Apropos of “Indian Secularism: Harsh Realities” (Radiance, December 15-21, 2013). To understand the Indian model of secularism, one need not refer to the English dictionaries and encyclopaedias published in the west as they would surely elaborate the concepts of secularism prevalent in western countries.
The word ‘secularism’, like ‘democracy’, has its origin in the west but its usage differs from country to country. Secularism in India being a plural society was outlined as a state policy towards various religions and their respective followers; that is “equal respect for all religions”, and “no discrimination between people on the basis of race, caste or religion they belonged.”
There are a dozen brands of secularism found in the world. Each brand has peculiar connotations. The countries which followed communism had the impact of atheism. Those who have liberalism as their way of life had laissez-faire attitude towards religion and culture. Even democratic and dictatorial regimes had different versions. In the Muslims world, ‘secularism stood for anti-Shari’ah (Islamic law) bent of mind.
In India that is Bharat, its evolution did not have any anti-religion background. It was necessarily adopted as a measure of dealing with a variety of races, castes, religions, ethnic minorities, etc.
There are variations in application, practical as well as verbal; but the basic tenet of its pluralism does not undergo major deflection. Nowadays it is portrayed as an opponent of fascism. Hence I conclude that in India nobody considers it as an ideology, way of life or any wrongful notion but as a beneficial policy of statehood. Some atheists may represent it according to their outlook.