From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Pseudo-secularism
Pseudo-secularism
Pseudo-secularism is the state of implicit non-secular dia) at the expense of the interests of the Hindu commu-
trends in the face of pledged secularism. The term is nity, and often at odds with modern ideas of secularism .
used by groups who perceive a double standard exhibited A major issue raised by the Hindu nationalist move-
within the established secular governing policy towards ment is the implementation of a uniform civil code of In-
culturally different groups. dia and its opposition to separate legal codes for religious
The first recorded use of the term was in the book Phi- communities, such as the Shariat bill, and the Indian gov-
losophy and Action of the R. S. S. for the Hind Swaraj[1] , by ernment’s subsidy of the travel of Indian Muslims to Sau-
Anthony Elenjimittam. In his book, Elenjimittam accused di Arabia to visit Mecca (Hajj subsidy). In India, courts
leaders of the Indian National Congress, of pretending have ruled that Sharia, Muslim law, holds precedence for
to uphold secularism. He singles out then Prime Minis- Muslims over Indian civil law,[3] which caused consid-
ter Jawaharlal Nehru’s refusal to serve on the Congress erable anguish among Hindus and fueled allegations of
Working Committee in 1951, which led to the resignation pseudo-secularism against the judiciary as well.
of the Congress Purushottam Das Tandon.
See also
In India • Shah Bano case
Since an amendment in 1976, the constitution of India • Secularism in India
describes the country as ’secular’, and generally most
mainstream political forces describe themselves as ’secu-
lar’. It is important to note that in the Indian context the
References
term is mainly used as an opposite of ’communal’, rather [1] Elenjimittam, Anthony (1951). Philosophy and Action
than describing the role of state-religion relations. of the R. S. S. for the Hind Swaraj. Laxmi Publications.
One of the most comprehensive studies of Indian sec- pp. 188–189.
ularism has been done by Donald Eugene Smith in his [2] [1]
book India: As a Secular State. It succinctly sums the dif- [3] The Hatreds of India; Hindu Memory Scarred by
ferences between Gandhi and Nehru on the issue of sec- Centuries Of Sometimes Despotic Islamic Rule New
ularism, and describes how this divergence sometimes York Times, Published: December 11, 1992
created problems for the government in the early years
of Independence.[2]
The Hindu nationalist movement claim that the Indi-
an National Congress and the associated Communist Par-
ty of India are pseudo-secularist. Their claim is that left-
ists in India are not truly secular since they appease mi-
nority communities (such as Muslims or Christians in In-
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Categories:
• Secularism
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1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Pseudo-secularism
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) election poster from 2004.
Poster shows Pranab Mukherjee, Indian National Congress
leader, and Biman Bose, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
leader, together at a meeting of Muslim clerics. Text reads "Is
this secularism?"
2