Introduction
India is a mix of religions and traditions, and this is what keeps India’s culture alive. In my own town, Diwali lamps glowing while at the same time the mosque nearby was calling people for prayer, and the gurudwara was serving food to anyone who came by and not based on religion. For us, religion is not something hidden away; it’s part of ordinary life, festivals, family customs, even friendly talks with neighbours. The Constitution of India[1] calls India a “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic,” which basically means no faith is supposed to get special treatment. But unlike countries in the West, where religion and state are kept far apart, in India secularism is more like a balancing act, where people, even with different beliefs, still find ways to live together. This kind of diversity and mix is not easy. It asks for both personal freedom and social peace. As a student of law, I notice this not only in books and judgments but also in everyday scenes, whether it’s a busy marketplace or someone quietly praying at their home.
Historical Roots: A Response to Division
The idea of secularism in India grew out and it’s a consequence of its colonial past. The British often use religion as a tool to set Hindus and Muslims against each other and try to spread hate among them. This strategy left deep scars, like in the 1905 partition of Bengal, when mistrust between communities became sharper and turned into hate among each other. In response to such types of action figures, like Mahatma Gandhi attempted to unite people, reminding them of theircommon humanity and brotherhood. His prayer and congregation where people gather, belonging to different religions and communities to join in, and those were not rituals they were a brave defiance against britisher spewed division[2]. and Nehru jii on the the other hand imagined a rational India and religious fundamentalism, not B.R. Ambedkar advocated fierce safeguards for minorities and lower castes in the Constitution, drawing from his own painful experiences of discrimination on the basis of caste. India’s secularism was not borrowed from others and the West but developed naturally and evolved from its own social context[3]. The brutality of Partition in 1947 is an old example that taught the importance of having such a system to unite different communities in peace and harmony, and lessons learned from it continue to enlighten India even in modern times..
Religion and Law: Navigating the Uniform Civil Code
The controversy regarding a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is the key concern for India’s struggle to embrace secularism. The marital, divorce, and succession personal law varies from religion to religion and Article 44[4] of the Constitution has made a mention of the concept of a common code which shall be applicable to citizens of all faiths primarily with the objective of ensuring equality largely to women who are denied it in the everyday practices. The supporters of UCC contend that it would bring greater equality, for instance, by providing protection to Muslim women against arbitrary divorce or by providing Christian women with the right to equal inheritance. Conversely, critics have the view that a single code will dilute cultural traditions and place a uniform code on India’s culturally diverse population and to an extent, the same holds and a best example of the same is the manner in which Hindu personal laws were reformed during the 1950s, but Muslim personal laws are a sensitive subject matter and heavily associated with individuals’ identity.
The Supreme Court of India has also been included in all these controversies. As the earlier In the 1985 Shah Bano case[5], the Court has given maintenance rights to a divorced Muslim woman which cannot be claimed under Muslim personal laws. This led to a start of battle between gender justice vs. religious freedom and resulted in the 1986 Muslim Women Act being passed under political pressure. Another example
The judgement of Ayodhya[6] in 2019 tried to settle a long pending case by saparetely giving space for a temple and a mosque in the spirit of peace and in the earlier case of Kesavananda Bharati[7] in 1973 the Supreme court held secularism as an essential feature of the Constitution, and the S.R. Bommai case[8] in 1994 prevented states from promoting a single religion. And even more recently In 2017 in Shayara Bano’s case[9] which struck down instant triple talaq which surely is a step towards gender equality. Both of these cases show how the courts are balancing fairness with deference to diversity.It also leaves us with the ubiquitous question of how can all be assured of justice in so big and diverse a country?
The UCC is just one of the controversial ones there is also Anti-conversion law in certain states that has brought new controversy. While they are presented as a means of safeguarding communities, they are frequently criticized as stifling individual freedom. For instance – the 2020 anti-conversion law[10] in Uttar Pradesh resulted in a large number of arrests in interfaith marriage cases that raised questions over individual rights and public feeling and these concerns indicates that secularism in India is not static and it is a continuous negotiation that is influenced by courts, politics, and society as well..
Secularism and Politics
Politics and religion in India are always works together, and it’s not always a peaceful work. Some political parties will do dirty politics and try to use specific religions to get votes which is very common nowdays and which actually goes against the real meaning of secularism. And one of the biggest example for this was the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. It showed how politics and politicians can bring up hate and tension between communities. But still not everything is negative. There are also many good efforts happening around us. For example – in Delhi there’s a program called Sarva Dharma Sambhav where Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs come together to talk and understand each other and share their openions. And even local festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi which brings people from different religions together to celebrate it.
I can tell this by my own experience that, During Eid, my Hindu and other friends visit my home to eat sheer khurma or sewai. And during their fertivals and activities like Diwali or Garba nights, I go with them to enjoy and have fun in their house. These may look like small things but they actually are great experience for me and which mean a lot to and these are the moments that remind me that secularism is not just a rule written in the Constitution but it is something we live and feel in our day to day life.
Modern Challenges
Globalization, urbanization and rapidly growing technology is changing the secular status of India in many ways. Social media as well as education helps to promotes critical and rational thinking which surely is a good change but they also interfare with old beliefs of the people. Debates about caste or religion on social media platforms like Instagram or any other platform sometimes create backlash from conservative and extremists individuals or groups who spread hatred. Interfaith marriages especially in villages and small towns face a lot of social stigma, family opposition and legal challenges like anti-conversion laws. For example the amendment to Gujarat’s 2021 anti-conversion law[11] has again started the debate between individuals choice and societal pressure. There are some political ideologies that shape the way how secularism works like for example the BJP’s focus on cultural nationalism has in some extent dominated the public discourse and made a negative effects on unity among people while media reporting by both mainstream media and social media can divide or focus on people’s movement to bring unity among different groups. In big cities like Delhi and Bengaluru which has diverse population and which displays both tension and potential maybe through protests, electioneering and internet debates which helps to recognizes conflicts but there are some interfaith webinars also which show dialogue and collaboration between individuals of different faiths or religion.so it is clear that Technology is both a challenge as well as hope for a better future because youths are using it to bring people together despite the differences of religion.
Conclusion
Secularism in India is not fixed, it keeps on changing time to time and It’s not only about living with people of different background but it’s like mixed in our daily life itself. The Constitution has given the main plan which says about freedom and equality which is good in paper but in real life things are what we see in our daily life. Like when people share sweets in festivals or help each other or stand together when something wrong happens, that is the real meaning of secularism.
Even small things matter the same as big court decisions. In coming time India has to manage many things like rights, culture, open talks and many more that is not easy but that’s what makes our secularism kind of special. It’s not only written in books but lives with people in their daily life. Every word we speak, every meal we share, every little protest or case, all of that makes our country what we desire it to be.
Author(s) Name: Sijan Qureshi (Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur)
References:
[1] The Constitution of India
[2] A A Engineer, On Secularism and Communalism (Hope India Publications 2003).
[3] Rajeev Bhargava, The Promise of India’s Secular Democracy (Oxford University Press 2010).
[4] The Constitution of India art 44.
[5] Mohd Ahmed Khan v Shah Bano Begum (1985) 2 SCC 556 (SC); Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986.
[6] M Siddiq (D) Thr Lrs v Mahant Suresh Das (Ayodhya Case) (2019) 18 SCC 1 (SC).
[7] Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala (1973) 4 SCC 225 (SC).
[8] S R Bommai v Union of India (1994) 3 SCC 1 (SC).
[9] Shayara Bano v Union of India (2017) 9 SCC 1 (SC).
[10] Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act 2020.
[11] Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act 2021.
