Secularism

Also called: Secular · Topic: Secularism: Western and Indian Models · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 10 "The Constitution of India: An Introduction"; Class 11, Ch 8 "Secularism"; Class 11, Ch 10 "The Philosophy of the Constitution"

Meaning

Secularism is the idea that society should be free of two kinds of religious domination: one religion oppressing another (inter-religious domination), and one group inside a religion oppressing other members of the same faith (intra-religious domination). It is a normative doctrine, which means it describes how society ought to be, not how it already is.

It matters because religious violence and discrimination still happen in India and abroad. India's Constitution promises every citizen freedom and dignity, and secularism is how it tries to keep that promise. Secularism is part of the basic structure of the Constitution [6].

Explanation

What secularism opposes

• Inter-religious domination means one religious community oppresses another.
• It denies members of the other community their basic freedoms.
• People are attacked only because of their religious identity.

• Indian examples: the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre, the flight of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley from 1990, and the 2002 post-Godhra Gujarat riots, in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

• Intra-religious domination means oppression inside one religion. It takes four main forms:

• Gender inequality: very few religions treat men and women equally.
• Caste exclusion: dalits have long been kept out of Hindu temples. In some places, Hindu women have been kept out too.
• Capture by conservatives: the most conservative group often controls organised religion and allows no dissent.

• Sects and persecution: religions split into sects (smaller groups within a religion), which often punish members who disagree. Example: in 1974, Pakistan declared Ahmadis non-Muslims.

• Religious fundamentalism is a rigid form of religion that allows no dissent. It is usually led by the most conservative group in a faith. NCERT gives parts of the USA as an example. It threatens peace inside a country and between countries.

What secularism aims for

• Negative goal: a society free of both inter- and intra-religious domination.
• Positive goal: secularism promotes three things:
• freedom within religions;
• equality between religions;

• equality within religions.

• It opposes all institutionalised religious domination, which is domination built into laws, customs or organisations.

• Origin of the word:
• "Secular" comes from the Latin saeculum, which means "age" or "this world".
• George Jacob Holyoake first used the word "secularism" in 1851. He used it for a non-religious civic and ethical philosophy that did not carry the bad name "atheism" had at the time [7].

Secularism is not anti-religion

• Karl Marx (1844) called religion the "opium of the masses". He meant that it dulls people's pain like a drug and would disappear once their material needs were met.
• NCERT rejects this view:
• Humans can never fully control disease, accidents, separation from loved ones or death.
• Religion, art and philosophy all help people cope with this pain.

• So religion will not simply disappear.

• Result: secularism opposes religious domination, not religion itself.

Western and Indian models

• Western model: the State and religion are kept strictly separate. Its main concern is to stop the State from favouring one religion over others.
• Indian model: India also guards against inter-religious domination, but it goes further.
• The Indian State can step inside a religion to end inequality within it, for example caste-based exclusion from temples.
• This is a clear break from strict Western-style separation.
• It is often described as "principled distance": the State keeps away from religion or steps in, depending on what equality needs.

In the Constitution and practice

• Preamble: the words 'secular', 'socialist' and 'integrity' were added by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 [6].

• The Supreme Court has said this amendment only stated openly what the Constitution already meant [6].

• S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994):

• A nine-judge bench held that secularism is a basic feature of the Constitution. A basic feature is a core part that Parliament cannot destroy, even by amendment (basic structure) [6].
• The State must not mix religion with its secular activities. Religion must not enter the State's non-religious work [6].

• A state government that acts against secularism can face President's rule (when the Union government takes over the running of a state for a time, under Article 356) [6].

• Article 17: abolishes "untouchability" (treating dalits as "impure") and forbids it in any form. Enforcing any disability that arises from untouchability is an offence punishable by law [3].

• Article 25(1): gives all persons equal freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion. This right is subject to public order, morality, health and the other Fundamental Rights [4].
• Article 25(2)(b): lets the State make laws for social welfare and reform. It also lets the State open Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus. This is the legal basis for temple-entry laws [4].
• Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955: stopping a person, on grounds of untouchability, from entering a public place of worship that is open to others of the same religion is a punishable offence [5].
• Secularism in practice: the 1984 anti-Sikh violence
• The government appointed the Nanavati Commission (a judicial inquiry led by a retired judge) on 8 May 2000. It looked into violence against Sikhs from 31 October 1984 onwards and reported on 9 February 2005 [2].
• It recorded 2,146 Sikhs killed in Delhi and 586 people killed elsewhere in India [2].
• It found the police indifferent or careless, and at times helping or joining the attackers [2].
• Sajjan Kumar was convicted only in 2018, 34 years after the killings.

Don't confuse with

• Secularisation: this is a sociological process, the decline of religion's role in society over time. Secularism is a normative doctrine about how society ought to be.
• Secular state: this is an institutional arrangement, a government that is not tied to any religion. Secularism is the wider idea; the secular state is one way of putting it into practice.
• Communalism: this means using religion to divide society and dominate others in politics. It feeds inter-religious domination. Secularism is its opposite, and the secular state is India's constitutional answer to it.
• Atheism / anti-religion: atheism rejects religion itself. Secularism does not reject religion. It opposes only religious domination.

Prelims Hooks

• The 42nd Amendment, 1976 added 'secular', 'socialist' and 'integrity' to the Preamble [6].
• S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994): a nine-judge bench held that secularism is part of the basic structure [6].
• Article 25(2)(b) allows Hindu religious institutions of a public character to be opened to all sections of Hindus. Trap: this is in Article 25, not Article 26 [4].
• Article 17 abolishes untouchability. It is enforced through the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, which punishes blocking entry to places of worship [3][5].
• Holyoake (1851) coined "secularism" [7]. "Opium of the masses" is from Marx (1844).
• Pakistan, 1974: declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims is an example of intra-religious domination, not inter-religious domination.

Mains Points

• Indian secularism fights two kinds of domination.
• Western separation mainly stops the State from favouring one religion.
• India also lets the State reform religions from inside, through Articles 17 and 25(2)(b) [3][4].

• Debate: is this "principled distance" in action, or does it go too far into the freedom of religions to run their own affairs?

• Justice delayed weakens secularism.

• The Nanavati Commission found police indifference and, at times, police involvement in the 1984 violence [2]. A conviction came only in 2018.

• Reform ideas: hold the police accountable, set up fast-track courts for communal violence, and pass a law on communal violence.

• Secularism is not anti-religion, and it protects national unity.

• Rejecting Marx's view lets Indian secularism respect faith while still opposing fundamentalism and caste or gender inequality within religions. This answers the common charge of "pseudo-secularism".
• Bommai (1994) made secularism part of the basic structure. It also allows President's rule against a state government that acts against secularism [6].

Related concepts

• Inter-religious domination
• Intra-religious domination
• Religion as the opium of the masses
• Religious fundamentalism

Read more

• What secularism opposes: inter- and intra-religious domination