9.1 Introduction

9.2 Objectives

9.3 Idea of Secularism

9.3.1 A Working Definition
9.3.2 Historical Interlude
9.3.3 Role of Gandhi and Nehru

9.4 Constitutional Provisions

9.4.1 Preamble
9.4.2 No State Religion
9.4.3 Freedom of Conscience
9.4.4 Management of Religious Bodies
9.4.5 Equality of Treatment
9.4.6 Respect for Minority Cultural and Educational Institutions

9.5 Secularism in Practice

9.6 Challenges to Secularism

9.7 Role of Teacher in Communal Harmony

9.8 Secularism and Teacher Education

9.9 Let Us Sum Up

We all know that real education can flourish in a secular environment. Our purpose in this unit will be to continue our earlier discussion on the values of human rights, democracy, and egalitarianism. In this unit you will learn about the concept of secularism in general and in the context of India in particular. You will also learn how secularism is embodied in a real life setting like at home, school and the Mohallas/village. It may be useful, if you develop the habit of using real social situations in your classrooms in the context of secularism.

In course of your own experiences as a teacher-educator you will also have an opportunity to interlink secular values in imparting training programmes.

After going through this unit, you should be able to:

• Properly conceptualise secularism as a value in life.

• Explain provisions relating to secularism as reflected in the Constitution of India.

• Relate secularism to teaching-learning process and in curriculum development.

• Induce secular values in societal interaction.

A secular state as defined scientifically, means a state which recognises every citizen as equal and does not recognise any social or religious stratification as vehicles for exercising political rights. But what is generally projected as secularism is tolerance of all religions with special emphasis on the protection of minorities and preservation of communal harmony. The essence of secularism rests on two basic principles :

(i) Separation of religion from politics.

(i) Acceptance of religion as purely and strictly private affairs of individuals having nothing to do with the state.

In the Indian context the separation of religion from the state constitutes the core of the philosophy of secularism. It is an instrument for social change and political transformation. The expression ‘secular’ has also a special significance in the context of the historical development of Indian polity. It is of pivotal importance in the context of political realities on the ground as they exist now. In a plural society like ours with a multiplicity of religions, creeds and cultures, democracy cannot survive and flourish unless it is based on the principle of secularism.

Secularism has its origin in western countries and relates to the separation of the church from the state, giving the state a position of neutrality between different religions, while at the same time, guaranteeing all citizens the right to profess any one of them. In some ways the word ‘secular’ is used as a contrast with the word ‘religious’. This has led people to believe that secularism is opposed to religion. But in reality rather than remaining opposed to religion, secularism takes a dispassionate view in running the affairs of the state. In India, it basically connotes treatment of all religions on a footing of equality and ruling out any discrimination.

In India, the word secular is identified with tolerance among the different religions. As pointed out by Dr. Radhakrishnan, "Secularism does not mean irreligion or atheism or even stress on material comforts. It proclaims that it lays stress on the universality of spiritual values which may be attained by a variety of ways".

In a secular state, no one would enjoy any special privilege in national life or in the conduct of international relations. No group of citizens shall arrogate to itself the rights and privileges which it denies to others. No person shall suffer any form of disability or discrimination because of his religion but all alike should be free to share to the fullest degree in the common life.

Explaining the notion of secularism in India, Donald Eugene Smith writes :

"The Secular state guarantees individual and corporate freedom of religion, deals with the individual as a citizen irrespective of his religion. It is not constitutionally connected to a particular religion nor does it seek to either promote or interfere with any religion."

On a close analysis of the secular state in India, it involves three distinct but inter-related sets of relationships concerning the state, religion and individual. These are as follows :

(i) Religion and the individual

(ii) The state and the individual

(iii) The state and religion

Let us try to highlight each set of relationship with some illustrations.

First, as regards the relationship between religion and individual, it is an independent variable in the sense that each and every citizen is free to choose his or her own religion or even refuse to link with any one of them. The state has no business to disturb in the right to conscience.

Second, the relationship between the state and the individual is also another independent variable in the sense that it is dispassionately decided under some constitutional guidelines. Thus religion has practically no role to intervene in such a social relationship.

Third, as regards the linkage between the state and religion, it is a fact that both are autonomous to decide about their own norms. Both must keep a respectable distance between each other. Yet in case of any clash of interests among different religions, the state has every right to arbitrate and even regulate their activities.

It is at this stage that we may turn to a self-check exercise.

Briefly highlight the notion of secularism as understood in the West and in India. Your answer should not exceed 4 to 5 lines.

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In India, secular tradition is deep rooted in its history. Indian culture is a composite one which is based on the blending of various spiritual traditions and social movements.

In ancient India, Hinduism was basically allowed to develop as a holistic religion by welcoming different spiritual traditions and trying to integrate them into a common mainstream. The development of four Vedas and the various interpretations of the Upanishads and the Puranas clearly highlight the religious plurality of Hinduism. From some of the Rock Edicts of the Ashokan era, one can get a clear picture of the spirit of religious toleration in ancient India. Even after the advent of Jainism, Buddism and later Islam and Christianity into the Indian soil, the quest for religious toleration and co-existence of different faiths continued.

The Sufi and Bhakti movements in Medieval India integrated the people of various communities together. The leading lights of the movement were Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, Baba Farid, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Tukaram and Mira Bai. They contributed to the development of a composite culture in such a manner that the powers that be could not dare to challenge them. Let us ponder over the remarks of Guru Nanak when he says :"There is no Hindu and no Musalman, as there is no distinction between man and man".

The Mughal Emperor Akbar also greatly promoted the policy of toleration of different religions. His propagation of Din-i-lllahi (Divine faith) and Sulh-i-kul (peace with all) were inspired by the spirit of secularism.

This spirit was strengthened and enriched through our freedom movement. In the initial part of the freedom movement, the liberals like Sir Feroz Shah Mehta, Ranade, Gokhale by and large pursued a secular approach to polities. In fact, Muslim separatism had not taken roots by that time. The Brahma Samaj started by Sri Ram Mohan Roy and the Arya Samaj led by Swami Dayanand never treated other religious faiths with any antipathy. On the other hand, they tried to purify the wrong traditions which had gradually sapped the vitality of Hinduism.

The constitution drafted by Pandit Moti Lal Nehru as the chairman of the historic Nehru Committee in 1928, had the following provision on secularism:

"There shall be no state religion for the commonwealth of India or for any province in the commonwealth, nor shall the state, either directly or indirectly, endow any religion any preference or impose any disability on account of religious beliefs or religious status..."

The principal advocates of secular ideology in Indian were Mahatma Gandhi and Jawahar Lal Nehru. Gandhi’s secularism was based on a commitment to the brotherhood of religious communities based on their respect for and pursuit of truth. Nehru’s secularism was based on a commitment to scientific humanism tinged with a progressive view of historical change.

Jawaharlal Nehru has been a leading champion of the concept of the secular state. The creation of India as a secular State would in time come to be accepted as one of his greatest achievements. Nehru had a great aversion to the intrusion of religious factors into politics. Moreover he was especially concerned with transforming India from a ‘caste ridden society’ in which communalism constitutes a major threat to all the values that he cherished to a ‘national state’ which includes people of all religions and shades of opinion and is essentially secular as a state.

Mahatma Gandhi’s views on religion were very different from Nehru. Nehru himself once described Gandhi as "essentially a man of religion, a Hindu to the innermost depths of his being". In his Autobiography, Gandhi wrote: "I can say without the slightest hesitation, and yet in all humility that those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means." Gandhi and Nehru approached the problem of the relation between religion and politics from very different angles, but essentially their positions regarding the nature of the Indian State were not so different. Gandhi saw merit and truth in all religions, and he "felt that any form of political association based exclusively on adherance to a particular religion was worse than undemocratic". Nehru said, "I have no desire to interfere with any person’s belief".

