The Crisis of Indian Secularism

In: Journal of democracy, Band 14, Heft 4, S. 11-25

Abstract

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.