Meanings of Indian Secularism
By a Constitutional amendment in 1976, India became a 'secular' State. But this is only in name. Neither the Indian State nor the Indian society is secular in the real sense of the term. 'Secularism' as is understood in the world context is a far cry from the 'secularism' that is being practised by the State or articulated by the political parties, whether they are of the left, centre or the right. Separation of governance from religion is now observed more in its breach than in its observance.

The mention of ‘Secular’ was missed at the time the Indian Constitution was framed in 1950, notwithstanding the still fresh communal conflagrations of the Partition riots of 1947 – 48 and the murder of Gandhi by an ultra-Hindu ideologue. This was sought to be corrected by the 42nd amendment in 1976. Outwardly it was a good gesture. But, one would never know whether the movers and supporters of the amendment had really thought that India would thereafter at least become a secular state. Looking back, one may feel that it was a desperate move to smother communal passions that were already flaring up in various parts of the country. But, the forces opposed to secularism have only flourished after 1976. Political parties vying with each other to make short-term electoral gains have abused the concept of secularism with utter cynicism ever since the amendment.

If at all Indian polity and society were ever secular, it was in the early years of independence, during the early phase of Jawaharlal Nehru’s Prime-Ministership, when India was not a ‘secular’ State. Then there were free rational discourses in the media and in academic circles. Artistic expressions were not stifled under the pretext of offending religious sentiments. But from the eighties onwards, the scientific temper and the secular spirit withdrew from the public domain under a concerted onslaught by some fundamentalist political and academic propagandists and the willing acquiescence by the parties in power. Championing communal causes became respectable. Those who carried out communal pogroms became heroes and won elections. Things deteriorated to such an extent that a party that came into power riding a wave of communal frenzy took upon itself the responsibility of building a temple while vouching for true secularism and accusing others of ‘pseudo-secularism’ all along.

Why has this happened or is happening? May be there are quite a number of reasons.
1. Whatever the partisan historians might claim, the history of Hindu-Muslim relations in medieval India had been a mixed one with an interlacing of tensions and co-operations. In modern times, the highest watermark of communal harmony was attained during the freedom movement under the leadership of Gandhi. That was but only a welcome aberration.
2. India has been found to be the third most religious country in the world by a 2004 survey done by BBC. This passion for one’s religion is not at all conducive for secularism.
3. India with the second largest population in the world is perhaps the one State in the world with the largest number of religions. This is a fertile ground to sow and reap a rich harvest of communal tensions.
4. Indian democracy follows universal adult franchise. A large majority of its voters do not join or follow regular political discussions. It is easier to move them on issues they already have an identity of or are already involved in. Religion and caste are two such ready-made identities. Politicians relentlessly exploit this resource. This apolitical group-formation is known as ‘vote bank’ in Indian political parlance.
5. Statistics will show that the Hindus form about 80% of the Indian population. The present spate of Hindu communalism is spurred by the hope that if the Hindu vote bank could be galvanized, a Hindu party could be in power in perpetuity. But, the caste divisions within the Hindu community are stalling this unification plans. The reservations of seats in the legislatures and for government jobs for the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, who are counted as Hindus, further complicate the unification plans. The fruits of a Hindu unity, if achieved, are so tempting that the efforts at communalizing all the Hindus will keep on driving Indian politics for quite a long time to come.
6. The Indian politicians in course of time have become adept at the blame-game. Even while playing the communal card, they will call themselves ‘secular’ and their adversaries ‘pseudo-secular. The worst case is that of a party that stridently claims to represent, protect and propagate a certain religious ideology and culture calling itself ‘secular’ and its adversaries ‘pseudo-secular’.
At present, 'secularism' is a shibboleth that has lost both its meaning and its context in Indian polity as well as society.