Secularism in India : The Reality check

The word Secularism stands for the principle of separation of the state from religious institutions. India as a nation doesn't have any State religion and Support harmony and Freedom of all religion since Independence but this word was not in our Constitution during Independence when it was Drafted by B.R.Ambedkar and its committee. This word has been enforced upon us during Emergency in 1976 by 42nd Amendment . Yes, Constitution of a Democratic nation has been changed forcefully without any representation of its people.

Well , People often argue that Secularism represents equality, freedom and diversity of each individuals , Which it does . But the meaning and representation of Secularism in India is very Pseudo  and not even close to what it represents . But before going to Reality check of it Let us talk about some feature about religion and religious freedom in India

1. Every citizen is free to practice their religion .

2. India is home of  Largest Hindu population , Largest Sikh Population , Largest Jain Population , Largest Zoroastrianism (Parsi ) Population , 2nd Largest Muslim  Population , 9th largest Buddhist population and Significant amount of Jews population in the world. 

3. The Republic of India recognizes the personal laws of five communities: Hindus (including Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists), Muslims, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians.

 4.India spent Rs 4700 crore  every year on minority welfare .There religion and education center have been protected and promoted .

But still lots of things went wrong in India about secularism:-

 

 

Partition of India 

The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Union of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.The Union of India is today the Republic of India; the Dominion of Pakistan is today the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh.Basically India was divided on the basis of Hindu Muslim Population . Which leads to the Displacement of 14.6 million people , Death of more than 0.5 million and rape and abduction of 30 thousands women of different religion .

While most of the Muslim Population voted in favor of Partition still 10% of total population remains in India which grow to 14% in 2011 . Political Party like Indian Muslim league which was one of the reason of partition still functioning in Kerala and ready to crave another Pakistan whenever get opportunity.

So Unfortunately the Communal divide is the base of the Independence of this Democratic country .Which still runs in the veins of not only Republic of India but Islamic republic of Pakistan and Bangladesh . Which often leads to Prosecution of Minorities in these countries.

Christianity , Crypto Christian and mass conversion  

 

India had been ruled by British for 200 years . They stabilize missionaries to promote Christianity during their rule which is very much in functioning even today. Mass conversion from other religion to Christianity is going in many state in India specially where Tribal Population is more . Taking an example of Arunachal Pradesh where Christian population was below 1% in 1971 which is now above 30% in 2011 . 

Christian missionaries mostly target Dalits (SC) , tribals(ST) and people in need for conversion . They even ask them to keep their religion secret or act as Crypyo Christian to keep gaining advantage of Reservation and other benefits provided by Government for Lower caste and deprived people . That is the main reason why Christian Population in India is officially just 2.3% while In Reality it is alomst 6 to 7 % reported by many Christian mouthpiece .

These Christian missionaries are functioning Unchecked since ages with the help of foreign Aid as well as Govt help . Govt of YSR Congress in Andhara Pradesh is one of the many example of missionaries supporting Govt . 

Central Govt also get silenced due to fear of foreign backlash from West . Thousands of People (including Professor of JNU , DU , Other Central Universities , Actor , Actress ,Doctor , Writer , Media Person and Activist ) every year get thousands of dollar to help Missionaries in Conversion . Most of them themselves are CRYPTO CHRISTIAN .

Muslim appeasement and Vote bank 

 

When Mamata Banerjee became chief minister of West Bengal  she announced Monthly salary for Imam of Mosque in West Bengal and this was not the first instance when Maulvies or Imam have been provided with perks and money by different political parties.Till 2018 there Pilgrim visit to Mecca was also Subsidised.
Muslim makes 17% of total voters in India which is quite significant in changing the Result of many State election and parliamentary seats. Which make them a chunk of vote bank for different political parties in different state like TMC in West Bengal , RJD and JDU in Bihar , SP in Uttar pradesh .This bland appeasement is no way promote Secular fabric of India .

Secularism can not held its true sense when one side Temples of Hindu are Governed by State while other side  Mosque and Church go unaccountable .One side a single hindu temple paying tax of  more than 100 crore every year ,while other side Mosques and Church have been subsidised . Do you really think Secularism will work in this way ?

Population Bomb 

Growing Population is a major problem all over India and across all religion . But most of the religion is growing by the rate of 1.5% per year or below except Muslim which growth rate is 2.4% per year in India . Taking an example of Kerala where Hindu is about 54% , Muslim is 26 % and Christian is about 20 %. Now look at the stats below

Kerala's Percentage Distribution of Live Birth by Religion of the Family

Religion	2017	%	2016	%	2015	%	2014	%
Hindu	210,071	41.71%	207,831	41.88%	221,220	42.87%	231,031	43.23%
Muslim	216,525	43.00%	211,182	42.55%	213,865	41.45%	218,437	40.87%
Christian	75,335	14.96%	76,205	15.35%	79,565	15.42%	83,616	15.65%
Others	1,497	0.30%	852	0.18%	933	0.18%	1,178	0.22%
Not Stated	160	0.03%	222	0.04%	430	0.08%	196	0.03%
Total	503,597	100%	496,292	100%	516,013	100%	534,458	100%

Here You can see in 2017, Hindu who are 52% of total population gives birth to 41 % children while Muslim who are 26 % of total population contribute in  44% of total child birth.This Data is from the state which has Highest literacy rate . So you can Imagine the state of other states like Assam and West bengal .Liberals and Intellectuals often propagates lies like education and Literacy will help in decreasing Population growth which is quite true for all religion except Islam .

Kashmir and Prosecution of Hindu  

Have you heard of any Democratic country where 0.3 million people living as a refugees in their own Country and Government ,Human right activist, Secular , Liberal and all population watching silently . Well this happened and happened Ironically in the Largest Democracy of the world. and the worst part is that they are still living in refugee camps after 30 years of exodus.

In 1989 hundreds of Kashmiri Hindu killed, burned alive, many hindu girl get raped and 300,000 Kashmiri hindu had been thrown out of their Houses and state by Islamic Terrorism .

This was One of the most Painful chapter in the History of Kashmir ,India and Humanity. This is also a dark spot on the So called Secularism and Largest democratic status of India.  

Further read here about Kashmir issue

 

Communal violence in India

Independent India have long and bloodiest history of Communal Violence including Politically motivated Anti Sikh riots in 1984 in which 10000 Sikh were killed and 50,000 displaced .1986 Bhagalpur riot , 1992 Mumabai riots , 2002 Gujarat riots are some of the most bloodiest violence of Independent India .

Over 2005 to 2009 period, an average of 130 people died every year from communal riots, and 2,200 were injured.

 Communal Violence in India

Year	Incidents	Deaths	Injured
2005	779	124	2066
2006	698	133	2170
2007	761	99	2227
2008	943	167	2354
2009	849	125	2461
2010	701	116	2138
2011	580	91	1899
2012	668	94	2117
2013	823	133	2269
2014	644	95	1921
2015	751	97	2264
2016	703	86	2321
2017	822	111	2384

Despite the secular and religiously tolerant constitution of India, broad religious representation in various aspects of society including the government, the active role played by autonomous bodies such as National Human Rights Commission of India and National Commission for Minorities, and the ground-level work being done by non-governmental organisations, sporadic and sometimes serious acts of religious violence tend to occur as the root causes of religious violence often run deep in history, religious activities, and politics of India.

So we can see How secularism is just a fairy Tale in this largest democracy . In one Side India is giving shelter to all Prosecuted Minorities in our neighborhood while other side its own people becoming refugees . Vote bank politics ,appeasement and Conversion are great hurdle in achieving secularism in India in true sense .Till then we can just Dream of Communal Harmony .