Is India Secular?
By ahsan • Oct 8th, 2009 • Category: Politics • 30 CommentsThere is always a big gap between theory and practice; same is the case with Indian Constitution and governance. Indian Constitution is secular in spirit and if implemented truly, India would be an ideal country to live in especially for minorities both religious as well as linguistic. However, in reality this ideal situation is lacking in India and all the successive governments of India hardly paid any attention to minority rights and issues. This situation has led to the suppression of minorities in almost all walks of life in addition to majority violence against them.
In India, everyone accord priority to their caste, communal and religious identity over the national one. National rhetoric seemed to have disappeared. Hindutva forces talk more of Hindu religion than of nationalism and this trend is weakening the fiber of secularism and creating irritants among Indian people of different religious and linguistic identities. Being in majority the Hindus are pursuing convergence of India into a Hindu state by submerging minority identities as their moral and social obligation. For this they are employing different techniques such as converting minority identities into Hindu mainstream, killing minorities and damaging their properties and trying to throw all minorities out of India.
The communal violence in India traces back its history to the riots in Ahmadabad in 1969 in which more than 1000 people were killed and Bhivandi in 1970 in which 400 people lost their lives. Somehow, the Indian government managed to control communal violence up till 1977. In 1977 major riots broke in several places in Jamshedpur, Aligarh and Varanasi between Hindus and Muslims. The year 1984 marked the operation blue star and killing of thousands of Sikhs. Apart from Muslims this was a major blow to another minority community. In 1992 Muslims once again became the victim of majority violence. After the demolition of Babri mosque riots erupted not only in Ayodhya but also in Mumbai killing thousands of Muslims. The tragedy of Gujarat pogrom 2002 has no precedent in Indian history. In these riots Hindus killed and looted Muslims with complete impunity and support from police and government.
Recently, communal riots rocked the Maharashtra state of India. The riots started in Miraj, Sangli district on 2 September 2009 when the Hindu extremist organizations such as ShivSena put up a structure depicting Maratha warrior Shivaji slaying Mughal General Afzal Khan. This hurt the emotions of the Muslim population of the area and they protested against this. As a result, Hindus started riots against Muslims. A Hindu Mob forced entry into a Muslim house and assaulted people, terrorizing the entire area. Hindu mobs also indulged in stone pelting and arson in Tasgaon, Ashta and took out a protest rally in Kadgaon area. The Hindus also threw a dead pig in a mosque area in Gawli.
The whole situation was created by the Hindu extremist organizations to create division between the communities ahead of the forthcoming legislative polls in the state. Muslims were protesting for the past one month against the structure erected for the Ganesh festival. This is not the first time that such an activity is done by extremist Hindus before elections. This technique of them is quite old. They firstly demolished Babri mosque and when Muslims protested against this they started full fledged riots in Ayodhya. Similar is the case in Gujarat, Hindu extremist parties killed their own people in order to get an excuse to start a backlash against Muslims. They used the same technique in Miraj, a Muslim majority town of Sangli district of Maharashtra. They hurt the sentiments of Muslims by erecting an objectionable structure and when Muslims protested they started riots. In order to pacify the Muslim population the government removed the controversial structure in Miraj. At this BJP and Shiv Sena activists protested and demanded the reinstatement of the structure for the Ganesh festival threatening that festival will not resume until its reinstatement. Police arrested 200 Shiv Sena and BJP activists on the pretext on fueling the already fragile situation.
In fact, the Indian politics viewed a growth of communalism after the BJP came into power at center in 1998. BJP has two basic objectives: unchallengeable political power and ‘majoritarian transformation’ of India, whereby the primacy of just one community can be asserted over all others. To achieve these objectives, BJP continues to juggle with communal sentiments, with one or the other religious minority as a target. Hence for the BJP, communalism has become species of manipulation. The BJP’s politics is driven by the principle of “majority is authority.” Power is to be derived through majority and can be used to redefine and legitimize anything and everything. Hence, India witnessed more communal riots during BJP rule. BJP provided full support to other Hindu extremist organizations such as Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Praishad authorizing all these organizations to unleash their own terror on minority communities.
The Christians who hardly face any violence against them witnessed severe riots during BJP rule. The Anti-Christian violence in India has increased in recent years and is often perpetrated by Hindu extremists. There have been multiple incidents of such violence since the BJP began its rule at the center in March 1998. From 1964 to 1996, 38 incidents of violence against Christians were reported. In 1997, 24 such incidents were reported. Since 1998, Christians in India have faced a wave of violence. In 1998 alone, 90 incidents were reported. In June 2000, four churches around India were bombed. In Andhra Pradesh, church graves were desecrated. A church in Maharashtra was ransacked. In September 2008, two churches were partly damaged in Kerala. The Times of London called September 2008 violence as the worst anti-Christian violence in India since independence (in 1947).
