SECULARISM IN SOUTH ASIA : ITS

CONDITION AND POSITION

PREPARED & PRESENTED BY :

MANU JHA

SIDDHARTH SINGH

NITIN SHARMA

SAKSHAM YADAV
 DEFINING SECULARISM:

• THE TERM “SECULAR” MEANS BEING “SEPARATE” FROM RELIGION, OR HAVING NO RELIGIOUS
BASIS.
• A SECULAR PERSON IS ONE WHO DOES NOT OWE HIS MORAL VALUES TO ANY RELIGION. HIS
VALUES ARE THE PRODUCT OF HIS RATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC THINKING.
• SECULARISM MEANS SEPARATION OF RELIGION FROM POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL ASPECTS OF LIFE, RELIGION BEING TREATED AS A PURELY PERSONAL MATTER.
• IT IS THE PRINCIPLE OF SEPARATION OF GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS AND PERSONS MANDATED TO
REPRESENT THE STATE FROM RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS AND RELIGIOUS DIGNITARIES. THUS,
RELIGION SHOULD BE SEPARATE FROM ASPECTS OF STATE AND GOVERNANCE.
• SECULARISM CALLS FOR A DOCTRINE WHERE ALL RELIGIONS ARE GIVEN EQUAL STATUS,
RECOGNITION AND SUPPORT FROM THE STATE OR IT CAN ALSO BE DEFINED AS A DOCTRINE THAT
PROMOTES SEPARATION OF STATE FROM RELIGION
 CONTD :-

• NOW , IN THIS WE ARE GOING TO SEE ABOUT THE STATUS OF SECULARISM IN SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES. EACH
COUNTRY HAS THEIR OWN SORT OF PRACTISING RELIGION,BUT TO WHAT EXTENT THERE IS POSSIBILITY OF
SECULARISM, WE ARE GOING TO FIND IT OUT.
• THE SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES ARE ALWAYS CHARACTERIZED BY THEIR POST COLONIAL NATURE. BUT AFTER THEIR
INDEPENDENCE EACH OF THEM START TO DEVOLVE THEIR OWN METHOD OF GOVERNMENT MACHINERY AND
FRAMING LAWS IN ACCORDANCE TO THEIR PRIOR WISH.
• THE RELIGION COMING IN TO POLITICAL SET-UP, STARTS TO PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN DAMAGING THE NATION. WE ALL
KNOW EACH COUNTRIES IN SOUTH ASIA HAVE SOME OR OTHER RELIGION CONFLICTS, DATING BACK SINCE THEIR
INDEPENDENCE.
• SO NOW WE AEE GOING TO FIND OUT THE NATURE OF SECULARISM IN ALL THESE COUNTRIES AND TRY TO GET ABOUT
THE POSITION OF MINORITIES PLACED UNDER THESE PARTICULAR STATES.
 A) BANGLADESH : SECULAR TO ISLAMIC STATE

• SECULARISM IN 1972 CONSTITUTION , FRAMED AFTER INDEPENDENCE; SECULARISM DROPPED IN 1977 AND FIFTH AMENDMENT (1988)
DECLARED ISLAM AS THE STATE RELIGION, BOTH CHANGES MADE DURING THE MILITARY REGIMES.

• MINORITY RIGHTS SEVERELY CONSTRAINED; LARGE-SCALE OUTMIGRATION OF HINDUS TO INDIA; VIOLENT PROSECUTION OF
AHMADIYYA; LAND AND CULTURE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES (BUDDHIST, HINDUS AND ANIMISTS) UNDER ATTACK; UNDER-
REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES.

• CHITTSUCHAGONG HILL CONFLICT (1977–1997); GROWING ISLAMISATION AND INCREASE IN VIOLENCE BY THE ISLAMIST GROUPS;
MULTIPLE MILITARY COUPS AND MILITARY REGIMES; ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY SINCE 1991.

• RELIGIOUS MINORITIES SUCH AS HINDUS AND BUDDHISTS HAVE FACED MORE DISCRIMINATION AFTER THE SECULAR STATE BECAME
ISLAMIC IN BANGLADESH. HINDU TEMPLES FACE REGULAR ATTACKS, AND LANDS OF HINDUS AND INDIGENOUS BUDDHISTS AND
ANIMISTS HAVE BEEN ENCROACHED BY MUSLIMS, INCLUDING IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACT AREA. MILLIONS OF HINDUS, BUT ALSO
BUDDHISTS AND MUSLIMS HAVE MIGRATED TO INDIA DUE TO THESE ASSAULTS AND THE ATMOSPHERE OF FEAR. THOUSANDS OF BIHARI
MUSLIMS, WHO MIGRATED TO EAST PAKISTAN (BANGLADESH) FROM INDIA DURING THE PARTITION, ARE STATE-LESS DUE TO THE DENIAL
OF CITIZENSHIP.
 B.) INDIA : A SECULAR STATE

• RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, EQUAL RIGHTS, AND NON-DISCRIMINATION OF RELIGIOUS GROUPS IN 1950 CONSTITUTION; ‘SECULAR’ ADDED IN CONSTITUTION IN 1976
BY AN AMENDMENT DURING THE STATE OF EMERGENCY.

