Why Secularism is Elusive in India

Why Secularism looks Elusive?                                                                             

Maharaj Shah 

Pretending to be rising above religious prejudice for merely political gain and encourage people to be seen divided on caste and religious lines or any other consideration is the hypocrisy of the Secular Demagogue. When all the people in a society abandon religious prejudice and adopt a libertarian approach, then only can people be truly secular and free from religious prejudice. When one religion differs from the other in human conduct, behaviour and religious beliefs, then the conflict and contradiction between the two is natural. Therefore, so long as the two religions are averse to each other and one religion considers itself to be a God-given special chosen one and hence considers the other inferior to itself, then the conflict between the two is natural. In this situation, this conflict is further intensified when the state sees one as a majority and the other as a minority religious community and forms laws on these distinctions to reach out to different communities on religious considerations to uplift their fate.

Where the state does not see people as equal but distinguish one from the other on the basis of religion and not treat all people purely equal before law, the religion becomes one vital factor of an individual identity above all and the nation itself is limited in its nature and obstructed from remaining as a uniform and universal entity in dealing with the people on equal ground. Secularism does not mean setting any chord between two conflicting opinions on Religion, instead it means total absence of any religious relations or considerations while conducting the business of the state or any institution of public importance. In a state where religion is allowed to interfere overtly or covertly into the affairs of State and Public dealing, neither the freedom of the people nor the values ​​of equality are protected, nor can such a country completely rise above religious discrimination and caste equations and narrow-mindedness. Secularism is not even manifest in state being equidistant from all religions. That binds in itself the state in relationship with religion.

The Supreme Court of India in the 1994 case S.R. Bommai v. Union of India established the fact that India was secular since formation of the republic. There is separation of state and religion. It stated “in matters of the state, religion has no place. And If constitution requires the state to be secular in thought and action, the same requirement attaches to political parties as well. The constitution does not recognize, it does not permit, mixing religion and State power………Any state government which pursues non-secular policies or non- secular course of action acts contrary to the constitutional mandate and renders itself amenable to action under Article 356. Furthermore, state owned educational institutions are prohibited from imparting religious instructions, and Article 27 of the Constitution prohibits using tax payer’s money for the promotion of any religion.” However, India’s Secularism does not completely Separate religion and state. Indian constitution has allowed extensive interference of the state in religious affairs, such as constitutional abolition of untouchability, opening up of all Hindu temples to people of lower caste. Triple Talaq law etc.

The state will have nothing to do with religion only when people do not stand against each other in different religious beliefs. The point to be seen is that in India, where Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Parses, despite being in small numbers, and Hindus by and large do not stand in any way against the each other but at the same Muslim is often seen standing in conflict. An important reason behind this is the religious prejudices, beliefs and attitude of the religion of Islam towards the state and the world. This is the reason that their religious preachers keep religion ahead of everyone and spread religious hysteria and animosity. So much so that Karal Marx had to point out that; “The Koran and the Mussulman legislation emanating from it reduce the geography and ethnography of the various people to the simple and convenient distinction of two nations and of two countries; those of the Faithful and of the Infidels. The Infidel is "harby," i.e. the enemy. Islamism proscribes the nation of the Infidels, constituting a state of permanent hostility between the Mussulman and the unbeliever." (MEW, VOLUME 13, "DECLARATION OF WAR. — ON THE HISTORY
OF THE EASTERN QUESTION" Which means that Islam as a religion and or a state dispensation is clearly divided between privileged and ruling Believers and Supressed and enslaved non believers. Both don’t have the same right to equality before the Islamic law. Islam invariably believes in capture of power to the advantage of only Muslims and even subjects Muslims to the fundamentalist Islamic Sharia Law. From here we see Islam in total conflict with the modern human values of Democracy, Secularism and Equality. The problem arises because this religion sees itself standing in extreme opposition to modern human and social values. Yes, the solution to every problem is visible to them only in a particular Islamic state. This is the reason why their religious ideology is seen in jihad and war against democracy, inclusive society and modern human values. This is the reason why Marx has called Islam religion and Quran as Two Nation Theory, one for Muslims and other for infidels. Well, the answer to this problem of war for the Islamic hegemony can never be found in building one another extremist Religious View to overcome it. And the secularism and one humanistic society will remain elusive if people resort to fighting one religious extremism with yet more fundamentalist and inhuman doctrine of religious extremism.