The Indian constitution itself promises the safeguard of religious freedom. The government has done little or nothing to safeguard those rights. The preamble of the Indian Constitution declares India as a “sovereign socialist secular democratic republic” which secures to all citizens “liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship.” Under Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Indian Constitution, discrimination on the grounds of religion is prohibited. Article 25 guarantees the right to freely practice and propagate religion while Articles 26, 28 and 30 ensure the freedom to manage religious affairs, to attend religious instruction or religious worship. Despite the presence of such detailed and comprehensive legislation the government has allowed organisations like the Bajrang Dal to conduct training camps, and issue harassing statements without the fear of retribution.
The need of the hour is to have an absolute and appropriate response from the government side. India preaches democracy and rule of law but does not practice it. The image of India abroad is of a tolerant country but the reality is otherwise as democracy notion include protection of minorities. The Hindu fundamentalists must be forced to end the persecution of the poor and hapless minorities in India. India’s political system based on democratic pluralism theoretically provides space for all ethnic groups and sub-nationalities. But, in actuality, there have been severe deficiencies in the way it functions. Suffice it to say, political empowerment of the people is still far from complete, even after six decades of independence. Despite an overarching commitment to respecting citizens’ freedom to express their views, peacefully protest, and form their own organizations, the Indian government lacks the will and capacity to implement many laws and policies designed to ensure the protection of rights. There is a pattern of denial of justice and impunity, whether it is in cases of human rights violations by security forces, or the failure to protect women, children, and marginalized groups such Dalits, tribal groups, and religious minorities. The failure to properly investigate and prosecute those responsible leads to continuing abuses. The government has failed to protect vulnerable communities including Dalits, tribal groups, and religious minorities such as Sikhs, Muslims and Christians.
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A Theocratic state like PAKISTAN should NOT talk about secularism.
Its almost like SAUDI ARABIA………lecturing on secularism
LOL
LOL
Pakistan’s official KILL POLICY…..
According to DAWN newspaper…….Pakistan have 27 CHARGES under which A PERSON CAN BE KILLED BY THE STATE………USING “RELIGION OF PEACE” ISLAM………..
India has only one.
From Dawn:
Wednesday, 07 Oct, 2009 | 01:30 AM PST
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“AN eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” said Gandhi around 80 years ago but we still have to learn that lesson.
Pakistan ranks amongst the countries that issue the highest number of death sentences per year and has more than 7,000 prisoners on death row.
##(Only 1 person has been hanged in India since 1995)
The logic used by the government has always been that such a punishment would deter transgressors from committing offences. Right now in Pakistan there are 27 charges that carry the death penalty.
##(In India….only one..Murder that too in “rarest of rare cases” )
One of the reports by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has actually shown that the crime rate in Pakistan has gone up in the past few years.
Other than its ineffectiveness in preventing crime, it is unjust because of the inherent infallibility of judgment. It can never be determined for sure if a crime was actually committed which may result in punishing an innocent person.
Moreover, in Pakistan, torture is often used to extract ‘confessions’ and evidence, which makes human rights’ activists believe that in the past capital punishment has often been used as a political tool by the state.
However, even if for a moment we assume that a person has committed a murder for which he has been sentenced to death, then a question arises: how can a state establish a sense of justice by doing exactly what that person is being punished for?
In Pakistan, some issues that may result in death sentence are as minor as sabotaging railway infrastructure. In such cases, the state is simply violating the right to life of its citizens.
Amidst all this, the role of our media has been preposterous. It represents a mob mentality that shouts “Lynch him! Lynch him!” at every transgression.
This has shaped public opinion in support of capital punishment over the years. I urge the government to abolish the death penalty and give a chance of holding a free and fair trial to the people already on death row to mark the World Day against the Death Penalty on Oct 10.
ZAINEB MAJOKA
Lahore
Secular or non secular I think India far better place to live than Pakistan.
And we have people who are worried about our country, our people and do not waste time and energy in finding faults with others. Zahoor reminds me of typical Pakistani mentality, if you want to take away attention from your failures and woes start barking towards India and everything becomes fine.
Pakistan lost in champions trophy, people were out after blood of Imtekhab Alam and Yonus Khan, pushed to the wall Imtekhab came out with time tested tactic, he started bashing India and Indian media and suddenly everybody forgot about defeat and I will not be surprised if Pakistan actually decide not to have cricketing ties with India and ban Simon Tauffel.
It is actually hilarious sometime !! country like Pakistan talking of democracy and people like Zahoor talking about secularism…
Gandhi was a failure,in his profession as a lawyer, also a very concieted Hindu.
Ofcourse Indian constitution provides a secular ideolgy, but the ground rules are different,Hindu religion it self is a very confused idol worshipping concept. Caste system in manupilative and people are divided in castes and creeds. Ofcourse some of them are militants and are cowards, they can only attack helpless peoples like choritians,dalits and others.. It is Anarchy on the ground and name sake it is secular, Correct secularism is in USA and Eurpoe, Mostly Hundu’s are concieted and manulpilative lot.,They dont mix with others and wuld like to do business among theselevs , so the money stays in their tribes,
Good joke Fakir mamu……
You deserve it bhateejay….. Sheesha dekhnaay say kuch takhleef hotte hoo gee,
hoota hai,hoota hay. Tuu kiss ka chailaa hai.. ji ji ji ji
“people are divided in castes and creeds.”
