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Secularism in India has very different meaning
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and implications. The word ‘secularism’ has
never been used in the Indian context in the
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sense in which it has been used in Western

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countries i.e. in the sense of atheism or

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purely this worldly approach, rejecting the
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India is a country where religion is very central

to the life of people. India’s age-old philosophy
as expounded in Hindu Upanishad scriptures
is sarva dharma samabhava, which means
equal respect for all religions. The reason
behind this approach is the fact that India has
never been a mono-religious country. Even
before the Aryan invasion India was not a
mono-religious country.

There existed before the Aryan invasion

numerous tribal cults from north-western India
to Kanya Kumari most of whom happened to
be Dravidians. Thus certain languages in
North West of Pakistan even today contain
some words of Dravidian origin. However,
with the invasion of the Aryans, people of
Dravidian origin were driven down south and
today we find all Dravidian people in four
southern states of India.

Aryans brought a new religion based on the

Vedas and Brahmins who dominated the
intellectual life of north India. But a section of
Brahmins also migrated south and evolved
new cults marrying Vedic cults with Dravidian
ones. Thus it is said that Hindu Indians
worship more than 33,000,000 gods and
goddesses.

Thus even before the advent of Christianity

and Islam, India was multi-religious in nature.
Christianity and Islam added more religious
traditions to the existing Indian traditions.
It would be correct to say that India is


     

           

   
 

bewilderingly diverse country in every respect Hindus and Muslims were greatly influenced
- religious, cultural, ethnic and caste. by these traditions.

India is one country where caste rigidity and Nizamuddin Awliya, a great Sufi saint of the
the concept of untouchability evolved and 13-14th century saw the times of five Sultans
still plays a major role in religious, social and but never paid court to a single one. When
cultural matters. Caste dynamics in Indian life, the last Sultan sent a message requesting
even in Christian and Islamic communities, him to come to the court, he refused. Then
plays a larger than life role. Since most of he sent the message that if Nizamuddin does
the conversions to Christianity and Islam not come to my court, I (the Sultan) will come
took place from lower caste Hindus, these to his hospice. He replied that there are two
two world religions also developed caste doors to my hospice; if the Sultan enters by
structure. There are lower caste churches one, I will leave by the other. Such was the
and mosques in several places. approach of Sufis and saints to the power
structures of their time.
Under the feudal system there was no
competition between different religious Dara Shikoh was heir apparent to Shah Jahan,
traditions as authority resided in the sword the Moghul Emperor but had a Sufi bent of
and generally there were no inter-religious mind and was also a great scholar of Islam
tensions among the people of different and Hinduism. He wrote a book Majmau’l
religions. Though at times inter-religious Bahrayn (Co-mingling of Two Oceans Islam
controversies did arise, there was never and Hinduism) and quoting from Hindu and
bloodshed in the name of religion. Islamic scriptures showed both religions had
similar teachings; the difference, he felt, was
There was also a tradition of tolerance of languages (Arabic and Sanskrit) and not
between religions due to Ashoka and Akbar’s teachings. Thus Dara Shikoh also contributed
state policies. Ashoka’s edicts clearly spell richly to inter-religious harmony in India.
out a policy of religious tolerance and Akbar
used to hold inter-religious dialogue among Most of the conversions to Islam and
the followers of different religions and he also Christianity took place through Sufis and
followed the policy of tolerance and even missionaries with a spirit of devotion.
withdrew the jizya tax (a poll tax on Hindus) Even today in India most of the Christians
which was an irritant. Thus both Ashok and and Muslims belong to these lower caste
Akbar have a place of great significance in strata. Even centuries after conversion their
the religious life of India. caste status and economic status has not
changed.
Also, India had Sufi and Bhakti traditions                ! " ! " #   $ " ! "  %

in Islam and Hinduism respectively, which

were based on respect for different religions. However, the entire social, economic and
Unlike Ulema and Brahmans, the Sufi and political scenario changed after the advent
Bhakti saints were highly tolerant and open to of the British rule in the 19th century.
the truth in other faiths. They never adopted Differences between the Hindu and Muslim
sectarian attitudes and kept away from elite began to emerge for various reasons
power structures. The poorer and lower caste - socio-cultural, economic and political. The


     
    

        !                
               

British rulers adopted the policy of divide Buddhists and Jains. Hindu society was also
and rule, distorted medieval Indian history highly fragmented and far from monolithic.
to make Muslim rulers appear as tyrants to The Dalits (low caste people) refused to
the Hindu elite. This distorted history was call themselves Hindus (subsequently their
taught in the new school system, which was leader B.R. Ambedkar) adopted Buddhism
established by the British rulers. in protest).

