Friday, August 02, 2013

Fwd: Why Secularism is not an Indian concept by sanjeev nayyar in Rediff



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: sanjeev nayyar


Why Secularism is not an Indian concept by sanjeev nayyar August 2 2013
 
Excerpts

The concept of secularism was imported into India by the British. It was a strategic tool to suppress and deny India's quest for independence by repeatedly asking the Indian National Congress that was predominantly Hindu, to address the concerns of the minorities, says Sanjeev Nayyar

 

Narendra Modi rattled the Congress by accusing it of hiding its inability to govern under the burkha of secularism. This statement has once again brought the issue of secularism into national focus.

 

Every leader claims to be secular. No one is asking, however, what is the meaning of the word secular?

 

This article seeks to provoke thought by giving the origin of the word secular and benchmarks, briefly, it with other countries worldwide.

 

The founders of the Constitution deemed it appropriate to use the concept of secularism without spelling out its meaning. The word 'secular' was made part of the preamble of the Indian Constitution during the Emergency (1975-77). However, the word was left undefined.

 

During the Emergency, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi made the word 'secular' part of the preamble of the Constitution but did not define it. When the Janata Party came to power in 1977 an attempt was made to define 'secular republic' to mean a 'republic' in which there is equal respect for all religions'. The Janata government had a majority in the Lok Sabha but was in a minority in the Rajya Sabha where it was voted down by the Congress.

 

Warm Regards
sanjeev nayyar
https://twitter.com/sanjeev1927
To unsubscribe write back



--
sent from samsung galaxy note, so please excuse brevity

No comments: