Secularism : meaning and implication in the Indian context

Saptarshi Chakraborty

Meaning and Context: According to the Cambridge dictionary, the meaning of a ‘secular state’ is the separation of Church from the nation state.

In medieval Europe, each and every aspect of administration and all resources of the nation states like France etc, were under the strict and total control of the Church. Naturally there was gross corruption oppression and exploitation that comes with monopolised power. Hence after the revolutions, the administration and all control of the Nation state was removed from the Church’s hands and the Nation declared itself as ‘secular’.

No such Church or even any Hindu religious body has ever been in total control of the administration of the Indian government at any point of time. Hence, imposition of the term ‘secular’ is not at all required in the Indian context. On the contrary , those religions having originated in the west far away from present day India , have not only been allowed to operate here but even flourish as well. Some of the examples are as follows : 

a) While many important temples of Hindu trusts continue to be under government control , religious organisations and places of worship of other religions are under no such obligation (article 25(2) of the Indian Constitution)

b) All the earlier Governments have always been using the majority Hindu tax payers’ money to give Haj subsidy for minority (2nd largest majority ) pilgrimage .This unfair practice was abolished in 2018 after a Supreme Court directive.

c) 2nd largest majority community and other minority communities are allowed to run their own religious educational institutions like Madrasas( at present numbered at 3 lakh), convents etc , (article 30 of the Indian Constitution) .

Implication 1: The term ‘secular’ was never a part of the original constitution or its Preamble drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar. It was only included in the Preamble as late as 1976 in the most undemocratic fashion. It was added to the Preamble of the constitution (42nd amendment ) in the year 1976 , when India was under emergency (1975-1977) , a dark phase in the history of India when democracy was trampled under the lady PM’s boots with an eye on fostering the evil of vote bank politics with minority (2nd largest majority) appeasement.

Tampering with the preamble of the constitution was something which was totally against the wishes of Dr. Ambedkar, who had specifically mentioned that the preamble should not be altered.

So anyone who has faith in democracy and respect for Dr. Ambedkar should not in his or her right mind accept the amendments to the preamble of the constitution which took place during a time when democracy had been crippled.

Implication 2: The term ‘secular’ has often been translated as ‘dharma nirapeksha’ .

The definition of the term secular has been given earlier.

Let’s look at the definition of ‘Dharma’ as eulogised in our Shaastras.

All words in Sanskrit have a root verb called ‘Dhatu’ and an suffix called ‘pratyay’ .The dhatu of ‘Dharma’ is ‘dhri’ dhatu. ‘Dhri’ means ‘dhaaran karo’ , walking the path of your own inherent nature , that which righteously upholds the laws and purpose of cosmic phenomena of Nature (Prakriti) and Creation (Shrishti) .

The suffix (pratyay) of the word is ‘gam’, meaning ‘gamanshil’ , movement , a journey towards higher evolution and finally Freedom(Moksha).

Hence , ‘Dharma’ in the context of a human being can be loosely translated as righteousness, i.e. a righteous and morally upright way of life upholding natural justice with the ultimate aim of attaining Freedom (Moksha) .

And absence or opposite of Dharma is Adharma , so the erroneously coined term dharma nirapeksha would inadvertently mean adharma saapeksha, so we need to watch out and be wary of this fraudulent nomenclature.

From the meanings it is clear that the word Secular can in no way be translated as ‘Dharma Nirapeksha’ . Also , to be noted is that the word ‘Dharma’ cannot be translated as ‘religion’ as their meanings are very different .The etymological root of the word religion is religare ( to bind, tie back) , completely opposite to the meaning of the word ‘Dharma’. 

If at all we need to translate, we can at best call it ‘sampradaay nirapeksha’ or ‘panth nirapeksha’

‘sampradaay ‘ or ‘panth’ implying religious sects or religious school of thought suggested as a path to supreme realisation or final judgement , whichever the case may be. 

So the need of the hour for us is to evolve and get rid of all the erroneous ideas and fraudulent narratives about Secularism to ensure true glory to our nation.

Saptarshi Chakraborty: Saptarshi Chakraborty is by profession an Indian Classical Vocalist being a prominent disciple of the legendary Pandit Jasraj ji. Apart from being a performer and Teacher of Music, he spends time reading, contemplating, researching and writing articles on Music, Philosophy , Spirituality and matters of National importance

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