...SECULARISM IN INDIA : CONCEPT & PRACTICE Dr. Shriram Yerankar Associate Professor & Head, Deptt. of Political Science, Jijamata College, Buldana (M.S.) shriramyerankar@gmail.com Historical Background : The concept of secularism as we take it to mean today had originated in the 13th century Europe. But we can trace the philosophical concept of secularism in the writings of Kautilya, a thinker of ancient India, who lived in the 3rd century B.C. The history of Indian secularism the protest movements in the 5th century B.C. The three main protest movements were by the Charvaks, Buddhism and Jainism. All three of them rejected the authority of the Vedas and any importance of belief in a deity. It can thus be seen that the ancient thought had a profound impact on the development of the theory of secularism over the centuries. Writers differ about the origin of the concept of secularism as to whether it had its roots in the eastern or the western thought. D. E Smith says, “The Secular State is, in origin, a western not an Asian Conception. This is not to deny the obvious fact the certain elements of the ‘secular state – have a long tradition in Asia.’ The term “Secularism” was first used by the British writer George Holyoake in 1851. Although the term was new...
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...I do not expect India of my dreams to develop one religion, i.e., to be wholly Hindu or wholly Christian or wholly Mussalman, but I want it to be wholly tolerant, with its religions working side by side with one another.'' So said Mahatma Gandhi. 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. And yet recent political and social events have questioned this declaration. Is India a secular country only on paper or does secularism actually exist in India; or is in the form of pseudo- secularism, a term the BJP and its allies seem to repeatedly harp on. During the freedom struggle, secularism was emerging as the most dominant principle. The leaders of the Indian National Congress; Gandhi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Nehru and others were deeply committed to the ideal of secularism, though each expressed it in very different manners. Secularism became the mantra of the Indian nation, a nation exhausted by partition and sectarian riots and above all the assassination of Gandhiji, did not want any more divisive talk. The founding fathers represented the aspirations of the different sections of society and it is due to the struggles of these different people that secular principles got enshrined into the Indian constitution. Under Jawaharlal Nehru and later under his successors in the Congress Party, the concept of a secular nation-state was officially adopted as India's path to political...
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...Analysis of Fall-outs with Secularism INTRODUCTION Secularism is one of the most important aspects in the present Indian socio – political – economic scene. Unfortunately, Secularism in the present Indian context seems to be incomplete due to the intermingling of religion with politics and thus Secularism has been criticized by many. This project first defines the term “Secularism”, then puts light on the Secularist ideas followed by us and finally analyses the various critiques attached to it which have developed over time. What is Secularism and Why Secularism? “Secularism is the process by which sectors of society and culture are removed or separated out from religious symbols and institutions so as to constitute their own domains. The Secular state is a state that guarantees individual and corporate freedom of religion, deals with the individual as a citizen irrespective of his religion, is not constitutionally connected to a particular religion, nor seeks either to promote or interfere with religion.” The Secularism in question is basically the interrelation between the state and multiple religious communities in India. In addition to this, we also need to know why Secularism was needed for India in the first place. The following arguments are the most apt arguments which show the need for a Secular state. Firstly, the Indian society at large was a mixture of numerous cultures, religions, customs and languages. Thus if the dream of a single nation was to be fulfilled...
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...RESPONSE OF INDIAN JUDICIARY TO THE CONCEPT OF SECULARISM The whole essence of the Indian freedom movement had been to establish a pluralistic Indian society which would with open arms accommodate and enhance India’s multi-cultural, multi linguistic and multi religious identity. Even during the period when political antagonism between the Congress and Muslim League where gaining concrete grounds and the storm clouds of partition of the Indian state were hovering heavy over the Indian motherland, what the framers of the constitution could only ensure as solace to the weeping mother of the parting sons was that the new India would essentially be a secular state but with a notion of secularism different from the western model of secularism which...
