THE NADIR OF INDIAN SECULARISM

                                             ( Narendra Modi as Aurangzeb)
( http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-11-12/news/43980943_1_aurangzeb-narendra-modi-dara-shikoh )


The nadir of India’s much vouched “Secularism” was evident to anyone with perspicacity to study it’s harrowing contradictions. But RSS-BJP’s political resurgence from near-oblivion in 2014, is rather not the cause but the consequence of it. No discerning mind can discord with the palpable fact that BJP causes schisms between communities, actually Hindu-Muslim & Hindu-Christians; but the larger matter of concern is that the edifice of Indian secularism is neither formidable nor are its “root arguments” pedantically constructed through debates. “Indian Secularism” , which we Indians ,mostly middle-class, vaingloriously present , was always mired with plethora of dichotomies. So definitely this is not the diatribe against Badshah Modi (who often reminds us of  Aurangzeb) but rather against the Secular Satraps of modern India , who are reminiscent of the indigenous feudal sardars of medieval India. [To finding faults will only result into writing a thesis but to save time , lets restrict it to a blog which will also mean certain intricacies will be omitted , contributors though can contribute further , if at all]. 

1)      Post-Nehru Congress’s Pseudo-secularism

Congress describes itself as the foundation of Secularism in India, as against BJP – the communal villain inveterate to expunge this foundation. This is but an illustration of “oversimplification”. This is not to say that Congress is a communal organisation, but then “communalism” is not an antonym to “secularism” but rather a “consequence” of its absence in a complex society like India.

The Indian society is a web of caste, religions, ethnicities, linguistic groups. These four parameters do not divide the Indian society into simply horizontal & vertical stices , but rather quite intricately like a web. In such a society, political stability thus comes at the cost of making colossal compromise. The Congress that formed India had to involve people from all shades , religious conservatives (many Hindu & Muslim clergies joined it for various reasons) , progressives (eg. Nehru & the Congress Left) ,pro-Muslim secularists like Azad *, pro-Hindu secularists like Patel *, even communalists like (eg. Tandon , Malviya ) , even many hard-core atheistic Socialists. Thus in this cacophony “Ideology of Secularism” was sacrificed by superfluous “populism”, though the Secular elite formed the head  of this party , its workers , activists ,politicians belonged to different shades on the Secular-Communal spectrum. This explains the large number of riots under Congress Rule ( Hyderabad , Bhagalpur ,Bombay , Babri Masjid) result of its unwillingness to restrain & punish its Hindu communal members & sometimes also its Muslim communal members, its lethargy towards debating Secularism , its declivity towards the stalled project of Hindu Social reforms  , its continuous appeasement of communal & conservative muslims causing foeticide of Muslim Social reforms (Shah Bano & Shariah), its policy of encouraging Sikh Fundamentalists (Bhindrawale) for political gains & their consequent ruthless action (Golden Temple ) on seeing their former allies become a threat , using Religion to incite a mob the avenge the Party leaders’s (Indira Gandhi) assassination (anti-Sikh riots), non-punishment of the perpetrators (Tytler & Kamalnath).

Congress needs to become more “intellectual” than populist weeding out obnoxious conservatives & communalists , punish the communalists within it , initiates the debate on Secularism pragmatical bridging the gap between theory & practice , supports social reforms across societies , until then Indian society will continue to remain in a limbo & remain hostage to all forms of fissiparous & obscurantist forces.

2)      The Alien Communist-Rationalist conglomerate

This “Left-Atheist-Rationalist “ conglomerate remains the only group that one can call as “closer” to Secularism .This group can be broken down into two : a) Intellectuals-cum-academicians  & , b) The ex-Hindu Nihilists.

Before we proceed discussing these categories, it should be remembered that both these sets of people belonged to the so-called Hindu socio-cultural communities, though all of them were atheists.

Academecians:  They were responsible for exclusively digging through history, folklores, shastras, sociology & anthropology of thousands of communities that inhabit this landmass. They , the people like Irawati Karve , Romila Thapar, M N Srinivas & D D Kosambi  are the ones who have persevered as the vanguard of social justice , secularism & truth in the Indian society.

Nihilists: They as social activists , like Dr Ambedkar, Periyar , Illaiah , Arundhati Roy , being quintessentially “revolutionary” , prioritised “agitation” , “didactics” & often on the extreme even rhetoric to attain a casteless , egalitarian & secular society. Like the following :

http://www.countercurrents.org/ilaiah310808.htm

Such things are counter-productive.

The consolidation of Secularism in India & Communal harmony will require to re-debate history & refuting ideological based writing of the Indian history by not just the Rightists , but also by Leftists. Iam sure the Right will never do it but are the Leftists willing to review their writings??