Nehru wanted the foundation of a secular state which "protects all religions, but does not favour one at the expense of others and does not itself adopt any religion as the state religion".

Nehru insisted that free India should be a non-communal secular state. "The Government of a country like India", Nehru said, "with many religions can never function satisfactorily in the modern age except on a secular basis".

Describe the ideas of Gandhi and Nehru on religious and communal harmony. Your answer should not exceed 3 to 4 sentences.

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Our constitution has adopted a system of political philosophy that all forms of religious faith and worship are of equal status and has accepted the view that public education and other matters of public policy should be conducted without the introduction of religious sentiments.

Our constitution has elaborated that principle of secularism in great detail. It specifies that the state should refrain from either penalizing or favouring any of its people on religious considerations.

The basic outlines of secularism are listed in the following provisions of the constitution:

It is true that the word ‘secular’ did not first occur either in article 25 or 26 or in any other article of Preamble of the constitution. By the forty-second constitution Amendment Act of 1976, the Preamble was amended. Since then "India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic".

There shall be no ‘state religion’ in India. The State will neither establish a religion of its own nor confer any special patronage upon any particular religion. It follows from this that:

9.4.2.1 The state will not compel any citizen to pay any taxes for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious institution (Article 27);

9.4.2.2 No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly provided by state funds;

9.4.2.3 Even though religious instruction be imparted in educational institutions recognised by or receiving aid from the state, no person attending such institution shall be compelled to receive that religious instruction without the consent of himself or of his guardian. In short, while religious instruction is totally banned in state owned educational institutions, in other denominational institutions it is not totally prohibited but it must not be imposed upon people of other religions without their consent. (Article 28)

Every person is guaranteed the freedom of conscience and the freedom to profess, practise and propagate his own religion, subject only

(a) To restrictions imposed by the state in the interests of public order, morality and health,

(b) To regulations or restrictions made by state relating to any economic, financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice, but do not really appertain to the freedom of conscience,

(c) To measures of social reform and for throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus.

Subject to above limitations, a person in India shall have the right not only to entertain any religious belief but also to practise the observances dictated by such belief. (Article 25)

There is not only the freedom of the individual to profess, practise and propagate his religion, there is also the right guaranteed to every religious group or individual,

9.4.4.1 To establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes,

9.4.4.2 To manage its own affairs in matters of religion,

9.4.4.3 To own and acquire movable and immovable property and

9.4.4.4 To administer such property in accordance with law. (Article 26)

Article 14 grants equality before the law and equal protection of the laws to all. Article 15 enlarges the concept of secularism to the widest possible extent by prohibiting discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Article 16 (1) guarantees equality of opportunity to all citizens in matters of public employment and reiterates that there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth and residence.

Under Article 29 and 30, certain cultural and educational rights are guaranteed. Article 29 guarantees the right of any section of the citizens residing in any part of the country having a distinct language, script or culture of its own, and to conserve the same. Article 30, provides that "all minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice".

Match each number in Box A with the appropriate number in Box B

In real practice also, we in India have tried to follow a secular path, although we had some setbacks from time to time. In our country, we had as many as three non Hindu Presidents, two Muslims — Dr. Zakir Husain and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and a Sikh, Giani Zail Singh. Supreme Court of India has had Muslims as Chief Justices, one of them M. Hidayatullah, was also Vice-President for a term. Air Chief Marshal I.H. Lateef was a Muslim. Several others have reached very high positions. There have been invariably more than one Muslim Minister at the centre and in most of the states, including Muslim Chief Ministers in some states.

Similarly governors, vice-chancellors, leaders in the field of science and technology, and a number of ambassadors are from different religious communities.

