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After fifty years of independence India maintains a constitutional
commitment to secularism. However, the practice of secularism in India is
now increasingly under attack. In the quest for electoral advantage, the
once-dominant Congress Party, made a series of choices that compromised
India's secular ethos. These choices enabled the explicitly anti-secular
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to dramatically expand its political base
through the pursuit of a blatantly anti-secular and majoritarian political
agenda. In recent years, as a direct consequence of the BJP's rhetoric
and policies, a range of religious minorities have been subjected to
discrimination and violence. Despite this adverse trend it is still
too early to ring the death-knell of Indian secularism. The growing
electoral strength of hitherto disenfranchised groups, the existence
of institutions committed to secularism and the continuing secular
constitutional dispensation offer some hope for sustaining the secular
order in India.

Examines the French secularism debate as manifest in the prohibition against wearing Islamic scarves in public schools. Three distinct sociopolitical dimensions complicate the head scarves controversy: the challenge posed by activists to France's universal values of law & reason; prejudice; & the feelings of the Muslim girls. The international implications of the debate are addressed. The politicized climate generated by the debate is briefly described, & some remarks are offered on the fallout of the head scarf law's implementation come the new school year. J. Zendejas