Some political parties claim to be secular in India. Have you ever thought about the high moral ground they claim to possess and what they mean? Almost all are thoroughly corrupt and they make it appear that being secular is easy and an exclusive privilege not allowed to anyone or any party relating to nation's heritage , history or Sanatan Dharma called Hinduism. Time to check the credibility of their claims.
The word Secular is often used to gain high moral pedestal over religious beliefs. Whether it is acceptance and respect for all religions or disregard for any religious beliefs continues to be debated as per one’s convenince and needs. Anyone dare to ask may be called non secular and retrograde..so much for contemporary liberal thought.
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines Secularism as indifference to or rejection or exclusion of religion and religious considerations. Means religion NOT being a factor in decisions and choices, Cambridge Dictionary defines secularism as belief that religion should not be involved with the ordinary social political activities of the country. Oxford Dictionary says it’s about the principle of separation of the state from religious institutions. Note the focus here is on religious institutions which means organised religions. All these definitions mean one thing. Absence of Religions in state affairs.
In India, the land of Spirituality had long practiced spirituality as the real purpose of religious life. Secularism has come to mean equal treatment and respect for all religions here from time immemorial. Her base religion being Sanatana Dharma known popularly as Hinduism accepts all religions whatever may be the form and her followers are comfortable in Churches, Mosques, Synogogues and Gurdhwaras as they were in Temples. Obviously India ought to be the only Hindu nation but her ununderstood plurality is treated with suspect by religions that ironically force others to convert. And those who have contempt and disgust for the traditions are called Secular while anti Hindu parties that dance to the hate tunes of conversionalist religions call themselves secular.
Consider the following facts before we define secularism conceptually.
# PEW says 30 nation’s elect their head based on their belief in particular religion.
#Wikipedia names 15 nations that have declared themselves as Christian nations
# 25 nations have declared themselves Islamic
# 83 countries describe themselves as Secular
# There are about 23 Muslim majority nations that call themselves as secular
# 2 nations are Buddhist, one Jewish.
# USA practices Christianity officially though it claims it won’t bar others.
# England is a Christian nation.
# Some nations are atheistic. China, North Korea and Vietnam.
So the world’s oldest religion called Sanatan Dharma has no official status in any nation. Yet able to influence many nations by the sheer ability to nourish lives and furtherance of peaceful coexisting social living. Fact is while other religions had used political military propaganda might to influence people, Secular Hinduism that respects all thoughts and all religions impacts by the richness and depth of her concepts so much so many are attracted to it voluntarily.
India, the area beyond the river Indus has always been a fertile ground of many religions and embraced those from elsewhere. Buddhism, Jainism & Sikhism were born here, our text books inform. Zoroastrians were protected from prosecution. Some books amplify that Jesus Christ escaped & arrived in India and lived long . There are areas where Negroids live in peace. Only in 12th century when Islam invaded India, prosecution of other religions began. Natives were treated as dhimmies and were asked to pay Jizya tax. Islam became a state religion, demolished temples and the tax system continued. After Islam arrived East India Co and British Raj with canons and gun powder. British enacted laws by which all religions were treated equal. The late 19th century marked the arrival of Anglo hindu, Anglo Muslim personal laws where the governance did not differentiate between state and religion, and administered according to one’s religion. The British gave the Indian Christians and Indian Zoroastrians their own personal laws. A series of acts were enacted that appeared pampering of different religions but also divided them sharply and people were treated inequal before Law. This helped the Raj set one community against another and the many centuries old pluralism was lost while governance became easier for the Brits liked the fable of a cat helping divide a sweet berween two rats. The British connived to call everything rooted to the soil as outdated. Pluralistic Beliefs were called superstion and slapped their own Christ on Indians as the only spiritual messiah. Gurukula which gave 100% literacy across nation were closed down so they can pat themselves for introducing modern education. The erosion was complete. Yet the roots didn’t die and began sprouting thanks to the constant avatars of Rishis and Seers the Dharma provided continuously. Even a Muslim Saint Shirdi Sai Baba was welcome to the hindu pantheon.
India is as per constitution a Secular State as per the 42nd amendment to Indian constitution introduced in 1976. Neither the constitution nor any law define the relationship between state and religions. India after having accommodated Buddhist, Islamic and Christian rulers for many centuries was formally made a state where a person cannot be discriminated on the basis of a religion. Where state shall not interfere into affairs of religions and all are equal before law.
Yet, India has a shariat based Muslim personal Law. Hindu temples are controlled by government. Temple funds as per law can be used for any purpose as introduced by atheist DMK party in Tamilnadu. Churches and Mosques are independent of the government. A PM in the name of Manmohan went to say Muslims have the first right to resources. Where candidates to elections are based on castes and religions as per the demography of the area. India is a place where vote bank politics is reality and people are divided in all possible ways, not merely religious. Hinduism aka Sanatan Dharma is no organised religion or can be considered a religion on the terms of Islam or Christianity. So it’s easier to influence an organised group for social or political causes while it ought to have been easier to dismember Hindus. Not really.
