The Secular Concept and Recent Controversy with Regard to Retention or Deletion of this Concept from the Preamble of the Constitution : An Overview

Abstract

India is usually described as a ‗secular state‘ We are by now quite familiar with what that means. It means a state in which government does not lean towards any religious community, in which religions are treated equally, in which religions are equally fostered, and no one community sets the pace, in matters of religion, for the rest. This is consistent with the Hindu outlook on life. Seculariszation consists in the process whereby religions offices, institutions and ceremonies are extruded from public life- in education, law-making, administration and government. Conservatives sometimes oppose this objective secularization, on the assumption that the subjective secularization that would warrant it has not occurred, or is undesirable, or its precipitated by objective secularization. In Islamic states that sentiment is very strong, and desecularizing movement abound; some argue that this is because the complete secularization of Islamic institutions of government would leave no remainder. This principle of giving primacy to the individual, placing him before and above religion, and recognizing freedom of religion and of religious denominations as incidental only to his well-being and to a general scheme of his liberty is a distinguishing feature of Indian secularism; conjointly with the principles of tolerance and equality, also incorporated side by side, it embodies our constitutional philosophy regarding religion. In short secularism is not anti religion. This concept provides equal status to all religions. It is an unamendable basic features of our Indian constitutionalism.