2. What is Secularism?
When a state do not have any official religion it is called Secularism.
Note: What do you mean by a secular state?
A secular state generally stays out of religious issues and faith of its
citizens.
Such states follow the principle of Secularism.
eg- France, Mexico, India, etc.
There are 96 secular countries in the world.
The term secularism was coined by British reformer George Jacob Holyoake in
1851. It was first established in USA.
3. WHY SHOULD WE ADOPT SECULARISM
● To prevent domination of the majority religious group.
● To avoid the violation of fundamental rights.
● Every individual must have the freedom to embrace other religion.
● Every individual must have the freedom to interpret their religion differently.
4. SECULARISM IN INDIA
Since India doesn’t promote any religion as the state religion, we call it a secular state.
The people who created the constitution wanted India to be a secular state. Otherwise, the
people who belong to the religions in minority must be suffering because of the
intervention of the government in their religious affairs. India also adopted a strategy of
separating the power of religion and the power of the State.
5. “Unity and secularism will
be the motto of the
government. We can't
afford divisive polity in
India”
—Manmohan Singh
6. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO SEPARATE THE POWER OF
RELIGION AND THE POWER OF THE STATE?
It is important to separate the power of religion and the power of state so that the country could
function democratically. Most of the countries in the have many religions existing in them. If one of
the religion in majority has the state power ,then they could easily use this power and financial
resources to discriminate against and persecute persons of other religions.
7. SECULARISM ACCORDING TO THE INDIAN COSTITUTION
The Indian Constitution mandates that the Indian State be secular. According to the Constitution,
only a secular State can realize its objectives to ensure the following:
That one religious community does not dominate another.
That some members do not dominate other members of the same religious
community.
That the State does not enforce any particular religion nor take away the religious freedom of
individuals.
The Indian Constitution grants the right to religious communities to set up their own schools
and colleges. It also gives them Financial Aid On A Non-preferential Basis.
8. SECULARISM IS SOMTIMES UNDERTOOD WITH TWO
CONCEPTS
SECULARISM
NEGATIVE
•Removal of all
religious
distinctions.
•Tends to make
people look
alike.
POSITIVE
•Acceptance of
religious
diversity
•It tends to
make people
equal.
France
India
11. WHAT DID WE UNDERSTAND FROM THE ABOVE
EXAMPLES
1. Sikh youth Paramjit need not wear helmet. This is because the Indian state believes that
wearing a pugri (turban) is central to a Sikh religious practice and not to interfere with this, in
law, allows exceptions.
2. Any one religious festival cannot be celebrated in a government. This is because it violates the
government’s policy of treating all religions equally. The government schools cannot promote
any one religion through morning prayer or through religious celebration because if they did so
then this would be unfair for the other children of the different religion and the fundamental
rights would be violated.
12. LAW vs RELIGIOUS PRACTISES
Both the aspects are very important similarly. But, if the religious practises violate the
fundamental rights. These practises are banned by the government.
Eg: Baby Tossing
In this practise more than hundred babies each year in the month of December are tossed from
the top of a temple roof to a group of men standing below with a cloth meant to catch the babies.
It is believed that this ritual brings in good luck for the community. Married couples who wish to
have more children engage themselves in this ritual.
Now it’s illegal under India's children's rights law.
13. The first amendment to the US Constitution
states "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof.“ This
means that the parliament cannot make any
law which disturbs/bans any religious
practice. Secularism in the USA means that
neither the state nor the religion can
interfere in the affair of each other. The state
cannot make a law promoting any one
religion.
LAW FOR SECULARISM IN
AMERICA
The USA was the first secular state in the world.
14. AMERICAN SECULARISM vs INDIAN SECULARISM
Indian secularism differs from the prevalent idea of secularism as it is practised in the United States
of America in one significant way. This is due to the fact that unlike American secularism, where
religion and the State should be firmly divided, Indian secularism permits the State to interfere in
religious issues.
Hindu religious practices were directly affected by the Indian Constitution, which abolished
untouchability. Even though the State in India does not strictly separate itself from the religion,
it does maintains a principled distance from it. Any state interference with religion must adhere to
the principles laid out in the Constitution.
15. INTERFERING IN THE RELIGION IF NEEDED
If a religious practise discriminates against a group of people based on their caste, colour, gender, or
other characteristics, the state has the right to intervene.To promote equality in society, the state
might restrict certain activities.
Human sacrifice is one of the rituals been banned. As the term suggests, people will kill or murder
one or several other people as a sacrifice to God. To please God, people do things in in order to
express their gratitude to him. Another justification given by the ritual's practitioners.
16. EVENT IN FRANCE
The wearing of conspicuous religious or cultural signs or symbols
by students, such as the Jewish skullcap, the Islamic hijab, or
huge Christian crosses, were prohibited in France in February
2004. Immigrants, primarily from the former French colonies of
Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, have been very resistant to this
legislation. France had a shortage of workers in the 1960s and
had handed these immigrants visas to join and work there. While
attending school, the daughters of these immigrants generally
wear headscarves. They were dismissed from their school for
wearing headscarves, meanwhile, when this new legislation was
passed.
17. I Hope you liked the
presentation and got
something new to
learn.
THANKS!!!!!
हम फिर ममलेंगे आपक
े साथ
तब तक क
े मलए सावधान रहे सतकक रहे