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...Uniform Civil Code for India: Prospects and Constraint The need for a Uniform Civil code in India has been discussed and argued several times and it still remains one of the most controversial issues remarked in our Constitution. The uniform civil code would mean the codification of laws pertaining to all citizens, be they Hindus, Muslims or Christians. But now in India personal laws are the main cause of communal conflict among people. It is also intimately connected to the issue of gender justice. The present paper describes personal laws in India, the issues of uniform civil code and gender justice from a human rights point of view. KEYWORDS: India, Personal Laws, Uniform Civil Code, Gender Justice Introduction India is a secular state, world’s largest democracy and second most populous country (1,205,073,612 in 2012) emerged as a major power in the 1990s'. It is militarily strong, has major cultural influence and a fast-growing and powerful economy. With its many languages, cultures and religions, India is highly diverse. This is also reflected in its federal political system, whereby power is shared between the central government and 28 states. Religions not only have been serving as the foundation of the culture of India, but have had enormous effect on Indian politics and society. In India, religion is a way of life. It is an integral part of the entire Indian tradition. A vast majority of Indians, (over 93%) associate themselves with a religion. According to the...
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...UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA Introduction India is indeed a unique country with its diversity in religion, caste, creed, race and languages. In no other country, its natives are so different and varied. In some countries like U.S., people belonging to different countries have settled down there. They could not be called as natives of U.S. In India its natives are so dissimilar yet they are one. Naturally the constitution of such a unique country as India is also unique. The size of the constitution It is the largest of all constitutions in the world. Initially the constitution had 395 articles and 8 schedules. At present it contains 395 Articles and 12 Schedules, and more than 80 amendments. The following are the reasons for its bulk nature. a) borrowed from several other constitutions of the world. b) The vastness of the country and its population size and diversity, compelled the framers of the constitution to make provisions for the protection and promotion of the interests of different regions and groups in the country like scheduled castes, Scheduled Tribes and backward regions. c) elaborate on centre-state relations in all aspects of their administrative and other activities. Thus, the Constitution of India became a lengthy one Partly Rigid and Partly Flexible Pandit Nehru expressed, "While we want the Constitution to be as solid and permanent as we can make it, there is no permanence in Constitution. There should be certain flexibility. If...
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...Term paper submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the course on Sociology Hindutva: A fascist ideology Pranav Mani Chinnaswamy B.A./LLB.- 2014 Sociology Section D 20141169 Introduction: Hindutva, a term coined by V. D. Savarkar, literally translates to Hindu-ness. Savarkar defined it as a coherent pattern of concepts that applied only to Hindus. Hinduism and nationalism simultaneously developed and progressed throughout 19th and 20th century India. Towards the end of the British era, Indians were confused about their national identity and it was this identity crisis that gave birth to the concept of Hindutva. This was also the time during which Indians wanted to stick to their indigenous culture, but continued to do everything ‘English’ to uplift themselves and their status in the society. It was one of the many attempts to define an “Indian” identity. Savarkar, along with others, called for the killing of the Muslims and other minorities, who did not accept this ideology. Hindutva is essentially a political consciousness, which does not embody or promote respect for other faiths. Hindutva is not about religion or faith, but rather about something embedded in the cultural politics of exclusion. It is not about religion or philosophy, as it initially does come across, but more of a violent theocracy. Hindutva is a caricature, an attempted perversion, of Hinduism and hence cannot be equated with the latter. The entire concept...
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...person; it contours ones judgment to a certain approach. In other words, it is our identity. Every nation has its own set of morals and is defined by its own distinct cultures; which gives rise to cultural differences between each and every country in this world. In this vast world, no two cultures are exactly identical. Taking into account India and Spain, needless to mention, both the cultures have an enormous amount of differences between them. Spain being a part of Europe is largely influenced by the European culture furthermore the Rome culture; on the other hand India’s culture is more multifaceted and has been influenced by colonialism over the past century- both collaterally and vernacularly (Sen Amartya, 2005). India is a home to a variety of different cultures; it is known to be the most diverse country in the world in every aspect. Looking into a major aspect of any culture that has existed, religion plays a major role in the upbringing. It influences the framework of a particular culture and individual human behavior too. India being a secular state has no official religion; it has equal tolerance for every religion. Secularism was adopted in the country in the late 1800s keeping in view the multi religious nature of the Indian society. (Engineer. A., 2003). However Spain adapted Roman Catholicism as its official religion, as it’s the largest group of Christianity practiced...