Also there developed economic and political Muslims too, though not monolithic, had a
competition between the Hindu and Muslim semblance of unity and this was used by
elites leading to communal tensions. The communal Hindus to try to unite Hindus as
Hindu elite was quick to adjust to new one community. However, it is also true that
realities and took to modern education and the Hindu elite was more confident than the
commerce and industries. The Muslim ruling Muslim elite in the emerging new power-
elite resisted the new secular education structure and felt more secure. The Muslim
system and also could not take to commerce elite felt less secure and they hitched their
and industry. They were thus left far behind in wagon to the British rulers. They wanted to
the race for progress. ensure a power-sharing arrangement before
the British left the country.
Muslim intellectual, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
had a perceptive mind. He understood the Thus secularism in India was more a political
importance of a modern education system than philosophical phenomenon. The Indian
and founded Mohammedan Anglo Oriental National Congress adopted secularism,
College (MAO College) which became the not as this worldly philosophy but more as
fulcrum of modern education for the North a political arrangement between different
Indian Muslim elite. The orthodox Ulema, religious communities. As a power-sharing
however, vehemently opposed modern arrangement could not be satisfactorily
secular education and declared Syed Ahmad worked out between the Hindu and Muslim
Khan a kafir (unbeliever). elites, the country was divided into two
independent states of India and Pakistan,
Initially the Hindu and Muslim elites most of the Muslim majority areas of the
cooperated with each other, and Syed Ahmad North-West going to Pakistan.
Khan always emphasised Hindu-Muslim unity.
But the competitive nature of political and After independence and partition a large
economic power drove a wedge between the body of Muslims were left in India and hence
two elites and communal tensions began to leaders like Gandhi and Nehru preferred
emerge. When the Indian National Congress to keep India secular in the sense that the
was formed in 1885, it adopted secularism as Indian state would have no religion though
its anchor in view of multi-religious nature of the people of India would be free both in the
Indian society. individual and corporate sense to follow any
religion of their birth or adoption. Thus India
India could not head towards Hindu Rashtra remained politically secular but otherwise its
(Hindu Nation) as India was not merely a people continued to be deeply religious.
Hindu country. In the pre-partition period
Muslims were 25% besides Christians, Sikhs, In India right from the British period, the main
     

           

   
 

contradiction was not between the religious cultures and non-interference of religion in
and the secular but between secular and the government affairs. Also, according to
communal. In the western world the main the Indian Constitution no discrimination
struggle was between the Church and the will be made on the basis of caste, creed,
state and the Church and civil society, but gender and class. Similarly all citizens of
in India neither Hinduism nor Islam had any India irrespective of one’s religion, caste or
church-like structure and hence there never gender have the right to vote. According to
was any such struggle between secular and Articles 14 to 21 all will enjoy the same rights
religious power structures. without discrimination on any ground.

The main struggle was between secularism According to Article 25, all those who reside
and communalism. The communal forces in India are free to confess, practice and
from among Hindus and Muslims mainly propagate the religion of one’s choice subject
fought for a share in power using their to social health and law and order. Thus even
respective religions in their struggle for conversion to any religion of one’s choice is
power. a fundamental right. But the BJP (Bhartiya
Janta Party) and RSS are opposed to all this.
Even after Partition, the communal problem According to them there should be Hindu
did not die. It raised its head again within Rashtra (Hindu Nation) in India and Muslims
a few years. The RSS (Rashtriya Swayam and Sikhs should be secondary citizens
Sevak Sangh), which is the mainspring of without any political rights.
the Hindu Right remained in existence and
at its instance a new political outfit, which Since the BJP is a political party it cannot
was communal in nature came into existence say so openly and publicly. It also has to
called the Jan Sangh. In independent India take pledge of upholding secularism in order
the Jan Sangh was the mainspring of the to be able to contest elections. But since
communal problem and it kept on denouncing it is an integral part of the RSS ideology, it
secularism as a ‘western concept’ alien to the is also responsible for RSS beliefs. In fact
Indian ethos. all secular forces in India consider the BJP
a communal party. It always takes an anti-
Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister minority stance and accuses the Congress,
of India, was a great champion of secularism supposedly a secular party, of ‘appeasement’
and secular politics. Theoretically speaking of minorities. It also describes the Congress
the Congress Party was also committed to and other secular parties as indulging in
secularism. However, the Congress Party ‘pseudo-secularism’.
consisted of several members and leaders
whose secularism was in doubt. But it was The RSS and BJP, also known as the Sangh
due to Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Parivar, not only reject secularism but
Abul Kalam Azad and B.R.Ambedkar that provoke violence against minorities. Since
India committed itself to secularism and its independence several major communal riots
Constitution was drafted on secular lines. have taken place in India. The first such
riot took place in Jabalpur in Central India
Secularism in India, as pointed out before, and last major riot took place in Gujarat in
meant equal respect for all religions and Western India in 2002 in which more than


            

