Distortion
of Secularism In Western countries secularism
means a state that is neutral as regards religion, not affording any positive or negative
weight to religion in affairs of the state or the law. In India secularism has come to
mean granting special government benefits to religious minorities and penalizing the
religious majority, including offering salaries to Mullahs and maintaining Islamic
personal law, but taxing Hindu temples. Secular India bans books in the name of religion
and does other actions of a religious state, as long as the religions upheld are not the
majority religion of the
country.
This has resulted in a state that caters to and is dominated by religious influences
rather than is truly secular. In fact secularism in
India means that all religions are catered to but Hinduism, the majority religion.
Representation is given according to minority religious identities, rather than banishing
religious identity from secular politics. This keeps those of the majority religion
suppressed and the religious ethos of the country outside of the political sphere, which
only gives more ground for adharma to flourish. This is not to say that India should
become a religious state. Classical India never had any theological states. A truly
secular government should not cater to any religious dogma, but it must uphold Dharma and
support the indigenous culture of the land, which in India has predominantly Hindu roots.
This requires removing special favors to religious
minorities and stopping penalizing the religious majority. It requires revoking all
personal religious laws for a uniform civil code. In addition it requires more strictly
regulating the action of missionaries, who, well funded by foreign money, still prey upon
the poor of India in their thirst for conversions. |