Secularism - The Ideological Confusion of India

-
What is secularism? Frankly, people who keep blabbering about secular values in India get my goat. I am fed up of the continuous rant that I have been hearing about 'secular' values of India. Our concept of secularism is so warped that we should be rightfully declared laughing stock of the world. We are a nation of minorities, since everybody is an aggrieved minority in India.
Why on earth is there so much confusion about minority-ism in India? Our political class has failed this nation due to its inherent confusion with the understanding of what and who exactly constitutes a minority in India. Are Sikhs a minority in Assam? Yes. Are they a minority in Punjab? Hell no! Similar situations arise in states like Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland, and yet, our political class is pandering to votebank politics, thinking that people vote en masse in India. Apparently, they think India is a nation of cattle (since we do have our fair share of holy cows, goats, pigs, buffaloes etc. etc.), the only probable explanation to the herd mentality our political leaders think our people possess.
Secularism is not a principle to be practiced. It is a pier that lays foundation to what a State fundamentally stands for. The inability to separate affairs of the State from religion is a failure of our Constitution. While protection of minorities is perfectly valid, why are we not standing to the intertwining of state's affairs with religions? Why is religion or community brought into the identity of a citizen? If we are so rooted into our multiple identities why are we even claiming to be secular? It is time we dispensed off with this term from our Constitution if we cannot follow it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Senseless Obsession with a Uniform Civil Code - Hindus Will be Net Losers

-
Image
Once again, the bogey of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has come to the forefront of political deliberations. UCC is being seen as some kind of panacea for a variety of problems that the Hindus face in India. The worst part is that many right minded Hindus seriously believe that UCC will be some kind of game changer in this country. This, when fact remains that UCC does nothing to solve the challenges of Hindus and their second class status in India. Nevertheless, one must realise that UCC does more harm to Hindus than good, and a few good and solid reasons exist for this.  For this, let us have a look at what is being pushed for in the Uttarakhand draft of the UCC bill. As per twitter discussions, these are the thirteen key features of the bill: 1: Polygamy will be banned. 2: The age of marriage of girls will be increased so that they can graduate before marriage. 3: Declaration of live in relationship will be necessary. Parents will be informed. 4: In succession, girls will get an equal sh
Read more

The Kidnapping of Nahida Imtiaz - The incident that caused a spike in terrorist kidnappings in Kashmir

-
Image
Nahida Imtiaz After She Returned Home in 1991 (courtesy: India Today) Those following the issue of terrorism in the Kashmir valley may recall the infamous 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiyya Sayeed, the daughter of then Home Minister of India and later Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The harrowing episode had resulted in the release of hardcore militants of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). However, little is discussed about another kidnapping that had happened, just two years later. The target this time was another prominent Kashmiri politician – Saifuddin Soz. THE TURBULENT SCENARIO On 27 February 1991, the Jammu and Kashmir Students' Liberation Front (JKSLF) kidnapped Nahida Imtiaz, the daughter of Saifuddin Soz. The JKSLF demanded the release of five terrorists put in jail by the security forces. At the time, Saifuddin Soz was a prominent leader of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference led at the time by Farooq Abdullah. The JKNC h
Read more

The People Left Behind in Assam

-
Image
Linguistic Map of Assam - courtesy Sagir Ahmed 2012 and 2014 were two years that brought bad memories about ethnic violence of the Bodoland regions of Assam. In both these cases, there was direct conflict between the Bodo tribal factions of the National Democratic Front for Bodoland and the Muslims in the region, leading to severe violence. Issues of victimization and the unfairness of the rehabilitation politics have plagued the discussion. However, for those who have followed Assam politics and culture, this was neither the first conflict, nor is it expected to be the last one. In 2007, there were raids made by Bodo guerilla groups on Adivasi populations of Assam, flaring up the Faultline further. In the first part of the series, there was discussion on the language-ethnicity faultlines that have caused much friction in Assam and had touched upon the various concerns on cultural concerns, with some socio-economic aspects causing the crisis. The piece was mostly centere
Read more