Secularism is the principle of the separation of the state and government institutions from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. For India, secularism has different meanings as explained by the Supreme Court in Indra V. Rajnarayan judgement. For India, secularism means that the state shall have no religion of its own and all persons of the country shall be equally entitled to the freedom of their conscience and have the right freely to profess, practice and propagate any religion.

Secularism And Constitution Of India

Word “secular” for India is mentioned in the preamble of the constitution of India. The Secularism as contemplated by the Constitution of India in its various provisions has the following distinguishing features.

1. The state will not identify itself with nor be controlled by any religion.
2. While 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.
3. No discrimination will be shown by the state against any person on account of his religion or faith.
4. 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.
5. It secures the conditions of creating a fraternity of the Indian people which assures both the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation.

Is Secularism A Weak Ideology?

1. India is home to all major religions of the world. Despite being a majority Hindu population, founding fathers of independent India chose secularism as the core ideology of the Republic of India.
2. Partition of the country in 1947 left many deep wounds on Indian society. India continues to bleed every day by sectarian, religious and inter-caste violence.
3. Individuals at different rungs of Indian society might not share the same secular and pluralist optimism. The debate over equality in society is crucial in interpreting Indian secularism.
4. Despite all the issues, India successfully spent 73 years as a Sovereign, Secular and Democratic country, and remains as the largest secular democracy in the world.
5. Most of the countries in the MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) region, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, are non-secular countries. A comparative analysis of these countries with secular countries proves that on most of the socio-economic indicators non-secular countries are not performing well. They are characterised by civil unrest, violation of human rights and enmity towards other religions.
6. Considering all the above observations it can be said that Secularism is rather a strong ideology for all-round development of all the members of the society.

Factors That Influence The Future Of Secularism In India

Political Factors

1. Party-political secularism is a nefarious doctrine practised by all political parties, including by so-called ‘secular forces’. This secularism has dispelled all values from the core idea and replaced them with opportunism.
2. Opportunistic alliance with religious communities, particularly for the sake of immediate electoral benefit, is its unspoken slogan. It has even been complicit in igniting communal violence and divisive politics.
3. B.R. Ambedkar observed that when two roughly equal communities view each other as enemies, they get trapped in a majority-minority syndrome, a vicious cycle of spiralling political conflict and social alienation.

Social Factors

1. Social alienation of Muslims, Christians and Dalits is deepening the cracks in the secular fabric of India. It is further engraved by lack of modern education.
2. Discrimination while making acquaintance, making social relations, choosing colonies based on the religion practised by the local people are also social reasons which are destroying the secular nature of India.
3. Refusing Muslims to give homes on rent, or declining Dalits from entering the temple, or killing daughters for marrying out of caste or religious boundaries are the examples of how the future of secularism is being shaped in present India.

Ideological Factors

1. The rise in the religious radicalisation of Muslim youth is a grave threat to secularism in India. These youth are ideologically motivated by the perception of religious supremacy of their own.
2. Right-wing or left-wing extremist ideologies are leading to increased communalisation of Indian society. Those who associate themselves openly express their anti-Hindu, anti-Muslim or anti-Christian beliefs.

Economic Factors

1. India is home to more than 1.3billion people. Such a huge population is putting pressure on available resources. Scarcity of limited resources leads to claims over it by various sections and deprivation of certain sections of the society based on irrational parameters such as religion and caste, etc.
2. A major portion of the population in India belongs to the working-age group. Directing the energies of these youth and providing them employment is a humongous task. Failing in which leads to conflict and crisis in society, and in a diverse society like India, communalism is the most easily available option to divert the energies of the youth.
3. Role of electronic media is also very important in building the secular fabric of India but nowadays for TRP and commercial gains they are preferring propaganda over neutrality.

Suggestions

1. Respect for religion must be accompanied by critique. Therefore all the factors influencing the secularism of India must be redirected towards constructive criticism and promoting religious harmony.
2. Our state must respectfully leave religion alone but also intervene whenever religious groups promote communal disharmony and discrimination on grounds of religion or are unable to protect their own members from the oppressions they perpetuate as we witnessed in Judgement of Sabrimala and Law on Triple Talaq.
3. We have to constantly decide when to engage or disengage, help or hinder religion depending entirely on which of these enhances our constitutional commitment to freedom, equality and fraternity.
4. Secularism cannot be sustained by governments alone but requires collective commitment from an impartial judiciary, a scrupulous media, civil society activists, and an alert citizenry.

Secularism is the soul of India’s Constitution. Today the letter of this Constitution still remains unaltered, but its soul is mangled and choked. B.R. Ambedkar claimed that when communities view each other as a menace, they tend to close ranks. Due to this all dissent within the community is muzzled and much needed internal reforms are stalled. Peaceful and democratic secularism will help to carry out a much-needed internal critique and reform of our own respective religions, to enable their compatibility with constitutional values of equality, liberty and justice.