[Assam] On India's Secularism

[Pragyan,Tinsukia College]

Chandanda,

I’ve no basic deference with you
and almost all of your points now. There might be some gap of understanding.
You’ve written:“What these people really are trying to mean is that Hindu
religion is more TOLERANT than others. That may be so in certain instances
while not so in others.” 

I, personally, am conscious about
the differences of Indian and English meaning of the word secularism. Khalidi
also wrote, “Political secularism may be defined as the separation of religious
activities from those of the state, customarily referred to as "the
separation of church and state" in the west. Secularism in theory then
would mean that religion and state cannot occupy the same space. The state in
its governmental capacity does not promote any religion or religious group, nor
does it intervene in religious affairs. It cannot even be involved in
interpretation or "reform" of any religion much less favour one over
any other. This model of secularism may be characterized as maximum separation
between state and religion except on manifest grounds of morality, health, and
public order. Theoretical formulation, interpretation, and implementation of
secularism have varied in several countries. In Indian context, the votaries of
Hindutva equate it with appeasement of minorities, thus
"pseudo-secularism." Apologists of Indian secularism call it
"religious equi-distance, not non-involvement," meaning that Indian
state is neutral between religions and religious communities.” 

                     I defers with  Khalidi on this last statement. In India
it means intervention with neutrality. “SarbadharmaSmavaba”. Our constitution
talks about that type of neutrality, Very few of ruling elite like to do so. To
establish their point some time the Indian Elite class do favour minorities.
Even Advani-Bajpaye & company do so. 
But it was the tricks that practised by Arovindo to Gandhi and INC.
There hidden agenda was always Hindutwa. That’s why Almost all the riots took
place against minorities in Eighties was backed by Congress Government.  Hindu’s were/are tolerant about their books,
prophet and deities. I’ve no doubt about it. That’s why some people say that
Hindus are tolerant (they use the term secular, I’ve just read a article in
yesterdays morning in a Bengali Daily in which the writer claimed so.)  But, very few Hindu are tolerant about their
cast system. It’s due to casteism Hindu don’t like conversion. But, Bankim
Chandra onwards attempts are going on to shape the Hindu Religious System as
organised one like Islam or Christiaism. Before that there was no such religion
in India.
We had Visnabism, Shakata,Shaiva, Shuphi etc. No Hindu. You are not sure what
the Hindu congressmen ( in US)  might
have invoked. There is every possibility that that would be Gita. 

                      Your points: “In the US regulations prohibiting
imposition of religion by the state or even merely the impression of it are
routinely enforced, raising huge protests, usually from the orthodox segments
of the majority.  Public watch-dog groups routinely challenge official
acts that breach or seem to breach the church-state separation and the
highest courts have held up the principle over and over again, spanning
generations.”  If I’ve understood you
correctly, you are agreeing that the violation of secularism do take place in
US. I’ll attempt to study more on US religious politics. We too have our own
(might be week) “Public watch-dog groups”. Right?

               You are right : “I know that
even the Indian constitution has provisions protecting minority rights and
checks against tyranny of the majority. But MOST people either don't know
anything about it, or don't agree with it. It is further complicated by the
dysfunctional state's inability or unwillingness to enforce the breach of
constitutional provisions, except when it suits its purpose. It blatantly
indulges in SELECTIVE enforcement, which breeds DISRESPECT for the
constitution and dilutes its importance. That is why you see the
societal conflicts in India
not only persist but actually growing by the day.” 

                    Finally,   “That is a very simplistic notion.
Capitalism, communism, socialism and all other -isms as either good or bad
or the answer to all problems or the source of all troubles are all FALSE
notions.   Submission to any -ism or ideology limits and sometimes
incapacitates the human imagination. That is terrible thing to waste! It is of
paramount importance to analyze issues for what they are, and find the correct
solutions under the circumstances, in the context, without having to be limited
by ideological doctrines or dogma. You are seeing the last great bastion of
capitalism, the USA,
doing just that trying to dig itself out of the Collapse of its capitalist
institutions, by using socialist principles that would have been
unthinkable just a year ago.” 

                   Here we’ll have to enter in
to the bastion of political-philosophy. For which I’ve little time now. But
I’ll love to in future, on another occasion. Here, I will just like to make
clear that I didn’t talk about any –ism, though that sounded so. Neither had I
wanted to prescribe any simplistic solution. I don’t think mare bailing out the
shrinking companies with public money is socialist policy either. Capitalist
class always loved to depend on public money. Even in the era of Globalisation
no WTO or IMF prescribed that Infrastructure sector be privatised. These people
always make money by giving less money to there employees, extracting extra
money from their customers, not paying taxes and whenever they feel necessary
they just depend on governments to bail out. I don’t think Soviet was a
socialist country either. It was a pure state-capitalist country. So is China, Vietnam,
North Korea
and so on. All of them practice state-capitalism. How can a state be socialist
where all the national wealth and resources are owned by a section of people
and their party (Communist Party) in power not by the society as a whole? How
can a state be called socialist where there are no sing of withdrawal of state?
These state practise capitalism. To hide their ill intention they had to keep
people and land united with the help of Religious-Linguistic chauvinism. Both
Soviet and china practised/practising Rush and Han chauvinism. That’s why Soviet Union fragmented ultimately. ( That was another
story that its state capitalism was also collapsed in the same time. Those were
the need of the hour, to live behind even the Kainsian Economy and go for GLP. The
need of the hour is opposite today.)  China
too will have to follow the same path. How a socialist state cans deny the   right to secession of Tibetans and Uighurs,
if they have no any interest to keep their market intact?   Indira Gandhi practised Hindutwa, because
she had support of her Soviet Masters. If you had gone through the Soviet texts
of those days all most all of them had had stand in favour of soft Hindutwa.
Soviet texts were full of hatred against Muslims in India. They needed anti-Muslim
sentiment here in India
those days. Because, United Pakistan was as pro-US as they (Now divided Pakistan, another part is Bangladesh) are today.

The capitalist class (not –ism
I’m talking about) can’t build up a pure nation in present days of Imperialism.
They tried to do so in vain. (Even the English had problem with the Irish and
Scottish, Americans have problem with Black and Red-Indians). And the poorest
of the poor have no idea about nation building either. It clarifies why the
Indian masses politically think in terms of their own religious, linguistic or ethnic
identity. But if the oppressed castes & classes want to build up a society
where there is no such exploitation they will have to build up a pure
pluralistic nation, consciously or unconsciously.  So my point is no present day state can be
neutral (forget the term secularism and its complicacy) to its religious or
linguistic groups.  

Sushanta Kar 


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