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...modern world calls for theories, approaches and methods that engage with the issues and processes that have affected the world within the last two hundred years, such as the impact of colonialism and subsequent postcolonial developments, globalization and the rise of global religious movements. For a start, it is worth asking if secular states and their underlying ideology, political secularism, are really under siege everywhere. Secularism was severely jolted with the establishment of the first modern theocracy in 1979 in Iran. By the late 1980s, Islamic political movements had emerged in Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Chad, Senegal, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and even in Bangladesh. Movements challenging secular states were hardly restricted to Muslim societies. Protestant movements decrying secularism emerged in Kenya, Guatemala, and the Philippines. Protestant fundamentalism became a force in American politics. Singhalese Buddhist nationalists in Sri Lanka, Hindu nationalists in India, religious ultraorthodoxy in Israel, and Sikh nationalists in the state of Punjab in India, as well as among diasporic communities in Canada and Britain, began to question the separation of state and religion. In short, western conceptions of political...
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...Sociology Z103 | SECULARISM AND INTERFAITH MARRIAGE: interpretation of the secularism scale of iba students and its correlation with interfaith marriage | Sociology Z103 Prepared For: AI Mahbub Uddin Ahmed Prepared By: Farzana Yasmin Rivi BBA-17(B) Roll: RQ 53 Date: 15/07/10 Institute of Business Administration (IBA) University of Dhaka Institute of Business Administration (IBA) University of Dhaka Dear Sir: Here is the report which you asked to submit for the requirement of undergraduate course- Sociology. The report topic is “Secularism and Interfaith Marriage: Interpretation of the Secularism Scale of IBA Students and its Correlation with Interfaith Marriage”. As per the requirement of the report, it is based on both primary and secondary information. The primary information was collected through survey and the main sources of secondary information are various journal articles on the topic. I would like to mention that I carried out this entire report under your supervision and that this report has not been formerly presented in IBA to the best of my knowledge. I also pledge that either today or in the future, no part of this report may be reproduced without your written permission. I sincerely hope that I was able to fulfil the course requirement successfully through the submission of this report. I have put in my best effort to contribute towards the successful completion of this report. I earnestly hope that you will accept this report and...
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...Political Communalisation of Religions and the Crisis of Secularism – D L Sheth Pgs 94 – 99 Intro: • Political changes in India in the late 20th century • Independent Indian State managed to redefine the various divisions in society • Was done by legally redefining the relationship between communities and the State • Impartial sustainability has been replaced by a system that puts more importance on community identities • This increases the conflict between majority and minority communal groups Democracy’s Secularisation Process • Political Secularisation – permeating every corner of social, economic and cultural life with politics • Reduces the importance of relationships including those between individual and community • Ends up linking the collective goals to individual ends and desires • This is different from the modernity concept which gives more importance to the individual than the collective • Since democracy is forced to respond to popular demand, they are thus forced to listen to large communities • But these collectives must also acquire “democratic” habits to ensure its own survival o This includes alliances with other communities o Making the community who has power more accessible for members’ use • It is democracy’s structural difference from modernity draws communities directly into politics • However once these communities enter, they modify and change the universal...
