Secularism as understood in India means that all religions and cultures are treated equally and that the government does not interfere in religious affairs. The Indian Constitution also states that no discrimination will occur based on caste, creed, gender, or class. All these good intentions are appropriate for the world’s most populous and diverse society. Unfortunately, societal and political realities do not align with these aspirations.
Today in the world’s largest democracy, with hundreds of millions engaged in free elections, the dominant political ideology is Hindutva (Hindu-ness), which is associated with the conservative and nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been in office since 2014. The BJP seeks to define Indian culture in terms of Hindu values and valorize ancient Hindu civilization and traditions as against the heritage of India’s former imperial masters, the Muslim Mughal Empire and the British Raj. Politically, the BJP is highly critical of the socialist and multicultural policies of the former dominant Indian National Congress Party and its Western-educated, English-speaking elite. It established social engineering policies such as quotas in education and government jobs that the BJP claims unfairly favor religious and linguistic minorities, particularly Muslims and lower castes, at the expense of the Hindu and Hindi-speaking majority. Modi showed the “electoral math” was on his side.
Historic resentments and suspicion of foreign invaders undoubtedly fuels majority Indian nationalism, but recent events have not aided reconciliation. The 1947 partition of the British Raj and the secession of Muslim majority areas led to massacres and the involuntary migration of millions who found themselves on the wrong side of the new borders. Whereas the Republic of India embraced secularism, its new rival Pakistan declared itself an Islamic Republic. Several wars over the disputed state of Kashmir did not help eradicate suspicion that the 14 percent of Muslim Indian citizens who remained in India were unpatriotic. More recent Islamist jihadi terrorist attacks on the Indian Parliament in 2001 and the city of Mumbai in 2008 fueled BJP support. Sikh separatism, which led to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, also fueled anti-minority feelings.
I have observed these political trends in my travels around India. In both Mumbai and Delhi, I visited the museums dedicated to the life of the pacifist national leader Mahatma Gandhi. Each time upon hearing of my interest, ordinary Indians have questioned why so many foreigners admire Gandhi and then observed that he was too pro-Muslim for their liking. I also found that Indians remain very caste aware and invariably insert their identity into a casual conversation. In some states, to show their lack of discrimination, schools list the caste make-up of their staff. Marriage advertisements in newspapers list the caste and religion of potential partners as well as their level of education, job, and income. The politics of identity are an inevitable result. In the 2024 General Election campaign, Modi has referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” and suggested that the Congress Party and its allies would select the national cricket team based on quotas.
There is a lesson here for the United States and other democratic societies where all citizens have the vote. Constant references to race or other identities and continually stressing differences among the population does not eradicate bigotry but instead reinforces sensitivity to group identity. Social engineering through quotas and minority preferences in education and employment reinforces divisions and social tensions in society. Giving material advantages to one category of people automatically disadvantages other categories. Logically, favoritism on behalf of certain groups means discrimination against other groups.
The solution is to follow the Enlightenment concept of a meritocracy and “careers open to the talents” and treat people as individuals, not as members or representatives of groups. Most fair-minded people will support equal opportunity and access for individuals from historically disadvantaged groups, but they will oppose unfair, arbitrary discrimination against themselves or their children, especially when they have the opportunity to do so at the ballot box.
Secularism as understood in India means that all religions and cultures are treated equally and that the government does not interfere in religious affairs. The Indian Constitution also states that no discrimination will occur based on caste, creed, gender, or class. All these good intentions are appropriate for the world’s most populous and diverse society. …