The minority communities in India are well represented in the top cadres of the armed forces. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and the other minorities have given the country some outstanding civil servants, artists and sports persons in fifty years since independence. Sports and arts are not governed by any constitutional provisions and yet the general non-discriminatory climate in the country ensures that ability and performance should be given due weightage and nobody should be held back because of his/her religion. Even the constitutional provisions cannot be of much help if the people from the minority communities do not come forward and compete for positions. Equality of opportunity is provided under the constitution but there should be people to take advantage of these opportunities. Thus, secularism has deep implications in our day-to-day life.

Briefly describe as to how secularism has been followed in real practice in our armed forces and civil service.

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The growing fundamentalism both amongst Hindus and Muslims is a serious threat to the secular character of our country. Very often the political parties, including the national parties, too do not allow secularism to take precedence over their political interests. The electorate in India, guided by tradition, tends to be responsive to appeals based on caste, religion and language. By announcing schemes favoring a particular community, political parties, openly violate the idea of secularism they claim to stand for. While distributing tickets at the time of elections, nearly all political parties take religion of a candidate into consideration.

Such practices pose the greatest threat to secularism.

Communal Riots — A major Threat to Secularism : India is a land of diverse religions and cultures. While the Hindus constitute the majority, the Muslims constitute the largest minority. Lack of proper adjustment between them has often resulted in violent outbursts and communal riots.

The animosity between the Hindus and Muslims was largely the creation of the British rulers. In order to keep themselves in power, they adopted a policy of ‘divide and rule’ and tried to promote feelings of hostility among the members of these two communities. They introduced separate electorates for the Muslims. Some of the Hindu and Muslim leaders, motivated by their selfish interest, promoted the feeling of communalism. All this despite the best efforts of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and other leaders and ultimately led to the partition of India on religious grounds.

The constitutional provisions on secular values had some desired effect and for some time there was a perfect communal harmony. However, religion continued to be an important factor in Indian politics. A number of political parties were organised on religious basis. The reason for the continuance of religion as an important factor in Indian politics even after the adoption of secular polity can be best stated in the words of Grace Jones. He says.

Basic religious beliefs survive in disguised form in moral assumptions and cultural norms and they continue to mould the attitudes of many people to such institutions as the family, marriage and the education system.

Communal harmony was seriously disturbed as and when a clash developed between the two communities — Hindus and Muslims. It also produced repercussions in other parts of the country resulting in enormous loss of life and property. Ever since independence nearly every year such kind of communal disturbance occurred in some part of the country or the other. Riots occur in one part against a particular community and then a backlash among other communities follow. All this clearly shows that the Indian polity has not been able to enjoy communal harmony and understanding amongst the members of various communities although it was so ardently desired by the framers of the constitution. in fact, communalism continues to rear its ugly head every now and then. At this stage, all of us need to pose a question: How is it that even after fifty years of independence, we have not been able to overcome the problem of communalism?

One of the reasons may be that the communal leaders of both the communities want communalism to flourish for their selfish interests. Some political leaders keep themselves aloof from the secular-nationalistic politics of the country. This attitude has prevented them from identifying themselves with the secular forces.

Identify one major challenge to secularism and communal harmony in India. Your answer should not exceed three to four lines.

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Most of the minority groups in order to strengthen their bargaining power, are resorting to various types of revivalism and fundamentalism and the very edifice of our composite culture is at stake.

It is here that educational planners need to ponder over an urgent need to redesign the curriculum in the schools and colleges. The text books presenting biased history have to be changed and secular ideas will have to be inculcated in the minds of our young students. All religions should get their weightage in the textbooks of history. Only because Hindus are in majority, their culture, traditions and festivals should not be over-projected. The sacrifices and hardships of other religious communities and their contribution towards freedom of the country as also their culture and traditions need to be focussed. Any effort to teach distortions should be kept at bay.

What strategy should be adopted in curriculum development to rectify communal bias in the minds of our students? Explain in four to five lines.