A state that preaches non interference in religious affairs took Hindu temples under her control. History books were tampered with and the glories of the past were replaced with achievements and glories of Islamic invaders and British colonialists. Absolutely non secular efforts meant to undermine the cosmopolitanism of Hinduism and her secularism. While vulgar derogatories by British, Justice Party of South and Dravida Kazhagam of Ramasamy Naicker on Hindu beliefs including their Gods struck a chord with many as reformist while admiration for other religions was considered forward looking. A secular religion trampled and religions that were run on business lines with their Gods as brands ironically twisted as secular. All secularism was lost. Yet these actions were claimed secular.
Hinduism is about a civilisation and her culture. Considered the only surviving continuous civilisation. Without written works, the massive Vedas of thousands of years antiquity were carried to the present age by chanting and by memory. Hinduism has no founder. It was never organised as one single group or entity. As the Supreme Court of India explained Hinduism is a way of living, a Dharmic way of living. Hinduism has no single guiding force except the belief in Dharma. The belief that doing the right actions entitle us to joys in this life and later lives. That livings are souls wrapped up in bodies. A selective sentence reference to a particular text of a Hindu can never be deemed to represent the religion. It’s broader, deeper than anyone can imagine. Can you see a happy family of father, mother and children being worshipped in any other religion? The reason why it wasn’t easy to uproot beliefs of faith from those born in the soil.
We are told Hindusthan is the land of Sanatan Dharma. What’s this oft repeated Sanatan Dharma?
Sanatan Dharma meaning Eternal Order are a set of principles in life culturally enshrined & deep rooted in spiritualism incumbent on the people. It generally consists of a set of rules like honesty, purity, refraining from injuring living beings, self restraint, goodwill, mercy, patience,forbearance and asceticism. Pl retread the above sentence again. Without those values, even secularism is impossible.
Sanatan Dharma contrasts with Svadharma meaning that duty that arise from circumstances, profession , stage in life shall be done. The classics like Bhagavadgita focus on this conflict and agree that to protect humanity and to defend Sanatan Dharma, sometimes, Svadharma is necessary to protect Dharma.
There is nothing more pluralistic or cosmopolitan like Sanatan Dharma. Hinduism’s five sects of Saivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Smarta and Shrauti are the well known sects that add to diversity in thoughts and beliefs than spring from Sanatan Dharma. Saurism, Ganapathism and many forms Panthi add to the glory. It is possibly the only religion that accepts atheists in its mould. Such a rich varied deep was considered as superstitious by invading muslim armies and by Colonial British because it was a threat to their business intentions and conversion goals.
The caste system which was often derided, comparatively was a new phenomenon. It was used to insult and bring down the moral force of Dharma. During Vedic period, caste was decided according to character and professions. Women occupied high positions and chanted mantras at events more than men including weddings. Only men of high moral fibre were considered Brahmins. And received sharper punishments than others for antisocial acts. These high standards were diluted as time passed by. Ironically the caste system instead of being dismantled became more rigid due to some anti caste movements as the preachers became fire brand practioners of the evil they claimed to fight against. In the process, the caste system wasnt extinguished but instead lead to a plethora of caste and religion based political parties trying to exploit weak confused governments willing to compromise anything to stay in power. Secularism was slaughtered by divisive forces that claimed to be secular.
The fact remains Sanatan Dharma has the heart and space to accommodate all religions. It remains a natural process. It only demands the values of self restraint and refraining from injury to living beings. But these singularities marked the major difference between Hinduism and Christianity/ Islam. It’s because of the innate secular spirit that exists in Dharma that no animosity in India can be seen against these two religions despite the heartless plunder, loot, rapes, genocides and destruction of temples by the invading foreigners even today. Hindus forgive and forget easily. Though some secularism exist in some and not all Muslim, Christian dominated nations, embracing of other Gods and respect for other religions comes to Hinduism naturally. Irony, Indian Hindus are continuously called intolerant for this truly embracing secular spirit. Maybe the reason despite 600 years of Islamic rule and 200 years of Christian rule, India has a majority of population as Hindus. Sanatana Dharma called Hinduism is a way of life and culture intertwined with lives. Secularism is the heart beat of Hindus.
Many Indian Muslim women wear thali, the mark of a married women. Many wear metti worn on toes that help help identify a married lady. They wear flowers on their heads. These are not required or mentioned in the Koran and are essentially Hindu traditions. Same with Christians too. Catholics wear bindi, metti and thali. Churches adapt temple car processions in India. The churches hoist flags during festivals and churches have a metalled pillar at the entrance akin to Hindu temples. Churches are busy adapting hindu prayers and worship traditions. Believe me, Yagnas may also be adapted sometime soon. So whatever may be the religion in India , all religions invariably absorb the heritage of Sanatan Dharma. The most secular of all religions Sanatan Dharma influences all without effort or propaganda. It’s impossible for any religion to survive in India without absorbing some of the facets of Hinduism which add dignity and beauty to living.