• MULTIPLE LAWS AND INSTITUTIONS PROTECT AND PROMOTE THE RIGHTS OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES AND OTHER MARGINALISED GROUPS; AUTONOMY TO
LINGUISTIC, ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES; INCREASED REPRESENTATION OF DALIT AND OTHER MINORITIES IN PUBLIC OFFICES, BUT UNDER-
REPRESENTATION OF MUSLIMS IN MOST ARENAS.

• INDIA HAS WITNESSED MAJOR RIOTS BETWEEN HINDU–MUSLIMS WHERE MUSLIMS HAVE OFTEN BEEN THE MAJOR VICTIMS. SIKHS HAVE ALSO BEEN TARGETS
OF RIOTS. OFTEN HINDU NATIONALIST ORGANISATIONS INSTIGATED THE VIOLENCE. VIOLENT CONFLICT HAS ESCALATED IN MUSLIM MAJORITY KASHMIR AFTER
THE CENTRE TOOK AWAY SPECIAL RIGHTS AWARDED TO IT AND FREQUENTLY INTERVENED IN PROVINCIAL POLITICS. THE NORTHEAST WHERE MINORITY
RELIGIOUS GROUPS LIVE STILL LACKS PEACE DESPITE ACCOMMODATION OF SOME VIOLENT SEPARATIST GROUPS. TO THE CREDIT OF THE INDIAN STATE AND
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS, MANY CONFLICTS, INVOLVING BOTH MINORITY ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS, ARE SETTLED. THE STATE MANAGED THE
TAMIL, PUNJAB AND MIZO SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS AS WELL AS OTHER AUTONOMY-SEEKING MOVEMENTS BY GRANTING AUTONOMY OR MORE RIGHTS.

• ONGOING COMMUNAL RIOTS IN KASHMIR AREAS, BUT ARE WELL CONTROLLED. THERE IS NO MILITARY INTERVENTION .
 C.) NEPAL : FROM HINDU TO SECULAR STATE
• FORMAL HINDUISATION BEGAN WITH 1854 COUNTRY CODE; 1962 AND 1990 CONSTITUTIONS DECLARED THE STATE AS
HINDU AND RESTRICTED CONVERSION; INTERIM CONSTITUTION, 2007 DECLARED STATE AS SECULAR; 2015 CONSTITUTION
QUALIFIED SECULARISM.

• HINDU BASED LAWS DISCRIMINATE AGAINST MINORITY RELIGIOUS GROUPS; UNDER-REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES IN
PUBL

• OFFICES; RECOGNITION AND AUTONOMY AT PROVINCIAL AND SUB-PROVINCIAL LEVEL TO INDIGENOUS GROUPS DENIED

• MUSLIM AND CHRISTIANS HAVE OCCASIONALLY BEEN ATTACKED; A DECADE LONG MAOIST REBELLION RAISED
MINORITIES’ ISSUES; TWO COUPS BY MONARCHY; ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY IN MOST YEARS 1990.

• IN NEPAL, DESPITE THE END OF THE HINDU STATE IN 2006, RELIGIOUS MINORITIES SUCH AS BUDDHISTS, MUSLIMS,
CHRISTIANS AND ANIMISTS STILL FACE RELIGIOUS INEQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION. MANY LAWS BASED ON THE HINDU
RELIGION DISCRIMINATE AGAINST MINORITIES.
 D.) PAKISTAN: AN ISLAMIC STATE.

• CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY IN 1949 ADOPTED THE ‘OBJECTIVE RESOLUTION’ WITH AN ISLAMIC CHARACTER. PAKISTAN DECLARED AS AN
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC AND ISLAM DECLARED AS THE STATE RELIGION IN ALL THE THREE CONSTITUTIONS (1956, 1962 AND 1973).

