Hi everyone, I really wanted to post this for a long time now. I have put utmost thought into this and hence would appreciate it if anyone who chooses to read it, reads it carefully and with an open mind.
Here you go:
Many people(including Indians) have a long way to go before you completely understand the concept of secularism:
Secularism, as it is followed in many countries the world over is of three types:
1. European/American Secularism: In this type of secularism the state officially disapproves people bringing religion into the public domain. The state is effectively indifferent to religion.
Requirements: The population has to be so evolved as to have moved away from religion towards atheism or a highly evolved concept of peaceful co-existence.
2. Chinese Secularism: In this type of secularism, the state not only disapproves but also actively denounces and discourages the public from bringing religion into the public domain.
Requirements: Absolute power of the gun. Atheism or religion doesn't matter.
3. Indian Secularism: In this type of secularism, the state neither officially approves nor disapproves of any religion and every person is given feedom to even take religion into the public domain but a few requirements have to be met:
Requirements: The state effectively carries traits of the most widely followed religion (in this case Hinduism) but other religions are actively and positively allowed to co-exist in a tolerant and peaceful manner.
Let me elaborate:
In many official functions/innaugurations/occasions in the private and public sector in India, you must have observed that there is a Havan or Puja performed before beginning the task.
For example, we have Vishvakarma Puja in many of our factories and offices.
Now, having such poojas effectively implies the 'Hindu' nature of the functioning of the govt. but at the same time, the govt. gives public holidays as a mark of tolerance towards other religions.
There are holidays for Islamic festivals/events
There are holidays for Christian festivals/events
There are holidays for Sikh festivals/events etc.
In addition, the state provides facilities such as Haj subsidy to its largest minority to proceed on pilgrimage. No such facility is provided to Hindus (the most dominant religion of the land).
So the Indian state is secular in that it doesn't work to curtail religion rather it works to help religion to flourish and impact the society in a positive way.
That is how Indian secularism is different from any other type of secularism around the world.
So you see, although the state effectively retains the hindu nature of the society it commands yet the state gives (or strives to give) ample freedom to people of other faiths to live in peaceful co-existence.
Now, the term peaceful co-existence also has to be understood in its implied meaning.
Peaceful co-existence means that every person belonging to a particular religion/faith will let every other person belonging to every other religion/faith live in a cordial atmosphere.
This means that no person/entity will be allowed to work in a manner which hurts the sentiments of any of the people belinging to the different religions/faiths. It can be understood my a phrase called 'Affirmative Abstinence". What this means is that every person shall take care to ensure that his/her actions do not hurt anyone's sentiments.
A few stuff that some societies expect from others to follow,
1. Hindus widely regard cow as a holy animal and also as 'mother' so many Hindus do not like the sight of Cow being slaughtered in the neighbourhood or some person eating cow meat in front of them. That's why you do not find Cow meat in many established chains across India such as McDonalds.
2. Muslims widely regard pork as 'Haram' and hence you will again see many restaurants/food chains only serving 'Halal' food items on their menu.
So it is basically a case of 'Live and Let live' with a few 'no-go' areas or red lines which should not be crossed and every party must make a few compromises in order to not hurt the sentiments of the other party be it Hindus or Muslims.
As an example,
1. Salman Rushdie's book 'The satanic Verses' was banned because many muslims claimed to have been offended by it.
2. M.F. Hussain was widely criticised (although the state did not step in) for his depiction of Hindu gods/godessess in objectionable forms.
and many more such instances exist.
Contrast this behaviour of the state with the other 'Secular' systems such as American/European/Chinese and the distinct characteristic of Indian secularism becomes evident.
So it is evident that in the case of 'Indian Secularism', the state strives so that no party get hurt as far as religious sentiments are concerned.
The purpose of my writing this was to clear some misconceptions I've often come across in several posts on this forum.
Many people often trade explanations as to why India is or is not a secular society and I want to explain to everybody that Indian society/state is secular in its own particular way.
Here you go:
Many people(including Indians) have a long way to go before you completely understand the concept of secularism:
Secularism, as it is followed in many countries the world over is of three types:
1. European/American Secularism: In this type of secularism the state officially disapproves people bringing religion into the public domain. The state is effectively indifferent to religion.
Requirements: The population has to be so evolved as to have moved away from religion towards atheism or a highly evolved concept of peaceful co-existence.
2. Chinese Secularism: In this type of secularism, the state not only disapproves but also actively denounces and discourages the public from bringing religion into the public domain.
Requirements: Absolute power of the gun. Atheism or religion doesn't matter.
3. Indian Secularism: In this type of secularism, the state neither officially approves nor disapproves of any religion and every person is given feedom to even take religion into the public domain but a few requirements have to be met:
Requirements: The state effectively carries traits of the most widely followed religion (in this case Hinduism) but other religions are actively and positively allowed to co-exist in a tolerant and peaceful manner.
Let me elaborate:
In many official functions/innaugurations/occasions in the private and public sector in India, you must have observed that there is a Havan or Puja performed before beginning the task.
For example, we have Vishvakarma Puja in many of our factories and offices.
Now, having such poojas effectively implies the 'Hindu' nature of the functioning of the govt. but at the same time, the govt. gives public holidays as a mark of tolerance towards other religions.
There are holidays for Islamic festivals/events
There are holidays for Christian festivals/events
There are holidays for Sikh festivals/events etc.
In addition, the state provides facilities such as Haj subsidy to its largest minority to proceed on pilgrimage. No such facility is provided to Hindus (the most dominant religion of the land).
So the Indian state is secular in that it doesn't work to curtail religion rather it works to help religion to flourish and impact the society in a positive way.
That is how Indian secularism is different from any other type of secularism around the world.
So you see, although the state effectively retains the hindu nature of the society it commands yet the state gives (or strives to give) ample freedom to people of other faiths to live in peaceful co-existence.
Now, the term peaceful co-existence also has to be understood in its implied meaning.
Peaceful co-existence means that every person belonging to a particular religion/faith will let every other person belonging to every other religion/faith live in a cordial atmosphere.
This means that no person/entity will be allowed to work in a manner which hurts the sentiments of any of the people belinging to the different religions/faiths. It can be understood my a phrase called 'Affirmative Abstinence". What this means is that every person shall take care to ensure that his/her actions do not hurt anyone's sentiments.
A few stuff that some societies expect from others to follow,
1. Hindus widely regard cow as a holy animal and also as 'mother' so many Hindus do not like the sight of Cow being slaughtered in the neighbourhood or some person eating cow meat in front of them. That's why you do not find Cow meat in many established chains across India such as McDonalds.
2. Muslims widely regard pork as 'Haram' and hence you will again see many restaurants/food chains only serving 'Halal' food items on their menu.
So it is basically a case of 'Live and Let live' with a few 'no-go' areas or red lines which should not be crossed and every party must make a few compromises in order to not hurt the sentiments of the other party be it Hindus or Muslims.
As an example,
1. Salman Rushdie's book 'The satanic Verses' was banned because many muslims claimed to have been offended by it.
2. M.F. Hussain was widely criticised (although the state did not step in) for his depiction of Hindu gods/godessess in objectionable forms.
and many more such instances exist.
Contrast this behaviour of the state with the other 'Secular' systems such as American/European/Chinese and the distinct characteristic of Indian secularism becomes evident.
So it is evident that in the case of 'Indian Secularism', the state strives so that no party get hurt as far as religious sentiments are concerned.
The purpose of my writing this was to clear some misconceptions I've often come across in several posts on this forum.
Many people often trade explanations as to why India is or is not a secular society and I want to explain to everybody that Indian society/state is secular in its own particular way.
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