So does India have Secularism? Freedom to practice one’s religion. Yes. Despite some religions in Tamilnadu protested against the 1000 year old processions of Thanjavur Brahadeeswarar Temple being taken in areas recently inhabitated by them. During Ganesh puja celebrations called Vinayga Chathurthi, Hindus are now banned from taking their idols in areas where mosques are located. But if the same rule was fixed for Muharram processions, they won’t be able to carry on. Yet Hindus are called intolerant and not secular.
Equal citizenship for all religions is a condition for any secularism. Media describe during elections, candidates as belonging to OBC, BC, Dalit, Islam, Christian, etc. Everyone is a face of a community. There are seats constitutionally reserved for SC/ST during elections. The reservation of backward communities often gets diluted to the detriment of the most backward communities on additional reservations as religious identity gets introduced on political demands. PM Manmohan saying Muslims have the first right to resources instead of equal rights is insult to Secularism. This is not equal citizenship demanded in any secular state. Conversions of Hindus secretively are against laws and foreign missionaries enter as tourists for this nefarious act. Most NGOs with Christian connections are full time into conversions and social acts are cover to illegal activity. Law needs to treat all as equal and conversion of secular Hindus to fire brand Christians or Muslims by inducements is trampling on secularism. Just watch the furore when a handful belonging to Islam or Christianity return to the religion of their forefathers.
Separation of government and religion is a must for a secular government especially when governments can’t show equanimity and are run on vote bank politics. But with no uniform civil code, Rajiv Gandhi enacting Law that deprived divorced Muslim women alimony, universities being centres where hatred for nation’s history, culture, past achievements are injected, running of temples and diversion of hundi funds, India is unable to keep off religion in her affairs. In Tamilnadu, hindu festival of Pongal is presented as a secular one as if Muslims and Christians worship Sun God. Hindu Poet Saint Thiruvalluvar is represented as a non Hindu while his magnum opus Tirukkural has references to Hindu Gods. Even an attempt was made to shift the Hinduish Tamil New year in an attempt to attack at hindu practices. Fact is government continues to intervene in matters of Hindu religion while scared to touch other religions and their sickening triple talaq for instant divorcing of wives, even with a stick. Secular Hindus are accept insults heaped and adapt to new conditions for social peace.
A secular government should stop supporting government support for religious studies. Stop supporting religious institutions of whatever Color and stop funding them. Whether it was Hindu, Buddhist, Islam or Christian institutions including their places of worship should be left independent. Only places of heritage and antiquity may be referred to the archeological dept. No religious law can supersede state law. Till then, India’s claim as Secular suits the analogy of a thief claiming to be honest. Goa civil code is a trend setter and essential to be followed in a secular state.But the so called secular parties will resist all attempts towards secularism and resort to appeasement of minor religions.
Secularism in India is all appeasement of vote bank and does not further the original spirit of cosmopolitanism called Sanatana Dharama. It has truly failed to treat all religions as equal. The original native non converted Hindus have been at the receiving end and any attempt by them in self preservation is condemned as aggression. India’s Secularism was natural to the land because of the broad accommodative spirit and beliefs of Hindus. Secretarianism is being confused with secularism and truly secular Hindus are thought of as belonging to a weak society. Believe me, when India ceases to be a Hindu majority it will cease all pretensions to secularism. Secularism and Sanatan Dharma are the two sides of a coin as we say. But for politicians it has come to mean that being antihindu is secular. Being and acting against secular Hindus can’t be called secularism but sectarianism.
To those who object to practice of Hindu traditions in public places, try and understand that Hindu Gods represent values. Learning, Wealth, Health, Courage , Rebirth and so on. During special occasions and festivals, Hindus pay their gratitude to their Gods. The Puja’s are excercises in thanksgiving. When does gratitude, thanksgiving get to become superstitions?
To cut all arguments short. Secularism is about respect for all religions. Equally. Having no preferences. A citizen should have complete liberty to practice one’s religion, all those in the realm of prayers, meditation and rituals. In any language of the choice of the individual. One religion or no atheist has any right to mock at others’ practices or laugh at their Gods. It needs to be accommodative. Going by these standards, we can conclude India is not secular and the so called secular parties in their garb are playing to thwart any secularisation of India. Check the sprouting of churches and mosques that are disproptionate to their population. A recent Advt by Singapore Haniffa Textiles in Tamil dailies claimed that all roads will have a prayer hall within a certain distance. Such interference by foreigners is wrought with dangers. Charlatanism can’t be called secular.
Hindus have high stakes in India. And they have no choice except to act responsibly and embrace others. India is the only land they have. While other religions have options and opportunities worldwide. So Hindus need to cling to their Dharma and to the land of their ancestors. They believe India is a punya bhoomi and this belief and fact needs to be respected. It is impossible for India to become secular by abusing the beliefs of Hindus. Hindus will handle the caste system and it is sure to vanish by the increase in love marriages and even by cross caste arranged marriages. Atheists and other religions need to respect as Hindus respect them. Understanding takes effort and is a two way street.
Respecting other religions is the highest form of Secularism. If I limit my religion to myself and I mind my religion without forcing it on others, it’s the minimum standard to be called secular. What are you? Where do you stand?
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