Threat to Indian Secularism: Time for Indians to unite together

Hyderabad: The Indian politics is witnessing turbulent strides in the current political atmosphere. We generally tend to believe that saints are peaceful persons who engross themselves completely in spirituality. Yes, they are but, people like Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Sakshi Maharaj, Sadhvi Uma Bharati and Yogi Adityanath who call themselves as Saints are actually trapped in worldly issues. They are hell bent on dividing people which is an antagonistic feature of true saints who promote peace.

In this context, it is important to mention about the current UP CM Yogi Adityanath, who said that “I believe that after independence, the secular word is the biggest lie in India … no system can be secular. Political arrangements can be neutral towards different cultures but not secular.”

Yogi also said that any political system may be secular but not neutral towards religion. He called secularism the appeasement of the minorities. Yogi Adityanath is known for his provocative and disruptive statements. Even before becoming the Chief Minister, he has been poisoning against the Muslims. Immediately after becoming Chief Minister, he targeted the meat shops in order to break the economic backbone of the Muslim community. He organized a grand program in Ayodhya on Deepawali. It seemed as if the government was celebrating Diwali. Inspite of being in a constitutional position, he is clearly violating the principles of the constitution.

The sangh parivar adheres to Hindutva ideology which identifies India as a Hindu nation and believes that secularism is a western concept. These are the same forces who opposed freedom struggle and called Hindus to support Britishers to resist the struggle of Muslim nationalism.

Hindutva forces also opposed Indian constitution saying that Manusmriti is the original text of India and it should be declared as the Law of the land. Manusmriti is the same book which was burnt by the creator of Indian Constitution Ambedkar publicly.

The great advocates of secular values, Gandhi and Nehru, today, are criticized by these divisive forces, who call them as Pseudo secularists. They should be aware that, under the guidance of Gandhi and Nehru, many complex problems related to religion and religious conduct were resolved. Both Gandhi and Nehru were against the ban by the state on cow slaughter or beef. On the issue of the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple, these two committed advocates of secular values insisted that the state should not spend money on the construction or repair of any religious site. The expenses incurred in the construction or maintenance of any religious site should be borne by the concerned community. No money can be given from the public exchequer.

The grant given for Haj is said to be the appeasement of Muslims. This grant was given to Air India, which is a government aviation company. Thus in a way the government’s money was with the government. Governments spend money in infrastructure development for organizing Kumbh Mela. The reason for this is not that it is a religious event, but it is that a large number of people gather there and it is the duty of the government to take care of their safety and health.

As the communal forces began to flex their muscles, the issue of security of minority communities receded into background. Reform in family laws of minorities are been deliberately cropped up to divide the community on Gender basis. Reform is certainly a welcoming step but these reforms must come from within the community. It means internalisation of laws should take place. Otherwise, these reforms become ineffective.

Due to communal violence, the issue of gender justice in minority communities has been left behind.

People of India must understand that communal politics thrives on support of few groups which believe in extremism and violence which is unhealthy for democratic setup of India and damages secular fabric of the nation.