ideologies :
 Liberal Ideology
 Transformationalist ideology

Liberal Ideology – It endorses the western concept of

secularism. Politics and religion should be completely different
and religion should not affect politics and politics should not be
affected by religion.

Transformationalist Ideology – It emphasizes social, economic

and political development. It recognizes that religion should be
limited to the private life of the individual and should try to
create scientific perspectives among the individuals.

There are two main concepts of secularism :

 Western concept
 Indian concept

Western Concept – It is based on the ideas of Thomas Jefferson.

As per him there has to be a separation between religious
institutions from the institution of states. Freedom of
conscience for individuals should be restricted only by the need
for public order and respecting other individual’s rights is a
guiding principle. It means that if one religion is practiced by an
individual and this practice violates the right of followers of
other faith, restrictions can be imposed on the former. Thomas
Jefferson held the opinion that there should not be any
discrimination against individuals on the basis of their religion.
It began in 19th century (1851) by British origin reformer Jackob
Holyoke. He created this term to explain his views of promoting
a social order which is separate from religion without any
criticism of any religious belief.

India has inherited multiculturalism since ancient times. Due to

this, India has a unique identity in the world. For a nation to be
created, there must be one language, one culture, one history
and one religion. However in India this is an exception. Here,
people of different religions, different cultures live together.
Still India remains as a nation. In India, along with
multiculturalism, social tolerance is the backbone of the
society.

Even though people behave according to their own religion and

culture, the religion and culture of each other is respected. In
India, everyone has the right to spread and promote religion
and culture. Indian society cannot be considered except
religion, because religion has become an integral part of Indian
society.

The constituent assembly emphasized the secular foundation of

India. The assembly declared that secularism was not an anti-
religious concept, instead it prevented discrimination against
the citizens based on their religion.

Father of the Indian Constitution – Dr. B.R.Ambedkar said

Secular state does not mean that we shall not take into
consideration the religious sentiments of the people. All that a
secular state means is that this parliament shall not be
competent to impose any particular religion upon rest of the
people.

There exists two views of secularism

 Gandhi’s view, and

 Nehru’s view

Gandhi’s view – It was based on Sarva Dharma Sambhav which

means equality for all religions. He said that religion can not be
separated from public life. Religion was important for him and
he respected other religions too.

Nehru’s view – He followed Dharma Nirpekshata which says

that religion should be a private matter and should not guide
public life.
A new concept of secularism emerged after independence
which was closer to the views of both Nehru and Gandhi. The
new ideas of secularism were following :

 The state shall permit freedom of practicing any religion.

 The state shall not associate with any religion.
 The state shall honor all faiths of equality.
The intention of the constitutional fathers was neither to
oppose religion nor to promote rationalization of culture. The
word secular was inserted in the preamble of the constitution
by the 42nd amendment act, 1976 and it came into effect on 3rd
January,1977.

The 42nd constitutional amendment act of 1976 stated that

“Secular” means a republic in which there is equal respect for
all religions. The constitution of India prohibits the state from
discriminating against any citizen on grounds of religion, race,
caste, sex or place of birth. It emphasizes that no citizen shall ,
on any of these grounds be subject to any disability, liability,
restriction or condition concerning access to shops, public
restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment or the
use of wells, tanks etc. which are wholly or partly maintained
out of state funds or are dedicated to the general public.

There shall be equal opportunity for all citizens relating to

employment in the office of the state . No citizen shall on
grounds of religion, race etc. be ineligible for or discriminated
against in respect of any employment or office of the state.
Framers of Indian constitution kept in mind the fact that India is
a multi-religious country and hence adopted the concept of
religious neutrality and conferred religious freedom to various
religious groups.
Indian constitution adopted the principle of non-interference in
religious matter with certain exceptions. Constitution makes it
clear that everyone living in India should be entitled to profess
his/her religion without hindrance, so long as the citizen
obeyed the common law of the land. It allows every person the
right to freely profess, practice and propagate his religion. Also
voluntary conversion from one religion to another religion is
valid as a person is free to have faith in any religion. However
conversion by force or fraud is not valid because it may disturb
the public order. It empowers the state to impose restrictions
in the interest of the public order.

The state will not interfere in the religious affairs so the state
cannot regulate religious activity. However a secular activity
that is associated with the religious matter may be regulated by
the state .

Religious Activity Secular Activity

If the activity is regarded as If the activity is not

an essential and integral part considered a necessary part
of the religion. of a religion.
Examples :
 Practice of Triple talaq – This practice was declared illegal
stating that it was not protected under Article 25 of the
constitution and it is not an essential religious practice.
 Act to prohibit Polygamy among the Hindus – This act was
held valid because polygamy was not an essential and
integral part of Hindu religion.
 The state can interfere in religious practices for social
reform. Sati and Devdasi system in Hindus have been
abolished as these were social evils and not the essential
part of the religion.