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...ularism Modern Myths, Locked Minds by T. N. Madan Introduction: Scope, methods and Concepts 1. Secularization, secularism, Christian tradition and the Enlightenment: a brief history T. N. Madan differentiates between secularism, secularization and secularity. 1) Secularization refers to socio cultural processes in which the role of the sacred is progressively limited; 2) Secularism is the ideology that argues for the historical inevitability and progressive nature of secularization everywhere and 3) Secularity is the resultant state of society. The term "secularism" was first used by the British writer Holyoake in 1851 to describe his views of promoting a social order separate from religion. The English word ‘secular’ comes from the Latin ‘saeculum’, which means ‘an age’ or ‘the spirit of an age’ and has the same meaning as the Greek ‘aeon’. In general terms, secularism means “belonging to this age, or worldly” along with a denial of other worldly realities (i.e. religious). The Bible introduces the idea of divine creation in the book of Genesis. God speaks directly to Man in Genesis: “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it”. As Peter Berger, a social theorist notes that in this the idea of a secular world is sown as a God who stands outside of the Cosmos which is his creation. This opens the way for self making activity which Berger calls ‘historization’. Caesar was the emperor of Rome. In a famous passage Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things...
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...prosperous nation. India is a country with innumerable diversities, an entity composed of many communities, races classes, languages and subcultures. In any such nation, there are many obstacles to the achievement of national integration. In India the following hindrances are obstructing the growth of national feeling, casteism, communalism, linguistic fanaticism, social disparity, economic inequalities and immorality, regionalism etc. 1. Casteism: Caste is an imported part of our social fabric. This was developed in the past on the basis of division of labour in the society. But now casteism has segregated the society. Unity and integrity has become a dream in a caste ridden society. The feeling of socially neglected scheduled castes under the suppression of upper caste ruined the sense of we feeling and unity. It becomes a problem for national integration. 2. Communalism: Religions antagonism has posed a i serious challenge to national integration in India. India is a multi- religious land. Political manipulation has projected one religion against the other which resulted in communal riot, bloodbath, mutual, distrust and disintegration of the country. Large scale illiteracy and superstition are responsible along with other causes for raise communalism in the country. It is very difficult to promote national integration under these situations. 3. Linguistic Fanaticism: Multi-linguism is one of the important characters of India. India has fifteen officially...
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...word ‘Codex’ which means a book. Therefore, the term ‘Civil Code’ is read in conjunction with the adjective ‘Uniform’ it connotes a code which shall be uniformly applicable to all citizens irrespective of their religion, race, sex, caste and creed. Uniform Civil Code, therefore, generally refers to that part of law which deals with family affairs of an individual and denotes uniform law for all citizens, irrespective of his/her religion, caste or tribe. UNIFORM CIVIL CODE AND INDIAN CONSTITUTION Article 44 of the Constitution of India requires the state to secure for the citizens of India a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India. India is a unique blend and merger of codified personal laws of Hindus, Christians, Parsis and to some extent of laws of Muslims. However, there exists no uniform family related law in a single statutory book for all Indians which are universally acceptable to all religious communities who co-exist in India. The constitution, by virtue of Article 44, is very clear that unless a uniform civil code is followed, integration cannot be imbibed. However, the fact is that it is only a “directives principle” laid down in the constitution and as Article 37 of the Constitution itself makes clear, the directive principles “shall not be enforceable by any court”. Nevertheless, they are “fundamental...
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...person; it contours ones judgment to a certain approach. In other words, it is our identity. Every nation has its own set of morals and is defined by its own distinct cultures; which gives rise to cultural differences between each and every country in this world. In this vast world, no two cultures are exactly identical. Taking into account India and Spain, needless to mention, both the cultures have an enormous amount of differences between them. Spain being a part of Europe is largely influenced by the European culture furthermore the Rome culture; on the other hand India’s culture is more multifaceted and has been influenced by colonialism over the past century- both collaterally and vernacularly (Sen Amartya, 2005). India is a home to a variety of different cultures; it is known to be the most diverse country in the world in every aspect. Looking into a major aspect of any culture that has existed, religion plays a major role in the upbringing. It influences the framework of a particular culture and individual human behavior too. India being a secular state has no official religion; it has equal tolerance for every religion. Secularism was adopted in the country in the late 1800s keeping in view the multi religious nature of the Indian society. (Engineer. A., 2003). However Spain adapted Roman Catholicism as its official religion, as it’s the largest group of...
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