Secularism at 46
It is a known fact since the Modi Government displayed the original
Preamble in 2015 and not the altered one that contains the word SECULAR,
that the word was introduced in 1976 by Indira Gandhi through 42nd constitutional
Amendment.
Secularism is a much more complex subject actually than what people
think it is. Some people can think it is negation of all religion, while to
others it can mean an absolute separation of religion and state. Still others might
feel that the Constitution should advocate articles that govern aspects of a
religion; a few might even say the state should not involve itself in matters
of religious education; many might even feel that a truly secular Constitution
should demand a uniform civil code. I shall not attempt to
interpret it.
It is again a very well known fact that Dr. BR Ambedkar was against the
word “secular” and also “Socialist” being used in the preamble or in the
constitution itself. He said in
Constituent assembly in 1948
“Sir, I regret that I cannot accept the
amendment of Prof KT Shah. The Constitution is merely a mechanism for the
purpose of regulating the work of the various organs of the State. It is not a mechanism whereby particular
members or particular parties are installed in office. What should be the
policy of the State, how the Society should be organised in its social and
economic side are matters which must be decided by the people themselves
according to time and circumstances. It cannot be laid down in the Constitution
itself, because that is destroying democracy altogether”
Our
Constitution has laid down rules as to how certain practices within religions
are unconstitutional, even criminal, while other practices that hurt a
particular religious sentiment but are practiced by other religious groups –
like cow slaughter – were banned. Additionally, the question of religious
education – grants provided by governments actually do not allow us to be
really secular by any stretch of imagination. So Indian secularism was
conceptually very hollow by design.
Hence it is not my endeavor
to raise calls for “Saving Secularism”. In the name of “Saving Secularism”, one
cannot be blaming or mocking the Hindus or ‘normalising’ Aurangzeb or Ghazni. However
I would like to raise a more pragmatic question. Do we want one in seven
Indians alienated because of their faith? At the very least, this would make
for a very imperfect Indian democracy.
With the end of Mukhtar Abbas
Naqvi, M.J. Akbar and Syed Zafar Islam’s Rajya Sabha tenures, Narendra Modi’s
BJP will be left with no Muslim in either House. Read this with the following:
•In both the 2014 and 2019
elections, the Modi-Shah BJP won full Lok Sabha majorities without any of their
seven and six candidates, respectively, winning. This, while 20 crore Muslims
live in India. Or one in seven.
•In Uttar Pradesh, in 2017
and 2022, the Modi-Shah-Yogi BJP won humongous majorities without fielding any
Muslim candidate. Muslims are about 20 per cent of the state’s population. Or
one in five.
•In Assam, the
Modi-Shah-Himanta BJP won two majorities in 2016 and 2021. It fielded 17
Muslims in the two elections combined, but only one won, in 2016. One in three
of Assam’s people is Muslim.
•It is that rare juncture in
our history when a Muslim sits on no constitutional chair in New Delhi (there’s
one governor, Arif Mohammad Khan, Kerala), nor holds a position in the
76-member council of ministers, isn’t a chief minister anywhere. Of the 87
secretaries in the central government, two are Muslim.
Contradict all of the above
with the fact that Muslims alone were once solely responsible for Mr. Vajpayee
to lose the trust vote by 1 vote in 1999. The Word secularism was used like untouchability
against the BJP then. One BJP leader has said “The Muslims have a veto on who
rules India.”
However
can any Indian say that in the “Golden Era” of “Secularism”, the state of
affairs for the muslims in India improved their condition. Truth be told, most Muslims continue to remain
one of the most economically and in terms of education, the most backward class
of people. The only promise muslims were served was a sense of security against
the BJP at that time. Now the hell has broken on them ! So you see the choice
they had…. Choice between very bad and ver very very bad !
The
question I am asking is what has “Secularism” delivered in last 46 years since the same was introduced in our constitution
in 1976. If anything, I think, the muslims of India have been more “Othered”
than ever! The forefathers of the constitution, rightly so, did not keep it.
The word has only polorised our country than bought it together. BJP has been
the ultimate winner. They must thank Indira Gandhi to have served it to them on
a platter.
