Is Indian secularism only prevailing in books?

Is Indian secularism only  prevailing in books ?

By Meghna Mehra

“India is a SECULAR country ” we all have said/heard this line atleast once in our life.

But what does that even mean ?

The context of Western secularism means ” distance of state from church” or ” the belief that religion should not play a role in government,education, or other public parts ofsociety”

The Indian context is very different and was one of the biggest political experiments ever.

The Indian context treats all the religions with equal respect.

Secularism in India means equal treatment of all religions by the state.
India provides right to freedom of religion, cultural and educational rights to support every religion.

The basic idea of secularism was to Accommodate every religion and keep this diversity unified.

Religion in India continues to assert its political authority in matters of personal law. The applicable personal law differ if an individual’s religion is Islam, Christianity, or Hindu.

But the question arises – Is INDIA really a SECULAR COUNTRY or secularism have remained in textbooks only?

We can find the two answer of questions:-

  1. Yes we are secular because we accommodate every religion.

Every religion is practised in India.

State supports promotion of religion.

Separate laws according to religion makes it more powerful.

2.No ! Secularism is getting limited to books.

Religious riots still takes place in the country,

Candidates are given ticket for elections according to majority religion of their locality,

Religious debates occur every now and then.

But THINGS have CHANGED.

There are lynching in the name of food,

Inter-religious Love marriages are called war,

People get bullied online on the basis of religion and

Debates on intolerance leads to backlash shows a lot about the current situation of the country.

A democratic secular country is one where minority gets their rights, justice happens without any biased and freedom flourishes.

Is India a secular country ? Think over it!

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