What makes the Indian Constitution Secular?

Context: Recently, the Vice President of India called the Emergency-era addition of expressions “socialist” and “secular” to the Constitution’s Preamble a “sacrilege to the spirit of Sanatan”.

Secularism in Indian Constitution

The term ‘secular’ was added to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976. The Constitution of India does not uphold any particular religion as the official religion of the Indian State. 

The following provisions of the Constitution reveal the secular character of the Indian State:

• Preamble secures to all citizens of India liberty of belief, faith and worship. 
• Article 14: The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or equal protection of the laws. 
• Article 15: The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on the ground of religion 
• Article 16: Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters of public employment. 
• Article 25: All persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate any religion.
• Article 26: Every religious denomination or any of its sections shall have the right to manage its religious affairs. 
• Article 27: No person shall be compelled to pay any taxes for the promotion of a particular religion. 
• Article 28: No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution maintained by the State. 
• Article 29: Any section of the citizens shall have the right to conserve its distinct language, script or culture. 
• Article 30: All minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. 
• Article 44: The State shall endeavour to secure for all the citizens a Uniform Civil Code. 

Western Concept vs Indian Concept of Secularism: 

• Western concept of secularism connotes a complete separation between the religion (the church) and the state (the politics). This negative concept of secularism is inapplicable in the Indian situation where the society is multireligious. 
• Indian Constitution embodies the positive concept of secularism, i.e., giving equal respect to all religions or protecting all religions equally. The Constitution has also abolished the old system of communal representation, i.e., reservation of seats in the legislatures on the basis of religion. However, it provides for the temporary reservation of seats for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes to ensure adequate representation to them.

Court Cases related to Secularism: 

• Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, 1973: Supreme Court declared secularism as part of the Constitution's basic structure, making it immune to parliamentary amendments. 
• S.R Bommai v. Union of India, 1994: Supreme Court clarified that secularism does not imply atheism but rather ensures equal status for all religions. 
• Ahmedabad St. Xavier’s College v. State of Gujarat: Supreme Court emphasised that secularism neither promotes nor opposes religion but prevents discrimination based on religion. 
• Indian Young Lawyers Association v. State of Kerala: Supreme Court highlighted that established religious practices can be challenged based on constitutional principles of equality.
• 2024: A two-judge Bench led by then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna dismissed writ petitions challenging the addition of “secularism” and “socialism” in the Constitution.

Challenges before Indian Secularism:

• Communalism divides the people of society on religious grounds and they turn into antagonists toward other religious communities. Communal riots are the worst form of manifestation of communalism.
• Casteism: The policies in India, especially at the state level, cannot be understood without the study of the caste in that particular state. There are some political parties that are organised to represent castes. Caste consciousness has become the very core of Indian politics and it has become the greatest roadblock to the furtherance of secularism. 
• Politicisation of religion: Some political parties in India are organised on communal lines. These parties represent the interests of a particular region or a particular group. They play communal politics for achieving and safeguarding their political interests. It has been remarked that the known secular parties are not very secular in terms of composition and working.
• Majoritarianism: It is the idea that the numerical majority of a population (in terms of religion, race, caste, language, culture etc.) should have the final say in determining the outcome of a decision. E.g., demand for making Hindi a national language even against the will of south Indians, selective implementation of laws.
• Obscurantism: Indian people in general whether Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs etc. are traditional in their outlook, and see many of the things in their traditions and customs. Thus, obscurantism is a great hurdle in the way of secularism in Indian society. 

Secularism is a normative doctrine that seeks to realise a secular society, i.e., one devoid of either religious or intra-religious domination. It promotes freedom and equality between, as well as within, religions. Thus, Secularism as a theme permeates throughout the Indian Constitution, apart from the Preamble. 

Also Read: Indian Secularism and France Secularism