Click here for free access
Challenges faced by Secularism in India
By Tejas Sateesha Hinder and Prakarsh
Indian secularism appears to be in a crisis. The development of the idea of secularism has been stunted because both, the opponents and the proponents of secularism define it as inherently and exclusively Western, Christian and foreign to India.[1] The constrains to the idea of secularism may be as follows:
Communalism
It becomes a problem in a secular state with Muslim minorities because there is an inherent clash between the requirements of a secular way of life on the one hand and religious orthodoxy on the other.[2]
Dr. Bipin Chandra has identified three conditions for the birth of communalism, they are-
- People who follow the same religion have a common interest.
- The secular interest of different religions is dissimilar and divergent from the followers of other religion.
- When interest of different religions is seen to be incompatible, antagonistic and hostile.
From the above the following inference can be drawn:
- Communalism is associated with religious affiliation.
- It unites people of a particular religious faith for secular causes and uses religion for political purposes.
- It arises from a perceived or even a concocted threat from other religious groups.
- It creates in-group solidarity by creating negative stereotypes about the out-group.
- It expresses itself in violent tensions designed to hurt the other party.
- It also derives support from the followers of the same faith but belonging to the other political regimes.[3] Such external support, not only emotional but also financial, and even in terms of arms tends to internationalize the conflict and this goes beyond disturbing the internal peace by threatening the very integrity of the nation. Secessionists’ tendencies, exhibited by the extreme form of communalism, result in terrorist activities. Thus, communalism is a great menace to the secular nature of our polity.
Casteism
The roots of the caste system are very deep. The ancient ‘varna’ scheme is supposed to be the basis of the caste system. It may be said, that originally caste was associated with a specific occupation and village community and village economy.
The policies in India, especially at the state level, cannot be understood without the study of the caste in that particular state. There are some political parties which are organized to represent castes. Thus, caste consciousness has become the very core of the Indian polities and it has become the greatest roadblock to the furtherance of secularism in our polity.
Party Politics
Some of the political parties in India are organized on communal lines. These parties represent the interests of a particular region or a particular group. Some of the regional parties even desire and struggle for a separate independent State. They play communal politics for achieving and safeguarding their political interests. It has been remarked, that the known secular parties are not very secular in terms of composition and working.
Obscurantism
Obscurantism is one of the obstacles of the Indian secularism. Despite the progress in almost all the directions of life, obscurantism still persists. In all the religions, there are obscurantism elements which create obstacles in the way of evolution of human and dynamic social order. It is because of obscurantism, that the people give importance to customs and traditions rather than reason.
The Indian people in general whether Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs etc. are traditional in their outlook, and see many of the things in their traditions and customs. Thus, obscurantism is a great hurdle in the way of secularism in the Indian society.
Data on Communal Violence: Issues with it
Further, the data on communal violence as released by different agencies of the government is not clear, as seen in the image below there is a wide range of difference between the data on communal violence as released by the National Crime Records Bureau and Ministry of Home Affairs:
Such inconsistency begs to questions, if the government data is credible at all? Is the government trying to play down the current situation of unrest in the country? However, one thing that is for sure is that, the rate of communal violence is pretty high and consistent on a year to year basis.
So, definitely there is a need to develop a certain mechanism to contain the same. Apart from the national data, there is also wide discrepancies in the state-wise data as well, released by NCRB and MHA: (See image below)
Based on the data above, we get a clear picture of the existing situation with regards to the communal violence in our country. The above are just some of the problems which are affecting the social structure of our country, which need to be addressed at the earliest if India is to progress as a nation.
The high incidents of communal violence do not enthuse confidence in the working of a secular nation like ours. It was thus, imperative to carry out a ground level survey to ascertain people’s understanding of the ideas of secularism; what makes them believe in it and, whether the policy of secularism as followed by us has served us some good.
Has Secularism failed as a concept in India?
If Indian Secularism has indeed been such a failure, why, one might ask, has India continued to pay lip-service to it? The answer, it is possible to argue, lies in the imperatives of nationalism, first in the need to unite India behind the nationalist leadership, and later, in the need to invent a legal and political framework in which “national unity” might be realized. These imperatives pushed even those who had little real commitment to genuine secularism to proclaim publicly their adherence to secular values. There thus, has always been a hiatus, between the true meaning of secularism and the variant of secularism as espoused in India.
If secularization, therefore, is to be understood as a process in which ties of religion, casteist and ethnic particularisms are gradually transcended, in which the politics is defined on rationalist and ideological lines, and in which religion, caste and ethnicity are confined to the sphere of ‘private” life, then its reverse has occurred in India. Communal politicians have successfully used the economics of inequality, uneven development and under-development to reinforce their stranglehold over the society.
Secularism is relevant to, and appropriate for India. The argument, that it has failed is not well-supported. There is no proof of how the State would have benefited had the Indian republic been a more religion-oriented one. I think the alternative to secularism in India, as in other spiritually diverse societies, would be disastrous. Secularism provides a check on the tyranny of the majority that is a natural part of any democratic society. It must, therefore, be defended.
References
[1] T.N. Madan, Secularism in its Place in SECULARISM AND ITS CRITICS 297–320 (Rajeev Bhargava ed. 1998); Ashis Nandy, The Politics of Secularism and the Recovery of Religious Tolerance, 321–344; Rajeev Dhavan, The Road Xanadu: India’s Quest for Secularism, in RELIGION AND PERSONAL LAW IN SECULAR INDIA: A CALL TO JUDGMENT 301–329 (Gerald James Larson ed., 2001)
[2] Jain H.M., Communalism, Nationalism and Minorities in India, The UP Journal of Political Science Vo. VIII №1 &2 (January- December 2001)
[3] Dr. B.L. Fadia, Indian Govt, and Politics, S.B. Publications, p. 200. (2003)
This story has been written by Tejas Sateesha Hinder and Prakash, Students, Second Year, B.A. LLB, National Law Institute University, Bhopal.
