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Secularism in India

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Secularism means the separation of the state from religion. A secular state has no official religion nor supports any religion. It treats all its citizens equally without any religious bias. this is essential to produce a society in which no citizen is discriminated against nor dominated by any religion.

Indian secularism

Secularism is a western concept. Before the advent of westerners, in ancient and medieval India the laws and rules by which the rulers administrated were religiously biased. Taxes to follow a religion were imposed. Muslim rulers levied religious taxes on non-Muslims. People of one religion dominated the other and discriminated against people based on it. The same law for every religion was not implemented. This continued for a long time and people were used to religious bias.

With the advent of Europeans, the western concepts too made their place in India as western education flourished. Under British rule and English education, many social reformers got inspired by western concepts. They started questioning the superstitions and evil practices of the religion. Practices like Sati and child marriages were seriously protested any they succeeded in abolishing them. British introduced a criminal code under which all are equal before the law irrespective of their religion. This was a totally new concept to Indians. 

Secularism slowly entered the minds of our leaders and made its place. Our leaders used secularism to unite people for the national movement of the country. They encouraged that people should inculcate the feeling of nationalism irrespective of which religion they belong. This helped in introducing the roots of secularism in minds of people. So with mindset, our leader’s vision is a secular country after independence. During the independence, the partition took place on the basis of religion but still, independent India remained secular. 

How is Indian secularism different from western secularism?

In western countries like the USA secularism literally follows that state is completely separated from religion. The state does not intervene in any matters which are related to religion. In Indian secularism, the state does not have an official religion on supports any one religion. It distances itself from religion and no government, or institution will follow or promote any religion. At the same, it intervenes in some matters of religion where the basic laws and rights of the constitution are violated. For example, it abolished Untouchability which was followed by the Hindu religion.

Objectives

India’s constitution emphasizes that a secular state can only ensure the following

  • To ensure no one religion does not dominate another religion
  • To ensure some members of religion do not dominate and discriminate against members of the same religion
  • To ensure that the state should not enforce any religion nor take away religious freedom.

The Indian constitution achieves these by following a few strategies. It uses its strategy of separating itself from the religion. This is done by not supporting any religion, not having any official religion, and not being ruled by any religious group. This is more emphasized as displaying and promoting any religion in government offices, schools, courts, etc., is officially wrong in India. 

The second strategy it uses is noninterference with religious practices and making exceptions for some religious communities. for example, a Sikh need not have to wear a helmet as the state considers that wearing a turban is important to their religious practice and it allows an exception for it.

The third strategy it uses is intervention. this mainly prevents the domination of some members towards others of the same religion. For example, in the case of Untouchability, the higher caste people discriminate against the lower castes which violates the fundamental rights of the lower caste people. in such cases, the government intervened and abolished untouchability. That means anyone who practices untouchability can be punishable by a court of law.

Implementation of secularist ideas

The word secular is not mentioned any where in the Indian Constitutions until 1976. In 1976 under the 42nd amendment law, the word secular was included into the preamble of the constitution. even though the word secular was not there from the beginning many laws and articles reflects the essence of secularism in the Indian constitution. Some of them are

  • Right to Equality: This right is given by the Article 14 which states that all the citizens should be treated equally in every aspect.
  • Prohibition on Discrimination: prohibition on  discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. is given by Article 15.
  • Equal opportunity:  Equal opportunity is given to all citizens in public employments without discrimination with Article 16.
  • Abolishment of Untouchability: According to Article 17 Untouchability is abolished and is treated as crime.
  • Freedom of Conscience: this which gives freedom to profess, propagate and practice any religion which is stated in Article 25.
  • Right to establish and maintain religious institutions. is given in the Article 26. 
  • No tax on religion: No tax will be levied on basis of religion by Article 27. 
  • The constitution educational institutions maintained by religious groups to impart religious instructions by Article 28.
  • Cultural and educational rights to the minorities is given by Article 29 and Article 30.
  • According to Article 51A all the citizens are obliged to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood.

Sample Questions

Question 1: What is Indian secularism?

Answer:

Indian secularism means separation of state from religion. no one is discriminated on the basis of religion and every person irrespective of religion is treated as equal in the process of governance.

Question 2: What is the difference between Indian secularism and western?

Answer:

In western countries like USA secularism literally follows that state is completely separated from religion. The state does not intervene in any matters which are related to religion. In Indian secularism the state does not have an official religion on supports any one religion. In distances itself from religion and no government institution will follow or promote any religion. At the same it intervenes into some matters of religion where the basic laws and rights of the constitution are violated. For example it abolished Untouchability which was followed by the Hindu religion.

Question 3: What does Indian secularism focus on?

Answer:

India constitution emphasizes that a secular state can only ensure these following

  • To ensure no one religion does not dominate another religion.
  •  To ensure some members of a religion does not dominate and discriminate members of same religion.
  • To ensure that the state should not enforce any religion nor take away religious freedom.

Question 4: What are the strategies to ensure the objectives of Indian secularism?

Answer:

The following strategies are to be followed  to ensure the objectives of Indian secularism:

  • The Indian constitution achieves these by following few strategies. It uses its strategy of separating itself from the religion. This is done by not supporting any religion, not having any official religion and not ruled by any religious group. This is more emphasized as displaying and promoting any religion in government offices, schools, courts etc., is officially wrong in India.
  • The second strategy it uses is by non interference with religious practices and making exceptions for some religious communities. for example a Sikh need not have to wear a helmet as the state considers that wearing a turban is important to their religious practice and it allows an exception for it.
  • The third strategy it uses is through intervention. this mainly prevents the domination of some members towards others of the same religion. For example in the case of Untouchability the higher caste people discriminate the lower castes which violates the fundamental rights of the lower caste people. in such cases government intervened and abolished untouchability. That means any one who practices untouchability can be punishable by the court of law.

Last Updated : 31 May, 2022
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