Term describing the alleged religious minority appeasement in India
The term pseudo-secularism is used to describe individuals who claim to be
secular but may display
biases towards a particular
religion, whether consciously or unconsciously. This term has gained popularity in recent
Indian politics, where it is often used to criticize individuals who identify as secular and advocate for
minority rights while remaining silent or opposing concerns faced by the majority religion. Some
Hindu nationalist parties, who are accused of promoting
communalism, employ this term as a counter-accusation against their critics, alleging that the secularism followed by the
Indian National Congress and other self-declared secular parties are flawed or distorted.
Background
The first recorded use of the term "pseudo-secularism" was in the 1951 book Philosophy and Action of the R.S.S. for the Hind Swaraj, by Anthony Elenjimittam. In his book Elenjimittam accused leaders of the
Indian National Congress of pretending to uphold secularism.[1]
After the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was accused of representing the Hindu communalism in Indian politics it started using the counter-charge of "pseudo-secularism" against the Congress and other parties.[2] The BJP leader
LK Advani characterizes pseudo-secular politicians as those for whom "secularism is only a euphemism for
vote-bank politics". According to him, these politicians are not concerned with the welfare of the minorities, but only interested in their vote.[3]
The Congress leader
Mani Shankar Aiyar has criticized the term as propaganda by Hindu nationalists.[4] Historian
Mridula Mukherjee has described it as "a term propounded by the ideologues of
Hindu nationalism to delegitimize and deny the genuineness of secularism. The subtext is that secularism is only a veneer put on to hide alleged policies of minority appeasement. The proponents of the term allege the secularists of being pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu."[5]
Examples
The state policies of independent India accorded special rights to Muslims, along with other religious minorities like Christians and
Parsis, in matters of personal law. For example,
In 1986, a Muslim woman
Shah Bano Begum was denied alimony even after winning a court case, because the then
INC government reversed the court judgement under pressure of Islamic orthodoxy by passing bill in the
parliament.[6][7]
The
religion-based reservations in civil and educational institutions to improve the representation of minorities.[7] The Hindu nationalist BJP is openly against reservation of Muslims in educational institutions and the parliament.[11]
In 2006,
Manmohan Singh, then
Prime Minister of India said that "We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. These must have the first claim on resources." during his speech at the 52nd meeting of
the National Development Council.[13] TOI reported that the former PM statement came after the Sachar Committee report which highlighted how Muslim communities were lagging behind in education and livelihood opportunities in India.[14]
Hindu Temples are managed by each
state's government in India. Religious places of minority religions like Islam, Christianity and Sikhism are managed by their followers.[15][16] Some argue that state regulation is necessary to prevent
caste and gender based discrimination in places of worship, and hence should be expanded to all religion instead of 'freeing the Hindu temples'. [17]
Goel, Sita Ram (1995). Perversion of India's political parlance.
ISBN978-8185990255
Goel, S. R. (2003). India's secularism, new name for national subversion. New Delhi: Voice of India. (Original in Hindi: Sekyūlarijma, rāshṭradroha kā dusarā nāma; translation into English by Yashpal Sharma.)
ISBN978-8185990590
Shourie, Arun (1998). Indian controversies: Essays on religion in politics. New Delhi: HarperCollins.
ISBN978-8190019927
Shourie, Arun (2005). A secular agenda: For saving our country, for welding it. New Delhi, India: Rupa.
ISBN9788190019934