3)      Nebulous Secularism

I had this comment by a friend ,best describing the story of the “idea of secularism” in India

Gandhian wish would have been “Sarva Dharma Sahishnuta“(equal empathy towards all religions) and Nehruvian would have been “Sarva Dharma Nirapekshata” (equal indifference towards all religions)!! Mercifully Mrs.Gandhi did not define “Secularism” when she inserted that word. What are we then? Indians are constitutionally built, as you say, for “Sarva Dharma Samabhav” (equal attitude towards all religions). Constitution, if it errs, does so in favour of religions of the Minorities & that is in the finest tradition of India. It appears paradoxical since special treatment to Minority religions would mean neither Equality nor Indifference. May be Empathy? This “favouritism” towards Minorities goes back to days of yore as evidenced in the 7th century Travelogues of Huen Tsang (Xuanzang) when a Hindu Harsh Vardhan ruled entire North Indian landmass and placed the Rights of Worship of Buddhists above that of even Brahmins despite attempts on his life by the latter right in the presence of the Guest. Indian style “Secular” credentials have been thus earned not merely by inserting a word or two in Preamble but by centuries of incredible ability of men like Ashok, Harsh, Akbar, Dara, Teg Bahadur & above all Gandhi to be Inclusive even at the cost of their lives. If left unchecked, present government, under the slogan of ‘appeasement of none and justice to all’ would like to alter the Constitution & go against that very Ethos of India. To my mind that means treason. That mustn’t be allowed.

 There is strong fatalism in his definition of Indian Secularism. Its longevity in this form will certainly also help increasing a feeling among the hindus that the entire Indian Secularism ( I mean all shadesis all about Hinduphobia. This will also prolong Hindutva. One needs to debate it.

4)THE FOREIGN MUSLIM vs NATIVE MUSLIM NARRATIVE

Sadly , not just the Right-wing but also Centrist & Leftist  historiography often end up giving much importance to the Supercaste muslims than the uppercaste muslims (Indian uppercastes like Rajput,Jat,Gujjar) or lower caste muslims (Pasmanda, Kammis ,Momin Ansaris etc) . The Uppercaste muslims ruled parts of India directly like their pre-Islamic ancestors or Hindu counterparts , they spoke the local languages & were indigenous unlike the Supercastes who spoke Farsi & Turki. The dominance of the Foreign-origin Muslim narrative over the Native muslim narrative helped in creating the idea of “the other” between lower caste Hindus & lower caste muslims , upper caste Muslims & Hindus. For eg . Babur invades India . Rana Sanga leads a band of three Rajput kings & one Pathan king to fight this Mongol-invader. The wars & massacres became part of ballads of the Rajasthanis long after the war ( which is quite natural across the globe). The Hindutvavadis hijack the legends & folks to make this as Hindu vs Muslim war. The Left reacts by trying to glorify Babur as a great Indian & a benign invader (Babur was the same as Curzon or Clive , in fact far worse as Mongols are known for unprecedented barbarism ;Halaku Khan ,Timor ,Chenghiz were all ancestors to Babur). This only helps the Hindutvavadis.

Rather the Left should have highlighted the martyrdom of Rajput king Raja Hasam Khan Meo of Mewat &   Mahmood Lodhi- the Pathan feudal from Agra. Raja Hasan Khan is an ancestor to all Hindu Rajputs as much as Rana Sanga is , but how many do know about them .It is here that the Left could have used the same native folks to create a broader ethno-nationalism among the Rajasthanis ,West UttarPradeshis etc. Because Folks remain the best vehicle to propagate history.This in turn would have strengthened local unity among Hindus & Muslims of same caste , language, race have & Muzzafarnagars could have been avoided. As it is this local grassroots unity or strenghthening of Ethno-linguistic cultures ( that squashes both Hindu & Muslim nationalisms).

5) RATIONAL MOVEMENT 
The social & cultural chasm between the Hindus & Muslims (esp. the middle-class)got augmented  during the British due to the different overal reactions from both the communities to Western ideas. Both had conservatives & both had liberals. But in Hindus the overall proclivity to reforms &  in Muslims the overall proclivity to "Safeguard of Identity" (for true as well as imaginary reasons) resulted in the former searching for pan-Indianism & the latter searching for pan-Ummahism. Thus the Hindu social reforms , not just reformed the different Hindu communities to certain extent but also deepened Indian nationalism. On the contrary , while there were reform movements among Indian muslims too ,they were always marred by the apprehension of "Muslim identity" due to birth of a more progressive Hindu middle-class (social-economic fear) as well as aggressive Hindu Rightists (political fear). This finally limited them to focussing on the "Muslim Past" ,both Indian & non-Indian.The Khilafat Movement as well as Sir Syed & Allama Iqbal are good examples. 
This only furthered the chasm between the communities. This also partly contributed to Social & economic downfall of Indian Muslims.
Today , not just that pro-rational reform movements have to revived among Hindus but also the civil society needs to trigger Muslim reform movements. Further , instead of pan-Indian Hindu Reformism , rather there is a need to conflate local Hindu & Muslim Reform movements.
This would not just sow the seeds of progressive thinking among the communities or improve their social conditions but rather create a stronger sense of brotherhood , that in turn can counterpoise & expunge Hindutva forces.