Fakir lal…..must remember this:
Shia,Sunni, Ismaili, Ahmadi, Submitter’s, “Quran Aloners”.
Groups within Sunni: Barelvi, Wahabi, Sufi.
Lol.
Every religion is divided.
Akhtar Hussain bhai,
i am sorry.
Plz accept my apology
Some of my comments might hurt u…….but its not for u.
Its meant for these ignorant Pakis.
Replace India with Pakistan in this article and Hindus with Sunni extremists and you’ll be amazed how familiar it all looks.
Persecution of Christians & Minorities in Islamic Pakistan
http://tinyurl.com/ydflvm9
Very well researched article that everyone should read.
Persecution of Christians & Minorities in Islamic Pakistan
tinyurl.com/ydflvm9
Very well researched article that everyone should read.
Its good to see Pakistani writing about Secularism
sid
Virus of secularism is always transfered to our culture from Indian side but our establishment gives us vaccination of extremism to us.This way they get their share from this therapy and let others to make experiments on us on the name of human behaviors and development.
This time our DR musharf was selected to give us vaccination but as it was expired so it over reacted on us and now whole nation has been indulged on taliban phobia, another side effect of this vaccination.
@nazia
ha ha ha… you surely work in health industry there
Sid
If you people need this vaccination you can take it from BJP and if they dont provide you just contact us, we have surplus in our stock.As a neighbor you are preferred and supplied on priority basis.
US Lawmakers Press Pakistan on Religious Tolerance - VOA
U.S. lawmakers want Pakistan to do more to fight religious intolerance, saying the issue should play a bigger role in U.S. assistance to and engagement with Pakistan in coming years. Witnesses at a congressional hearing testified that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws encourage extremism.
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which carry a potential death penalty for derogatory remarks or actions against Islam, the Koran or the Prophet Muhammad, have long been controversial within and outside the country.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other organizations say the laws have been used to squelch dissent and oppress Muslim and non-Muslim religious minorities, and have often led to violence.
Anti-Christian violence in the Pakistani city of Gojra this past August resulted in the deaths of at least seven Christians, with 50 homes burned.
Nina Shea, of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, says additional events since Gojra have underscored that religious tensions continue. “Since Gojra several reports have been made of Muslims tearing out pages of [a] Koran and leaving them on church property, including [at] the Associated Reform Presbyterian Church in another Punjab village on September. This was an apparent attempt to ignite more religious violence,” she said.
Shea and other witnesses support a non-binding resolution introduced in the House of Representatives by Republican Congressman Christopher Smith, who says radicalism poses a threat to Islam. “In the intermediate and long-term, certainly these radical Islamic jihadists and others are the greatest threat to Islam and to believers such as yourselves,” Smith said.
The resolution says U.S. non-military assistance, which will triple over the next five years, must support an interfaith dialogue begun by Pakistan’s Minister of Minorities Affairs Shabaz Bhatti, and help the government counter religiously-motivated hostility and violence.
It also urges Pakistan to repeal the anti-blasphemy laws, and investigate acts and punish perpetrators of religiously-motivated violence.
“The blasphemy law, and to be persecuting people because of their faith, we want a great relationship with Pakistan, but I think this is just unacceptable,” said Republican Representative Frank Wolf, who is among lawmakers supporting Smith’s resolution.
Non-Muslims make up less than five percent of Pakistan’s population of 175 million. Four million of the country’s Muslims are Ahmadis, who say they face increasing persecution.
…
voanews.com/english/2009-10-08-voa71.cfm?renderforprint=1
R, why you Indians are so defensive all the time, and find faults in Pakiatan, Ofocurse Pakistan has bigger faults.
But R , you r a first class ass.(Khoota) in Indian Lnaguage,
Umair, great link and great insights on this evil nation and evil people of Pakistan!
Fakir, why are we Indians defensive? We are defensive because we know that the evil propaganda here about India is wrong and we will defend the pride of our mother-land with our life! By the way, what right do you guys have to even write about India, first find your own faults and solve them instead of worrying about India. This is Pakspectator, not Indiaspectator! Is India Secular? LOL, did you ever think If Pakistan is Evil? Write about that first!
Agree that your nation and your people are evil. A virus for the whole humanity. A crazed mob of religious bigots! You can’t compare yourselves with India even in your wildest dreams!
Jai
You are right we have no wildest dream so nothing to compare with India on the basis of extremism.If Pakistan is evil then India is devil a twin brother born lately after few hrs of creation of Pakistan.If we have religious tension in our side then how you can ignore fanaticism existence in different sects of India.
From which side Indians looks defensive.your lines and emotions are self explanatory all the time.