Is India Still A Secular Country?

India is a secular country by law and we all know this. But nowadays our secular spirit is in danger.

Though as individuals we may have a specific religious identity, the State (from the district level up to the Centre) is to present itself as secular. But today everything seems to be the other way round. Today, most political parties, particularly the BJP, which is ruling in most states of the nation, are openly supporting a particular religion, while seated at the highest peak of political power. In the very recent past we have come across many such examples. Aggressive support for the CM of the state of Uttar Pradesh as a leader in Hinduism is one of them.

It’s fine that to support any religion at the individual level, as the freedom to do so is also a part of secularism. But it becomes hazardous when you support a religious leader as the head of India’s most populous state, at the expense of peoplefrom different religions.

“Mai Hindu hu aur mai eid nahi manata (I am Hindu, and I don’t celebrate Eid).” After hearing such statements from UP CM Yogi Adityanath, it really makes me think that CM Sahaab has forgotten his oath to the Constitution in which he said that, as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, he would not discriminate between any of his people on the basis of anything. But here he is, discriminating between people on the basis of religion, and making such statements in public gatherings.

It makes me wonder—for whom is he the chief minister? Only for Hindus? He is the CM who indirectly supports Gaurakshaks and Bajrang Dals for their ‘great deeds’ of killing people (usually Muslims) in the name of ‘cow protection’. He is the CM who believes in disturbing couples on Valentine’s Day by saying that one should be aware of love jihadis and that the day should be about worshipping one’s parents. All of this simply shows the narrow-mindness of the person who is, unfortunately, ruling the state. And why should we only look into cases of love jihad and gaurakshaks? We need to look at another thing tainting the spirit of secularism. And it is this.  Mr. CM has recently declared that an airport shall be constructed in UP in the name of the God Ram. The construction of am airport is well and good, but naming it after a god related to a specific religion is against the spirit of secularism. Why? Let’s look at what ‘secularism’ means.

In the West, it means not recognising any religion at all, but in a country like India, with a multitude of religions, it is impossible to not recognise religions when they are part of the very lives of the people. So, here, being secular means to ensure equal space for all religions, and not consider any one religion as the State’s religion. This also means that the State shall not support one religion at the cost of the other.

Therefore, naming the airport after a Hindu god is against the spirit of secularism. It would mean the State is in support of one set of people, and ready to neglect others. Our leader Yogi Adityanath celebrates Diwali and cheers “Jai Shri Ram”, saying that he is a Hindu and does not celebrate Eid at all.

There is another example from the same state where the Haj House of the Uttar Pradesh was painted saffron (it was originally green) soon after Yogi Adityanath was appointed CM. His government proposed the construction of more gaushaalas (cow sheds) in the state, to prevent the killing of cows, rather than constructing hospitals for the humans who are being attacked by saffron forces.

Yet another example was when a saffron flag was unfurled on the building of the Udaipur High Court, in place of the national flag. National media did not report on the same for quite a while. What does this mean? They prove a distortion of the formal secular spirit of the state. This is an indication of the great danger that our secular structure and Constitutional institutions are in.

Talking just of BJP’s rule will be quite unjust. We need to look at another and more alarming example that is of TMC’s rule in West Bengal. There, things are the exact opposite. But let’s see how. Didi (Mamtaa Banerjee) is ruling in a despotic manner, where she is in aggressive support of Muslims and in violent opposition of Hindus. She has said that Hindus in Bengal cannot be in distress. She often appears in Hijab and the VHP has called her anti-Hindu. The Hindu Bengalis I have spoken to are disgruntled. They often shared with me their pains living under her rule. Such circumstances don’t just violate the secular spirit of the state, I believe they also violate the very spirit of democracy and establish an autocratic rule.

As citizens of this great country, we need to think and be and wary about these things. If we don’t take these things seriously, then it will directly harm India’s democracy as well as the secular structure of its Constitutional institutions.

We need to think rationally as these politicians, political parties, as well as the national lapdog media are on a mission of dividing you on the basis of religion, so that your focus is diverted from the country’s main agendas like ending unemployment, and improving education, to name a few. They want to transform you from rational citizens into a deadly mob to establish the power of a single ideology across the nation.

One thing I would like to note, however, is this: talking of minorities doesn’t mean secularism and talking of majorities doesn’t mean communalism. Both groups need to be considered equally, as both encounter problems from their positions. But this requires not favouring one at the cost of another. It requires maintaining decorum in society. Kindly think over all this, otherwise you will be the next hostage to such anti-secular circumstances. Speaking against the powers that be is democracy.