India’s Last Yearns To The Principle Of Secularism - An Analysis Of Crumbling Secular Environment

India’s Last Yearns To The Principle Of Secularism – ‘An Analysis Of Crumbling Secular Environment Of India’

Durga Pandey & Umang Pandey, BA LLB, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab.

ABSTRACT

Secularism is unequivocally an inevitable principle following the co- existence of human beings, especially when it comes in terms to a nation like – India, where subsists heterogeneity in every term of life, be it religions, races, languages and other such multiplicities since ages. “What makes the Indian secularism distinct from the worldly (especially the western secularism) is the concept of ‘tolerance of religions’ and the ‘inter- religious equality’ followed in India rather than a mere church- state separation which totally demarcates the state affairs from religion in every possible aspect.

Based on the cognizance of the famous nationalists of Indian history - Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar and many alike who gave their own views on the necessities of separation of a state from the religious affairs, the supreme rule book of the country- the Indian constitution framed similar principles to promise both negative/positive secularism to its people i.e. ‘freedom of practicing any religion and freedom of being free from every religion’. But with time this principle has got challenged when it came within the path of equality.

This paper would hereby focus on all these aspects of the Indian constitution; focused on making the state a synchronic combination of the traditional and modern, positive and negative secularism, but how the demands of religious consideration, supremacy and communal disparities has sometimes lead to its hindrances further leading to riots and violence all other the country; the reasons for which extend from political intervention to media influence and much more; therefore making it obligatory for this study to investigate and decipher the direction in which this principle of secularism, in India, is actually leading to, through the doctrinal research methodology.

Keywords: Secularism, Secularism in Indian Constitution, Political influence, Tolerance of Religion, Misleading Media.