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All teachers in the schools and colleges can play a pioneering role in their respective mohallas or villages by encouraging people of different religious communities to come together and enjoy each other’s festivals like Diwali, Eid or Christmas in a cordial way. Boys and girls from different communities should be encouraged to interact among themselves more frequently.

Secularism has to play a decisive role at the present stage of Indian democracy. It is so because today when Indian democracy seems to face the challenge of narrow divisive trends and tendencies, a rational and scientific approach which is the basis of secularism has become a matter of utmost importance. Communal disturbances which have tarnished the public image in the country need to be prevented.

The teacher education programme should enable the teachers to set their own teaching goals in secularism for each class. The teachers of primary classes can concentrate on nurturing secularism by celebrating festivals of different religions along with their students and parents. Teachers of middle classes i.e. from VI - VIII should foster awareness and knowledge of secularism, through some activities and project works for communal harmony. The teachers of senior classes should explain to their students the importance of secularism in our lives and the life of a nation. The thrust should be to inculcate and strengthen the value of secularism so that the students can work towards peace and harmony in the country. For this, the subject matter relating to secularism has to be incorporated and transacted through all the curricular areas of secondary and higher secondary classes. All teachers should be trained to develop related projects and extra curricular activities.

They should also make use of teaching aids like making sketches and audio-visual aids on the composite culture of India based on secular values. Students from different religious groups should enact street plays on the theme of communal harmony. The teachers should be given proper training to handle any sensitive and vexing issues which have the potentiality to ferment a communal tension. They can also be trained to organize some "Peace Brigades" in each mohalla or village so as to preempt an emerging communal tension. The young students can be motivated by their teachers to play the role of peace managers rather than peace breakers. Very often, as we have seen, some communal tensions are fomented by the young fanatics from either side. Such elements can be controlled by the teacher at an early stage. Therefore, a new orientation is needed in the teacher education programmes in order to enable our teachers to play a more meaningful role for communal peace.

Let us at this stage think of giving a blueprint for some new projects to be given to the teacher-trainees during their training programmes.

Secularism primarily means the separation of religion from a person’s secular life. A person lives at three levels: (i) Personal (ii) Interpersonal, and (iii) Institutional. The last assumes a variety of forms such as educational, social, economic, political and many others. Secularism would require that the decisions one takes at any of these levels are governed by considerations which do not stem from one’s religious beliefs.

If one examines the modes of expression of the secular attitude, one finds that the essence of secularism would consist in looking upon religion as a strictly personal relationship.

The constitution of India has declared India as a secular state which means that it has no religion of its own and does not discriminate between different citizens on the basis of religion. Various articles in the constitution uphold the principle of secularism in India. Citizens have the right to practice any religion, manage their religious affairs etc. No distinction can be made in the name of religion and all are equal before law.

Secularism has been embodied in the tradition of India and the people have enjoyed perfect religious freedom since ancient times.

Indian secularism is based on the principle of coexistence of various religions under the supervision of the State.

Thus, we find that the Indian secularism possesses a highly dynamic character. Though all the religions are permitted to flourish freely in the country, religion has not been given a complete go-by and still plays an important role in the actual operation of the Indian polity. The establishment of a secular polity in the country has placed India on identical footing with the more advanced democracies of the West.

Secularism at all levels of education is most relevant to all of us. The students should not only learn that secularism is important in our lives but should also learn to practice it. For this purpose, the major task of a teacher is to sensitise the student in teaching secularism and to enable them to develop and use suitable methods to spread this feeling among others.

Secularism as commonly understood in the West is based on rational values without any scope of fundamentalism. On the other hand, in India, it is more concerned with the communal harmony among Hindus, Muslims and other religious minorities.

Gandhi, as a religious man, wanted perfect harmony among all regions. Nehru, on the other hand, kept away from religious temperament. He also wanted communal harmony with minimum state interference in religious affairs.