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2000 Muslims were killed and several women context. The followers of RSS and the BJP
were raped. When the Gujarat carnage took are very few, not more than 5-10 per cent.
place, the BJP was in government in the India has remained secular and democratic
state of Gujarat. for its entire post-independence period (more
than 58 years).
According to the filed evidence, BJP Chief
Minister Narendra Modi was involved along There is no doubt India has witnessed
with the entire governmental machinery much communal violence but only due
in the carnage and on this basis the US to involvement of RSS and BJP and
Government denied him entry to the US in occasionally the Congress in some places.
early 2005. The BJP was directly involved Communalism is a powerful political weapon
in high pitch propaganda against the historic used by politicians of different hues. The
mosque called Babri Mosque and ultimately Hindu masses are generally not to be blamed
demolished it claiming it to be a birth -place for such violence. However, few fanatics
of Lord Ram, a Hindu god. under the influence of RSS ideology are
involved along with anti-social elements.
Lal Krishna Advani, who was then the
President of the BJP, spearheaded the It is also true that on certain major issues,
campaign against Babri Mosque and the like disputes over the birthplace of the Hindu
mosque was demolished right in his god Ram, people get misled by powerful
presence. He later became Home Minister communal propaganda and may side with
in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) the BJP but that does not mean they are for
ministry. He is known as a hardliner Hindu. violence and bloodshed. If they are properly
Shri Vajpayee who became Prime Minister informed they withdraw their support.
of India in the NDA Government, is known However, secular forces are not as pro-active
as the moderate face of BJP though one can as communal forces are. Communal forces
say there is hardly any ideological difference are actively spreading communal poison
between the two. round the year whereas secular forces
# $ % & ' ( ) ( * + & * , $ % & ' ( ) - $ . - ' $
become active only after communal violence
and once peace is established they become
Now the question arises as to how many nonchalant. It is their nonchalance which
Indian people are secular and how many benefits communal forces.
unsecular? Since secularism does not mean
‘being this worldly’ in India, one cannot say The communal forces thus came to power
how many are believers and how many through false propaganda but were exposed
unbelievers. On the contrary, in the Indian during this five-year rule and were voted out
context what it means is how many people of power as they were perceived to be behind
are against people of minority religions like communal carnage in Gujarat in 2002. No
Islam and Christianity and how many people less than a person than Vajpayee, the former
respect them. BJP Prime Minister, himself admitted that
people rejected the BJP because they were
In India an overwhelming majority of people held responsible for the Gujarat carnage.
are religious but tolerant and respect other
religions and are thus ‘secular’ in the Indian This confession on the part of the BJP ex-


     

           

   
 

Prime Minister itself clearly establishes that It is not religious leaders by and large (with
the people of India are by and large secular few exceptions) who divide but politicians
and do not like killing of others just because who seek to mobilise votes on grounds of
they are not Hindus. Not only the BJP lost the primordial identities like religion, caste and
election but also its allies, which are otherwise ethnicity.
considered secular, suffered defeats. The
BJP is today being deserted by its former In a multi-religious society, if politics is not
allies as they realised that association with based on issues but on identities, it can
communal dispensation is not approved by prove highly divisive. Politicians are tempted
the people of India. to appeal to primordial identities rather than
to solve problems. The former case proves
There are some rationalists and secularists much easier. The medieval society in India
who reject religion in its entirety but such was thus more religiously tolerant as it
rationalists or secularists are extremely few. was non-competitive. The modern Indian
Though there are no census figures available society, on the other hand, has proved to be
but one can safely say they are less than more divisive as it is based on competition.
0.1% in India. Also, there are extremely This competition becomes more acute if
orthodox people who exhibit rigidity and development is uneven and unjust.
intolerance towards other faiths though of
course not on communal grounds but on Thus in the case of India one can say by
the grounds of religious orthodoxy but they and large it is secular in as much as it is
too are in miniscule minority. Tolerance in religiously plural and tolerant but there are
India among people of all religions is widely politically divisive forces quite active and
prevalent. It is perhaps due to influence of the create communal pressure and widen the
ancient Indian doctrine that ‘truth is one but is gap between religious community thus
manifested in different forms’, and on the bringing Indian secularism under threat.
other hand due to the Sufi doctrine of wahdat           !   " #

al-wujud (Real Being is one) that implies that

there is only One Real Being and all of us are This paper first appeared in Secular
mere manifestations of that real being. Perspective 16 June to July 15, 2006. This
paper is reprinted with permission from the
As the ancient Hindu doctrine leads to author.
inclusiveness and peaceful coexistence
so does the Sufi doctrine. For peaceful
co-existence another Sufi doctrine of sulh-
i-kul i.e. total peace and peace with all is
very important. Sufism left deep influence
on Hindu masses as much as on Muslim
masses.

Thus the real spirit of secularism in India

is all inclusiveness, religious pluralism and
peaceful co-existence. However, it is politics,
which proved to be divisive and not religion.