A Hyphenated Secularism

Context: The construction of the Ram temple has exposed the definitional deficit in the idea of Indian secularism.

Definitional Deficit in the idea of Secularism – Negative Analysis

• Nehruvian legacy of secularism: It is the singular narrative of secularism universally applicable to both India and the West.
• This narrative swallows inherent diversities in the practice of secularism.
• Nehruvian legacy of secularism considers temple construction as an “act of revivalism” while Contemporary secularism considers temple construction as “modern symbol of our culture”.
• Declaims the unmitigated moral ownership by the state of the Ram temple as “majoritarianism”. 
• The hegemonic idea on secularism mocks and bypasses the constituting ingredients of culture and inflicts moral injuries.
• Collective Complacency of Politicians: and elites and the use of a reductionist understanding of the Indian Secularism.
• For E.g. Rajendra Prasad attendance and Nehru disassociation with the Somnath Temple construction has been reduced to Nehru vs Prasad rather than debating on secularism.
• Non-Hindu civilisations have used the melting-pot route: to sustain secularism.
• In Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country, secularism has been exemplified by Hindu culture. 
• Secularism remains uninjured in America even though the President takes oath on a Bible.

• The colonial construct of secularism: misconstrued the Hindu way of life as “Hinduism” 
• Superimposed a Semitic definition on the Hindu way of life.

• Pre-independence census reports revealed that Hindus internalised diversities of thought, modes of worships, philosophies and ways of living. 

• The Constituent Assembly rejected the colonial perpetuation of the concept of religious majority and minorities as detrimental to the idea of secularism.

Positive Analysis of Indian Secularism

• It is based on an unabated process: of assimilation, free from the idea of otherness. 

• This Indian exceptionalism remained suppressed, under colonial, and later under Euro-centric ideologies.
• The ethos of Indian secularism: constitute cultural history, knowledge, traditions and faith in universal values.
• Contemporary popular politics has underpinned and rehabilitated “hyphenated secularism”. 
• It can provide an opportunity to realise the strength of togetherness and shared values beyond the realm of binaries.

Conclusion: Perpetuation of constitutional secularism can be used to free the discourse on secularism from the elites.