• MANY LAWS DISCRIMINATE AGAINST MINORITIES, EVERYDAY INTOLERANCE TOWARDS MINORITIES AND MINORITY PROSECUTION
WIDESPREAD; VERY FEW MINORITY PROTECTING AGENCIES; UNDER-REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES IN PUBLIC OFFICES AND LACK OF
ACCESS TO SOCIOECONOMIC RESOURCES

• ONGOING CONFLICT IN BALUCHISTAN AND OTHER AREAS; MULTIPLE MILITARY COUPS, LONG SPELL OF MILITARY REGIMES AND STATE OF
EMERGENCY; ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY IN LAST DECADE BUT EXTENSIVE AND MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICS AND ECONOMIC
CONTINUES.

• DISCRIMINATORY PROVISIONS INCLUDE THE FEDERAL SHARIA COURT, BLASPHEMY LAWS, RELIGION-BASED TAXES, REQUIREMENT THAT
THE HEAD OF THE STATE HAS TO BE A MUSLIM, DECLARATION OF AHMADIYYAS AS NON-MUSLIM, CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS FOR THE
COUNCIL OF ISLAMIC IDEOLOGY, THE OBJECTIVE RESOLUTION DUE TO WHICH LAWS REPUGNANT TO ISLAM CANNOT BE ADOPTED.
 E. ) SRI LANKA: FROM SECULAR TO BUDDHIST
DOMINATION
• THE 1946 BRITISH-FORMULATED CONSTITUTION PROVIDED RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND EQUALITY; 1972 AND 1978 CONSTITUTIONS GAVE
BUDDHISM ‘THE FOREMOST PLACE’ STATUS, ENTITLING IT TO STATE PROTECTION.
• AUTONOMY DENIED TO HINDU MINORITY; LANGUAGE EQUALITY TAKEN AWAY FOR A LONG TIME; INDIAN TAMILS DENIED CITIZENSHIP FOR
AROUND HALF A CENTURY; DECLINE IN MINORITY REPRESENTATION IN PUBLIC OFFICES.
• THREE DECADES (1983–2009) LONG CIVIL WAR; LONG SPELL OF STATE OF EMERGENCY; MILITARISATION OF STATE; PERIODIC ELECTIONS SINCE
INDEPENDENCE, LARGELY ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY IN LAST TWO DECADES, DEMOCRACY ERODED IN THE LAST DECADE.
• THE 1972 AND 1978 CONSTITUTIONS IN SRI LANKA PROVIDED BUDDHISM THE ‘FOREMOST’ STATUS, ENTITLING IT TO STATE PROTECTION. OTHER
CULTURAL POLICIES, SUCH AS PROMOTION AND PREFERENCE OF SINHALESE LANGUAGE FOR A LONG PERIOD, AND ABOLITION OF THE SPECIAL
PROTECTION TO THE MINORITIES IN THE 1946 CONSTITUTION, HAVE DISADVANTAGED MINORITIES SUCH AS HINDUS, MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS.
THE DENIAL OF AUTONOMY TO TAMILS AND DEPRIVATION OF CITIZENSHIP TO INDIAN TAMILS FOR A LONG PERIOD ARE OTHER INSTANCES OF
DISCRIMINATION .
• A MARXIST REBELLION LED BY THE JANATHA VIMUKTHI PERAMUNA EMERGED IN 1971 AND 1987–89 AND THE STATE CRUSHED IT IN BOTH
INSTANCES, BUT WHAT IS OF INTEREST TO US IS THAT BY THE 1980S THE MARXISTS HAD TRANSFORMED INTO SINHALESE BUDDHIST NATIONALISTS
AND OPPOSED AUTONOMY TO THE HINDU TAMILS.
 BHUTAN , AFG & MALDIVES:

• THE OFFICIAL RELIGION IN BHUTAN IS TIBETAN BUDDHISM, WHICH IS PRACTICED BY 75% OF THE POPULATION. BHUTAN
IS A BUDDHIST COUNTRY BY CONSTITUTION AND BUDDHISM PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN THE COUNTRY. BUDDHISM IS THE
CULTURAL HERITAGE OF BHUTAN AND ITS PEOPLE’S IDENTITY AS WELL. FREEDOM OF RELIGION IS GUARANTEED BY THE
KING.
• ISLAM IS THE OFFICIAL RELIGION OF AFGHANISTAN AND THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION IS MUSLIM
(APPROXIMATELY 99.7%).1 THERE ARE SOME VERY SMALL RESIDUAL COMMUNITIES OF OTHER FAITHS, INCLUDING
CHRISTIANS, SIKHS, HINDUS AND BAHA’I. HOWEVER, THE NUMBERS OF MINORITY MUSLIM AND NON-MUSLIM GROUPS
HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY DECLINED OVER THE PAST DECADES AS PEOPLE HAVE FLED SECTARIAN TENSIONS AND CONFLICT.
• THE MAJORITY RELIGION IN MALDIVES IS ISLAM, WITH 98% ADHERENTS. THE ENTIRE POPULATION, 100%, ARE
RELIGIOUS IN MALDIVES. THE LATEST SURVEY DATA INDICATE BELIEVERS SHARE OF MALDIVES POPULATION, HAS
REMAINED TO 100%.
 CONDITION FOR SECULAR STATE !