Secularism as contemplated by the constitution of India has the

following distinguishing features :

 The state will not identify itself with or be controlled by

any religion.
 The state guarantees to everyone the right to profess
whatever religion one chooses to follow, it will not accord
any preferential treatment to any of them.
 No discrimination will be shown by the state against any
person on account of his religion or faith.
 The right of every citizen, subject to any general condition
to enter any offices under the state and religious tolerance
form the heart and soul of secularism as envisaged by the
constitution.
 The Supreme Court has ruled in that the state has no
religion and state has to treat all religions and religious
people equally and with equal respect without in any
 manner interfering with their individual rights of religion,
faith and worship.

Is Secularism actually required in India

People of different languages and religions live in India. India is

a multicultural country. Secularism is much needed to keep
everyone together. India is known for its unity in diversity. India
is the origin of world’s four major religions – Hinduism, Sikhism,
Jainism and Buddhism. India is a country built on the
foundation of a civilization that is fundamentally non-religious.

Indian society is a multi-religious society with different castes,

religion and several religion diversification. If not handled
carefully then it can cause a threat to the unity and integrity of
the nation. Religious harmony is a must in a diverse country like
India. It is a constitutional mandate upon the state to combat
the factors which curtails religious groups. It is also obligatory
upon the state to take positive as well as negative actions to
promote communal harmony. Every person has the right to
freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice and
propagate religion.

According to an political scientist called Donald Eugene Smith,

The secular state is a state which guarantees individual and
corporate freedom of religion, deals with the individual as a
citizen irrespective of his/her religion, is not constitutionally
connected to a particular, nor does it seek either to promote or
interfere with religion. The conception of a secular state
involves three distinct but inter-related sets of relationships
concerning the state, religion and the individual.
Although India has adopted the concept of secular state, in fact
religion has been politicized. Religious institutions are used for
voting politics. Therefore the principal of secularism is falling
behind by increasing communalism. Communalism is anti-
democratic, so the concept of secularism needs to be rooted in
the promotion of democratic values. In a pluralistic society like
India, politics based on religion is detrimental to national
integrity. Therefore, in order to build a strong democracy, the
values of secularism must be respected in the society while
respecting religious values.

Increasing interference of religion in politics is a major

challenge facing the secular state. Candidates selected for
elections are given on the basis of religion. The politics of votes
are cast in front of religious sentiments. Therefore, the right
people do not get elected.

Recent clashes of two religions in Nuh, Haryana is the example

of political interference in religion. It seemed to be a politically
instigated communal riots due to which many lives were lost
and economic loss was also incurred as public/private
properties were destroyed and also it interrupted the daily lives
of many.

Judiciary and Secularism

Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship could
not be amended at any cost because they were part of the basic
features of the constitution.
Justice Jaganmohan Reddy
(Former Judge Of the Supreme Court of
India)

The court held that secularism is the basic structure of the

constitution and therefore cannot be amended. Secularism is
derived from the cultural principle of tolerance and ensures the
equality of all religions. No religion will be at risk in India
because the Government would not be aligned to any particular
religion. The court also said that there is an essential
connection between secularism and democracy and if we need
that democracy should work properly and the marginalized
group can avail the benefit, then there must be a secular state.
The court also said that the neutrality of the state would be
violated if religion is used for political purposes and any political
party is using religion to achieve a political goal. Religion and
politics should not be mixed.

Although a secular state does not interfere in religious matters,

it does not mean that the state has no say in all matters of
religion. The state can make a law to regulate secular affairs of
religious places.

Secularism in itself is a very dynamic word. There cannot be any

fixed view on this concept for all the time. Time and again, the
court gives the different meaning of secularism and enforces it
in practice.

There have been cases where court has intervened in religious

matters and passed the judgement basis secularism does not
say that the state should stay aloof from religion instead it
should give equal treatment to every religion. Religion and
caste are vital aspects of our society and it is not possible to
separate them completely from politics.

In one of the popular cases, court had acquired land belonging

to a particular religious community stating that any property
belonging to a religious community could be acquired by the
state under the eminent domain.
The constitution of India prohibits using taxes for religious
purposes but for looking after the minorities, the ministry of
minority affairs has been created which brings various schemes
to provide financial assistance for minority religions.

If we talk about secularism and citizenship act, it is a matter of

debate. One group argues that this act violates the constitution
as it is against the concept of secularism, whereas the Indian
government says that the act is constitutional. The group which
argues against this act says that it grants citizenship to migrants
belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi
communities who came to the country from Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Afghanistan but does not include Muslims in
its purview.
Also it is discriminatory in nature as it violates constitution of
India. It clearly states that the state should not deny to any
person equality before the law or the equal protection of the
laws within the territory of India. The word person has been
used here, so it protects both citizen and non-citizens.

The central government’s argument is that providing citizenship

to anyone is a political matter and is neither against the
concept of secularism nor discriminatory.

We can conclude by saying that India is known

as a secular nation across the world. Secularism means a mode
of governance in which the state remains neutral in religious
matters and is not supposed to lean in favor of any particular
religion. To protect the interest of minorities, specific provisions
have been made in the constitution, which indirectly reflects
that specific discriminatory provisions have been made in the
constitution. In a secular state, majority and minority should be
treated equally.

As per constitution, minority does not only refer to religious

minority rather it also refers to linguistic minority whereas
government only pays attention to religious minorities. Hence
interest of both religious and linguistic minorities should be
taken into consideration.