Chapter 8 — Secularism

Secularism is described as a normative doctrine that seeks to realise a secular society — one devoid of either inter-religious or intra-religious domination. Positively stated, it promotes freedom within religions and equality both between religions and within them. It is not anti-religious; it accepts that religion is a human response to suffering and loss that cannot be fully eliminated.

Inter-religious domination occurs when members of one community are targeted and victimised on account of their religious identity, denying their basic freedoms. The chapter cites three stark Indian examples: the massacre of more than 2,700 Sikhs in 1984, the forced exodus of several thousands of Hindu Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley, and the killing of more than 1,000 persons in the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002.

Intra-religious domination is discrimination or oppression that occurs within a single religion rather than between religions. The chapter gives examples such as dalits being barred from entering Hindu temples, Hindu women being denied temple entry in some parts of the country, and the tendency of organised religion to be taken over by its most conservative faction that does not tolerate dissent. Secularism opposes this form of domination as much as it opposes inter-religious domination.

A theocratic state is one governed directly by a priestly order, with no separation between religious and political institutions. The chapter cites the Papal states of medieval Europe and the Taliban-controlled state as examples. Such states are known for hierarchies, oppressions, and reluctance to allow freedom of religion to members of other groups. Secularism rejects theocracy because if we value peace, freedom, and equality, religious institutions and state institutions must be separated.

The Western model, best represented by the United States, understands the separation of religion and state as mutual exclusion: the state will not intervene in the affairs of religion, and religion will not interfere in state affairs. No policy can have an exclusively religious rationale, and the state cannot give financial support to religious educational institutions. Religion is treated as a private matter, and liberty and equality are interpreted in an individualist manner with little scope for minority community rights or state-supported religious reform.

The chapter identifies three key differences. First, Indian secularism equally opposes intra-religious domination (e.g., caste discrimination within Hinduism) and inter-religious domination, whereas Western secularism mainly focused on intra-religious equality within a largely religiously homogeneous society. Second, Indian secularism protects the religious freedom of both individuals and minority communities, including their right to maintain their own culture and educational institutions. Third, Indian secularism permits state-supported religious reform, such as the constitutional ban on untouchability and laws abolishing child marriage.

Principled distance means that the Indian secular state does not adopt a fixed posture of either total separation from or total engagement with religion. Instead, it may choose to disengage in the American style, or engage with religion when required — negatively, to oppose religious tyranny (e.g., banning untouchability), or positively, to support rights of minority communities (e.g., granting them the constitutional right to establish and maintain educational institutions). The nature and extent of engagement depends on what the promotion of peace, freedom, and equality requires in a given situation.

Ataturk, who came to power in Turkey after the First World War, practised an aggressive secularism involving active suppression of religion rather than principled distance. He banned the traditional Muslim fez cap through the Hat Law, encouraged Western clothing, replaced the traditional Turkish calendar with the Gregorian calendar, and in 1928 adopted a new Latin-based Turkish alphabet. Indian secularism, by contrast, does not strip citizens of their cultural or religious markers and is not hostile to religion, only to institutionalised religious domination.

Nehru defined secularism as 'equal protection by the State to all religions'. He wanted a secular state that protects all religions but does not favour one at the expense of others and does not itself adopt any religion as the state religion. Unlike Ataturk, Nehru did not equate secularism with hostility to religion. He was, however, firmly opposed to communalism of all kinds — especially the communalism of the majority community — and saw secularism as the only guarantee of the unity and integrity of India.

No. The chapter states that secularism accepts religion as a human response to suffering, separation, and loss that are endemic to the human condition and cannot be fully eliminated by science or material progress. Secularism is opposed to institutionalised religious domination, which is not the same as being anti-religious. It does, however, undermine forms of religious identity that are dogmatic, violent, fanatical, exclusivist, or foster hatred of other religions — because what is undermined in those cases is not intrinsically worthy.

Critics charge that Indian secularism 'pampers' minorities by giving them special privileges. The chapter defends minority rights using two analogies. First, the asthma-smoker example: if a non-smoker suffers from asthma and a majority vote permits smoking in a closed compartment, the vote violates his fundamental interest — fundamental interests cannot be resolved by majority vote alone. Second, the wheelchair-ramp example: providing a ramp for those who cannot climb stairs is not a special privilege; it is treating them with the same respect and dignity that others receive through the staircase.

The chapter argues that Indian secularism is not simply transplanted from the west. Indian secularism emerged from an interaction between pre-existing Indian traditions of inter-religious coexistence (tolerance) and the western ideas of equality that arrived with modernity. The mutual exclusion of religion and state is not the defining feature of all secular states; a secular state may instead maintain principled distance, engaging or disengaging from religion as the promotion of equality demands. The fact that secularism has both western and non-western origins means the 'western implant' charge does not hold.

Critics argue that Indian secularism encourages politicians to seek votes from minority communities without genuinely promoting their welfare — mobilising entire communities as monolithic voting blocs and prioritising short-term electoral gains over long-term governance. The chapter acknowledges this risk as not entirely false, but argues that politicians legitimately seek votes in a democracy; the real question is whether the group actually benefits. However, when vote-bank politics leads to minority appeasement that disregards the equality of all citizens, it can ironically deepen the alienation and marginalisation of the very minority group being courted.

The chapter rejects this cynical criticism on two grounds. First, it is empirically false: the history of Indian civilisation and the example of the Ottoman Empire show that people with different religions have lived together. Second, with increasing globalisation and migration making Europe and America more religiously diverse, India's secular experiment is being watched with keen interest by the world — it mirrors the future rather than pursuing an impossible dream.

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