Secularism

The process of secularization starts when institutions of society in different functional areas resist subservience to established religion and again a measure of autonomy. In the process, the institutions and functionaries of religion lower their control over several fields for social activity such as politics, economics, education, medicine, and so on. This marks ascendancy of civil authority. Many of the traditional functions of religion are taken care of by secular institutions. Even in the religious sphere, dissent is tolerated: under-standing and accommodation emerges as the principal theme governing inter-religious group behaviors. Sources of cognition, motivation, and sanctions get diversified. Religion does not remain the sole, or even the most important agency from which social values, goals, and dogmas of action emanate. By adopting rational and scientific procedures, a secular society chalks out alternative paths of social action. When necessary, it resists any kind for interference from religious authority.

The situation in many developing societies however is different. They have gone secular by legislative fiats. They lack the infrastructure for the emergence of true secularism. The modern institutional framework they have adopted is limited in its reach and in its penetration. They do not as yet have diversified institutions that can effectively perform traditional functions of religion. Religious orientations shape attitudes to work, wealth and happiness, and binder the growth of an ethic that would be conducive to progress. Secularization is thus doubly indicated for these societies: to curb divisiveness that springs from religious differences and to clear the way for the emergence of structural-motivational framework suited to rapid development. But in many developing societies of the contemporary world, several centuries appear to coexist. Many diverse bonds of cohesion operate with equal force to draw the allegiance of different segments of population.

Consider the case of India- an old society but a new nation. Tribalism, linguism and, above all, religious communalism are hard and painful facts of life seen here. They have persisted form the last half of the century with a singular them only at our own peril.

From the very beginning, India has been a land of powerful religious sects and religious tolerance became a traditional social value. The coming of the British encouraged the same trend. The East India Company, after obtaining the Diwani in 1765, maintained strict neutrality in religious matters, which was dictated by prudence as well as by commercial interests. Even though Christian missionaries were eager to spread their message, administrators of the company were influenced by the liberal political philosophy of Edmund Burke.

However, the policy of non-intervention was set aside by William Bentinck who was influenced by the prevailing public opinion among the Hindus as spearheaded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy to abolish Sati in 1829 and to introduce secular education from the time of William Bentinck that the State intervened to bring about social reform at the instance of the public opinion as represented by the new middle classes.

The Western-educated Indians, who established the Indian national Congress in 1885, were secular in their outlook and continued to follow the lead given by Ram Mohan Roy in their social and political outlook. However, with the partition of Bengal in 1905, Indian leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh became more Hindu in their outlook. While agitation against the Bengal partition started the movement of direct action, it also gave birth to the Muslim League in 1906, which was religious and communal representation principle in 1909 and finally to the two-nation theory and the partition of the country in 1947 culminating in the establishment of the Islamic State of Pakistan.

Though Mahatma Gandhi was very secular in his outlook and was responsible for many fundamental changes in Indian society like the abolition of untouchability, the breakdown of barriers between various castes, and promotion of equality among sexes, he was deeply religious in his outlook. However, his religious outlook was basically tolerant towards all religions. Though 85 per cent of the population of India consist of the followers of Hinduism, the Indian Constitution adopted a secular outlook because of the tradition of religious tolerance from the time of Ashoka, reverberating among members of the new middle classes who in the 19th century were eager to establish a secular democracy in the country based on the principles of liberalism, the humanistic outlook of great Indian leaders, and finally the intense desire to usher in a new economy by industrialization so that the standard of living of the masses could be raised. All these four trends of the Indian society are expressed in unequivocal terms in the Indian Constitution adopted by the constituent Assembly in 1950. This is the reason why “traditional-bound, caste ridden and authoritarian society” like India adopted secularism as a basic principle of Indian State and Indian society.