Slides Included: ⇒ Introduction ⇒ Examples ⇒ Important terms ⇒ Indian Secularism ⇒ Difference between Indian and American secularism ⇒ Why is it Important to Separate Religion from the State? ⇒ Steps were taken by Indian State to Protect Secularism in India

1. Secularism
CLASS 8

2. Introduction
History has witnessed all the
gruesome discrimination,
persecution, exclusion, &
torture done to people based
on the religion they follow. In
the present civilized world,
matters like this can be strictly
prevented to safeguard
communities & protect a
person's rights.

3. Example:
• Jews were persecuted in Hitler's
Germany and were killed.
• In Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims are
not allowed to build temples,
churches, etc.,
• They are also not allowed to
gather in a public place for
prayers.
That's why the word secularism is
inscribed in the preamble of the
constitution of India.

4. Important terms-I
• Secularism: It refers to the separation
of religion from the State.
• Coercion: Forcing someone to do
something. In the chapter, the term
refers to the force used by a legal
authority such as the State.
• Freedom to interpret: It refers to the
freedom that all persons shall have to
understand things in their own way. In
the chapter, it refers liberty to an
individual liberty to develop their own
understanding and meaning of the
religion they practice.

5. Important terms-II
• Intervene: In this chapter, the term
refers to the state’s efforts to influence
some matters according to the
principles of the Constitution.
• Minoritism: It means that Indian
secularism gives special privileges and
rights to minorities.
• Religion: It is normally a set of
personal beliefs and related practices
to divinity. It refers to people's
opinions and beliefs concerning the
existence, worship, and divinity of
nature.

6. Indian Secularism
• The Indian Constitution mandates that
the Indian state be a secular state.
• One religious community does not
dominate another in a secular state.
• In a secular state, some members do
not dominate other members of the
same religious community.
• The state does not enforce any
particular religion, nor does it take
away the religious freedom of
individuals.

7. Difference between Indian
and American secularism
There is one significant way in
which Indian secularism differs
from the dominant
understanding of secularism as
practised in the United States of
America. In American secularism,
there is a strict separation
between religion and the State.
Whereas in Indian secularism,
the State can intervene in
religious affairs

8. Why is it Important to
Separate Religion from the
State?
• It helps a country to function
democratically.
• The tyranny of the majority and the
violation of Fundamental Rights can
be very harmful to the people
belonging to the minority. So, it
protects people from any type of
religious violence.
• It protects the freedom of individuals
to exit from their religion, embrace
another religion. It gave people the
freedom to interpret religious
teachings differently.

9. Steps were taken by
Indian State to Protect
Secularism in India:
• It uses a strategy of distancing
itself from religion.
• A strategy of non-interference
• A strategy of intervention
• The intervention of the State
can also be in the form of
support.