India
at 75
Now
coming to our review of India at 75. I will start with two question. Which is
the best Engineering / Management / medical institutes in India? Answers will
definitely be the IITs, the IIMS, the AIIMS etc. The common thread between them
is that they are all Government institutions. Sympathizers of Congress might
just remind us that all started by J Nehru. The next question might bring them
to place. How many of those reading this piece send their children to Government
schools? I will be surprised even if one individual wants to send their wards
to a Government School. This example itself is enough for me to conclude that our
country is a land of missed opportunities and misplaced priorities.
In
the year of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, Indian Government approved “Revival
package” for BSNL amount to Rs 1.64 Lakh Crores! What has the government to do
in running of a telecom company in India in today’s day and age is best left
for the reader to analyse. If one doesn’t want to criticize the present
dispensation, then we can say that the government of the day, like their
predecessors, have misplaced sense of priority.
Right
from Nehru to Modi, Indian governing class has made blunders after blunders.
The insurance sector of India has LIC as the biggest player, SBI is India’s
biggest bank by some distance, the DESCOMs in every state of the country run
into huge losses…… and yet we run the country with exactly the same mindset as
was done in the 1950s. Even today, Indian government tells us what we can
export and what we cannot. Farmers today, thanks to their senseless opposition to
farm laws gave that power on the platter to the government who anyways wants to
control what we see, what we eat, what we export and so on.
Look
at the discourse of the politics today. The entitled ruling party MP announced in
parliament in the monsoon session, “Humne Freefund ka khana khilaya 80 Crore
garibo ko COVID mein”. The gentleman does not realise of his statement. No. 1
the statement comes from the place of entitlement. We are the kings and we feed
people. No. 2 the gentleman is not ashamed that 80 Crore people are so poor
that they needed the “Freefund ka Khana”. No. 3, he forgets that it is not
Modi- Shah’s money that is spent on this scheme. It is yours and mine that we
pay in form of taxes. So in these 75 years we have this as a ruling class.
At
this point in time I must also speak about the Yuvraj of India. What can be
said more about the shallowness of Indian democracy that a 5th
Generation dynast (dynasty started in 19th Century end) is your chief
opposition leader in 21st century. We celebrate the fact that we are
the “biggest democracy”. Question we must ask as a nation to ourselves is.
Seriously are we?
One
must also confess that it is not the government alone the part of the problem.
I work in Electrical Engineering field in UAE. Here we deal with vendors from
across the globe. As an Indian, it is my natural instinct to try and get more “Made
In India” products to this market. However in my limited experience I find even
the private sector happy with status quo. They do not wish to address issues related
to quality of product, services etc. Excuses range from “Humare yahan to aaise
hi hota hai (in our country we do it this ways)” to innumerable public holidays
to anything and everything. The Indian private sector is not ready to take on
the world! It is no surprise to me that we levy heavy duties on even import of consumer
electronics and now even gold! We as a country do not have an attitude towards
competing with the world. We enjoy the “my baap Licence raj” where the
government decides what business we can do, how much we can do and hence also protects Indian manufacturing
from external competition.
What
has changed with India in the last decade of these 75 years is the way votes
are garnered. From the 1980s until 2010, votes of Muslims + any numerically
dominant caste would win an election for you. The politics of parties like the
SP (Yadav+ Muslim), BSP (Dalits+ OBC+ Muslims), RJD (Yadav+ Muslim) was run
with this thread. It was Mandal- Kamandal Politics. Muslims were the common denominator
in this politics.
Today,
Modi – Shah combine have changed the equation from Caste based to religion based.
So the Muslim vote of 14% is irrelevant. Their audacity stems from the fact
that till the time even if 50% Hindus vote for them, they shall win hands down.
The politics does not recoginse that the “Othering” of 1 in 7 Indian is a
dangerous volcano. We have seen glimpses of that strangled anger during the CAA
NRC row.
India
at 75 is what could have been rather than what we are. Most of the Whatsapp
university lessons shall be of glorious times of medieval age. Not what is the
state of the country today.
To me India at 75 is a story of missed opportunities
and misplaced priorities!
Jai
Hind !!!
(PS:
I will not change my DP to Tricolor)
