Attack on Indian secularism BY: chandan Rohit

Secularism as a modern political and constitutional

principle involves two basic propositions. The first is that people belonging to different faiths and sections of society are equal before the law, the Constitution and government policy. The second requirement is that there can be no mixing up of religion and politics. It follows therefore that there can be no discrimination against anyone on the basis of religion or faith nor is there room for the hegemony of one religion or majoritarian religious sentiments and aspirations.

 Secularism in India has very different meaning and

implications. The word secularism has never been used in Indian context in the sense in which it has been used in Western countries i.e. in the sense of atheism or purely this worldly approach, rejecting the other-worldly beliefs. India is a country where religion is very central to the life of people. Indias age-old philosophy as expounded in Hindu scriptures called Upanishad 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.

 Aryans brought new religion based on Vedas and Brahmins dominated

intellectual life of north India. But a section of Brahmins also migrated to south and evolved new cults marrying Vedic cults with Dravidian ones. Thus it is said that Hindu Indians worship more than 33 hundred thousand gods and goddesses. Thus even before advent of Christianity and Islam India was multi-religious in nature. Christianity and Islam added more religious traditions to existing Indian traditions. Thus it would be correct to say that India is bewilderingly diverse country in every respect religious, cultural, ethnic and caste. India is one country where caste rigidity and concept of untouchability evolved and still plays a major role in religious, social and cultural matters. Caste dynamics in Indian life, even in Christian and Islamic societies, plays larger than life role. Since most of the conversions to Christianity and Islam took place from lower caste Hindus, these two world religions also developed caste structure. There are lower caste churches and mosques in several places.

 EMERGENC

OF COMPETITIVE POLITICS However, the entire social, economic and political scenario changed after advent of the British rule in 19th century. Differences between Hindu and Muslim elite began to emerge for various reasons socio-cultural, economic and political. The British rulers adopted the policy of divide and rule, distorted medieval Indian history to make Muslim rulers appear as tyrants to the Hindu elite. This distorted history was taught in new school system, which was established by the British rulers.

SECULAR AND UNSECULAR PEOPLE Now question arises how many Indian people are secular and how many unsecular? Since secularism does not mean being this worldly in India, one cannot say how many are believers and how many unbelievers? On the contrary in Indian context what it means how many people are against people of minority religions like Islam and Christianity and how many people respect them.

 Tribal Christians of the Dang district of Gujarat, Jhabua of Madhya

Pradesh, and Kandhamal of Orissa are major victims of the organized attack by Hindutva forces. The episode of black Christmas in the Kandhamal district of Orissa in 2007 and the ongoing attack in different parts of the country are the latest signposts of the attack on Indian secularism and democracy. The ongoing and uncontrolled communal violence on Christians has left over 30 deaths, over 100 churches, 300 Christian villages, 4000 Christian homes burnt down and 50000 Dalit Christians made refugees in forest. The terror strikes have taken hundreds, indeed thousands of innocent lives. Numbers are meaningless to a numbed people. Still, we may count some instances that readily come to mind. In the interregnum between May 2004 when the Congress-led UPA first came to power, to the present September 2011, India has suffered umpteen attacks at the hands of Islamic radicals, mostly trained and funded and backed by Pakistan and its dreaded Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Now, there are enough home-grown terrorists to serve as handmaidens to the religion of peace

37 on September 8, 2006 in the Malegaon mosque attack; 68 perished on February 18, 2007 in the Samjhauta Express bombing. 13 died in the Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad, blast on May 18, 2007. 42 died on August 25, 2007 in the two bomb blasts in Hyderabad Lumbini Park; 63 liquidated in the nine bomb blasts caused by terrorists in Jaipur on May 13,08. 29 killed on July 26, 2008 in the seven bomb blasts in Ahmadabad. 3 on September 27, 2008 in Delhi flower market bombing blast; 171 in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks; 17 in the Pune bombing on February 13, 2010. 18 in Mumbai serial blasts on July 13, 2011; and 13 on September 7, 2011 in the Delhi High Court terror attack.
-70 innocent civilians lost their lives in the three powerful blasts in New Delhi on oct 29 2005

21 in the three terrorist attacks on Shri Sankatmochan Mandir and Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station on March 7, 2006

 The government itself audaciously, and mindlessly, described the

Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) as inhuman and draconian and held out assurances to a certain community that it would give a human touch to the anti-terror law that the Army and paramilitary forces needed utmost to bring the situation under control, and protect the territorial integrity of India. The UPA repeatedly tried to communalize the cult of terror by saying, Hindu terrorism is more dangerous than Islamic terrorism (read Rahul Gandhi and flunkies like Digvijay Singh). The political elite hobnobbed, and continues to hobnob, with those denouncing the institution of the Army and demanding demilitarization. All this to appease a particular community, overlooking the grave evils that followed, including direct encouragement to separatists and terrorists.

The terror attack outside the Delhi High Court should have served as a wake-up call for the UPA and Congress leadership. But nothing of the sort happened. Oblivious to public suffering, the Congress-UPA tried to deflect national attention from the scourge of terrorism.