Nothing secular about pseudo-secularism

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In India the debate between secularism and pseudo-secularism is never ending but let's for a moment pause and have a look at where we stand today.

The word "secular" was inserted into the Preamble of our Constitution by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, during the Emergency in India. It implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance. In other words, India does not have an official state religion. Every person has the right to preach, practice and propagate any religion they choose. The government must not favour or discriminate against any religion. It must treat all religions with equal respect. All citizens, irrespective of their religious beliefs are equal in the eyes of law.

Let's now come to understand the term 'pseudo-secularism'. It is the state of implicit non-secular trends in the face of pledged secularism. The term is used by groups who perceive a double standard exhibited within the established secular governing policy towards culturally different groups.

In murky Indian politics, these two terms are often being used and misused to suit the vested interests of the main players. Whilst the Left and the centrist parties call themselves as guardians of "secularism" and it therefore means the right-wing parties are "communal" party. On the other hand, the right-wing parties accuse their political rivals of following "pseudo-secularism" which, according to them, means their political rivals are anti-Hindus.

This debate between secularism and pseudo-secularism underlines one common trait. That's the vote bank politics. In their rush to gain votes and thereby power, politicians of all colours strive to outwit each other by conveniently shifting their stand even if that means hurting the religious sentiments of one group or other.

From Shah Bano to Salman Rushdie to Taslima Nasreen, the so-called secularists would always ensure that the sentiments of minorities are respected even at the risk of making mockery of the word "secular" that they themselves inserted in the Constitution.

Only recently when DMK President Karunanidhi deliberately hurt the time-honoured feelings of millions of Hindus no one dared to raise any finger against him.

In any real secular country, a person, who is under the oath office and insults a religion and acts as a source of misunderstanding between communities, would have been prosecuted. Even under the Indian laws, to which Karunanidhi himself is one of the guardians, he has violated Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code which states "Deliberate or malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs".

Not to leave behind, the Hindutva brigade too never misses an opportunity to use religion to suit their vested interests. From Advani's disastrous Rath Yatra in 1990 to build a Ram Temple in Ayodhya through to the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 and the 2002 communal pogrom in Gujarat, the proponents of Hindutva played the villain role to the perfection.

Even though there were credible intelligence reports, which were released later in which Advani was quoted as saying, "A temple of Rama Lala, who represents the religious beliefs of Hindus, will be constructed at any cost through kar seva. No power can stop it". The case against L K Advani hasn't so far seen the light of the day thanks to the Liberhan Commission. Along with other luminaries of the BJP, Advani was charged with "criminal conspiracy, intentional destruction and defiling a place of worship, criminal trespass and intimidation of public servants on duty" by the police. The famous Australian journalist Christopher Kremer in his book "Inhaling the Mahatma" quotes Mr. Advani as saying, "It was the happiest day of my life" (page 173). Ironically Advani later on became the Home Minister in charge of the Central Bureau of Investigation!

Recently, Dr Yeduguri Samuel Rajasekhara Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, has decided to create a separate department for Christians on the lines of Minorities Welfare Department. Further, he held a meeting on issues of Christian minorities with senior officials and decided to help the Christians on their visit to their holy land. They will be allowed to go for the visit in batches and all assistance like Haj pilgrimage will be given.

This brings us to the latest development - the outpouring pent-up anger of the Hindu society after the revocation of land allotted to the Amarnath Shrine Board is not an aberration but a genuine show of frustration on the part of Jammu's Hindu majority who have been treated in a step-motherly fashion by the Valley's politicians.

The truth is that the land was given in pursuance of an Assembly resolution and implemented by ministers belonging to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's PDP - the party that has been the loudest in demanding cancellation of the allocation.

One could argue where were the political parties when the original inhabitants of Kashmir, the Pandits, were systematically cleansed by the Muslim extremists? Nor are they there now to take up the case of the systematic demographic movement which is happening in the North-Eastern states because of the illegal immigration of the Bangladeshis.

The Hindu on August 10 published a news item called, "Decline in Assamese-speaking population in 7 districts" highlighting the population of Assamese-speaking people in seven districts of the Brahmaputra Valley declined while that of Bengali speakers there increased over a ten-year period from 1991 to 2001.

The ideological warfare between secular, pseudo-secular and Hindutva groups and the government machinery in the border states gives a free passage to the Bangladeshi Muslims to quietly slip into this country. Who knows soon they may even call for a plebiscite to demand merger of these districts of Assam with Bangladesh.

Let's hope before it is too late there will be some clarity both in thought and action. Otherwise there is a grave danger to the unity and integrity of this nation.

Fondly called 'Aru' by friends, Aravamudhan works for a television company for a living. Originally from Chennai, he has been in Delhi since 1989. Religious, but not fanatic, his family includes a wife and two sons. His hobbies include reading, writing, playing and watching cricket and travelling. And one day he hopes to watch (1) an Ashes match at the Lords, (2) the men's finals at the Wimbledon and (3) an India-Australia test match at any one of the grounds Down Under.