• MUTUAL HELP AND SHARING CAN HELP OR CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS REDUCING PREJUDICES & SUSPICION BETWEEN
COMMUNITIES. ONE WAY OF REDUCING RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IS TO WORK TOGETHER FOR “MUTUAL
ENLIGHTENMENT“. EDUCATION IS THE ONLY WAY OF HELPING CHANGE THE MIND SET OF PEOPLE.

• BUT ONLY EDUCATION & GOODNESS OF SOME PERSONS WILL NOT COMPLETELY ELIMINATE RELIGIOUS
DISCRIMINATION. MODERN DAY’S SOCIETIES, STATES HAVE ENORMOUS PUBLIC POWER.

• STATE SHOULD BE NON-THEOCRATIC:- A STATE MUST NOT BE RUN BY THE HEADS OF ANY PARTICULAR RELIGION. A
STATE GOVERNED DIRECTLY BY A PRIESTLY ORDER IS CALLED THEOCRATIC.FOR THIS, STATES SHOULD HAVE A
SEPARATION FROM RELIGION AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL, BUT THIS IS NOT SUFFICIENT.

• STATES SHOULD HAVE NO FORMAL, LEGAL ALLIANCE WITH ANY RELIGION. IF A STATE IS LINKED WITH SOME PARTICULAR
RELIGION, THEN SECULARISM CAN’T BE PREVAILED . TO PROMOTE THESE ENDS THE STATE MUST BE SEPARATED FROM
THE ORGANISED RELIGION.
 CONCLUSION:

• THE COMPARATIVE STUDY ALSO SHOWS THAT THE CHALLENGES ARE NOT WITH REGARD TO A PARTICULAR RELIGION. A
HINDU STATE IN NEPAL, BUDDHISM PRIVILEGED BY THE STATE IN SRI LANKA AND THE ISLAMIC STATE IN BANGLADESH
AND PAKISTAN UNDERMINED THE RIGHTS OF MINORITIES AND INSTIGATED VIOLENCE, EVEN THOUGH THE EXTENT
VARIED.
• PRIVILIGING A PARTICULAR RELIGION IN A STATE IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY TOO. AS IT WILL LEAD STATE TO TAKE
ACTION AMD FORMULATE LAWS WHICH WILL BE BENEFITED TO PARTICULAR RELIGION, A MAJOR DRAWBACK OF
DEMOCRACY. IN SUCH SITUATIONS, UNLIKE IN A SECULAR STATE, THE JUDICIARY WAS OFTEN UNABLE TO PROTECT THE
RIGHTS OF MINORITIES DUE TO EXPLICIT CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS SUPPORTING A PARTICULAR RELIGION.
• WHEN A STATE ADOPTS ARELIGION, THE STATE OFTEN PROMOTES THAT RELIGION AT THE COST OF MINORITIES.
LIKEWISE, RELIGIOUS NATIONALISTS MAY BE ENCOURAGED BY THE DECLARATION OF A RELIGIOUS STATE TO LOBBY AND
PUT PRESSURE ON THE GOVERNMENT TO FORMULATE MORE DOMINANT RELIGION BASED LAWS AND POLICIES.
 REFRENCES:

• HTTPS://WWW.GOOGLE.COM/AMP/S/INDIANEXPRESS.COM/ARTICLE/OPINION/COLUMNS/
VIOLENCE-AND-COMMUNALISM-SOUTH-ASIAS-DISTURBING-COMMONALITY-7580597/LITE/
• HTTPS://CULTURALATLAS.SBS.COM.AU/AFGHAN-CULTURE/AFGHAN-CULTURE-RELIGION
• HTTPS://WWW.INSIGHTSONINDIA.COM/2014/11/08/SECULARISM-ITS-MEANING-MODELS-
AND-ISSUES/
• HTTPS://RELIGION.COLUMBIA.EDU/CONTENT/SOUTH-ASIA-AND-SECULAR
• HTTPS://JOURNALS.SAGEPUB.COM/DOI/10.1177/2393861717703856
THANK YOU !!