We have not to unite against religious extremism by erecting yet another line against it but we can solve this problem by making religion totally irrelevant while conducting the business of the State. Despite the above facts, we must appreciate that amongst 52 Muslim Majority Nations 23 nations have declared their State as Secular and the state does not interfere into the day today religious practices of people. Most of these nations were formerly part of erstwhile USSR. Today the largest Muslim Populated Secular Country is Indonesia. There is absolute freedom of choice and people are treated as equal citizens before the state law. The state should not fund religious teaching and indoctrination or patronising religious Institutions or funding schools of religious teachings. Concept of Minority and Majority division of society on religious grounds should totally be abandoned. In a Scientifically driven society such divisions prove totally to the disadvantage and harm of the people in general and different communities in particular to meet their real economic, social, educational and political empowerment. Likewise, State should not indulge in managing or running and taking control of the religious institutions, trusts, Societies or Donations to run a secular State. “All religious bodies without exception are to be treated by the state as private associations. They are not to receive support from public funds or exercise any influence over public education.” (Frederick Engels) A secular government should eliminate the possibility of any conflict by declaring that no religion is above scientific scrutiny and no religious belief is sacrosanct.

All religions should qualify on the test of scientific practice. “I requested further that religion should be criticised in the framework of criticism of political conditions rather than that political conditions should be criticised in the framework of religion, since this is more in accord with the nature of a newspaper and the educational level of the reading public; for religion in itself is without content, it owes its being not to heaven but to the earth, and with the abolition of distorted reality, of which it is the theory, it will collapse of itself” Karal Marx We often make the mistake of relating religion as the determining source of ethics, morality, spirituality and sanity when in factuality religion has no such actual value it derives all its values from the social and political order in which religion is offered as substitute for the reality and existent values. This in simple words means that we attribute to God what in actual is the creation of human thought and ideas. That is why there is many a difference in expressing, practicing and ordering of religion, otherwise if you look at the actual natural things we all accept these without any second thought. The sunshine, the seasons, the clouds, the rains, all those things not yet in control or beyond the manipulation and interference of human mind remain same in meaning for us. So, religion is deliberately attributed to God when it is purely manifested by human thought and action according to different time. Collapse of Religion happened with the age of reason and reality. What we all practice as religion is just farce."

Religion should be criticised in the framework of the political conditions rather than political conditions should be criticised in the framework of religion. For the religion in itself has no content. It owes its being not to heaven but to earth, and with the abolition of distorted reality, of which it is the theory." Karal Marx- This exposes the Indian liberal left approach towards Religion in India, wherein they stand with the religious bigots and use religion and caste as a political tool to extend their political goals and betray the very purpose of Marxism. Religion has reached to its stage of collapse that is why you see people of religion screaming, crying, shouting, killing and getting mad for it. It has lost the purpose. " As the parson has always gone hand in hand with the landlord so does a clerical socialist go with feudal and capitalist, and hide behind religion as Majority, Minority, human right activist, and through other intermediaries, all these are there to subvert the main state from functioning towards a natural fulfilment of those requirements which can quickly expose the main obstacles that hamper the human progress and fruits of it within reach of every individual human being. Is it enough for the people living in any country that their country is free and they themselves are really far away from freedom? Do we get power in our own hands just by casting vote? Then why is not every man equal in the eyes of the law? Somewhere there is immense wealth and somewhere there is no stomach food to eat. Is the state really at the political level as independent as we think it is? If the state is free then why is the freedom of the people hindered. Is there such a system in any particular religion where the cure of poverty is really possible, if it were there, then there would be no rich and poor in the world. Some people are very resourceful and most are not, religious systems and institutions seem to stand with the monarchy and the wealthy. Spiritual knowledge has never been able to solve a worldly problem. The solution of every common economic, political problem lies not in complex spirituality but in simple common sense and worldly understanding. Religion has nothing to offer for the betterment of State. State can exist, function and work without the interference of Religion.

( Maharaj Shah is a well established senior media person)