Need for unadulterated secularism

29 October, 2012

As addenda to the recent article of Mr. Markande Katju regarding secularism in N.I. Patrika maybe noted that a new sense of unity should dawn on Indian people that they belong to a nation which requires total unity. One may be Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, Jain or of any other religion but at the same time he is member of a bigger fraternity that is Indian nation.

IT MAY be clarified that the nation is above the consideration of religions eternality, language or region. The nation is conceived as a binding force more formidable that any other consideration. If people firmly get round this idea they will never think in terms of any divisive factor and act in unison. Those who think in terms of religion etc. alone may damage the cause of nationhood. Those ideas have now become absolute.

The Indian filmdom has in a between Hindus and Muslims the collective conscious picture ‘Hum Hindustani” defined it in very clear term. A song of the film clearly enunciates the parameters which follows “Chhoro Kal Ki Baat, Kal Ki Baat Purani, Hum Hindustani. Leave aside what happened yesterday that has become outdates, we are Indians. The communalism in India has a serious psychological element. The Psychologists have discovered three cells in the mind. They are designated them as conscious, unconscious and collective consciousness.

The last one carries the impressions created long back which is transferred from generation to generation. If there is a clash between Hindus and Muslims the collective conscious of Hindus rakes up some anti Muslim image from the past and the same would happen to the Muslim and things will take a very disastrous turn. It then would become very difficult rather impossible to avert a clash. The psychologists have also suggested a way out. They confide that the people should refine their sentiments. They should think that whatever happened in the past, must have its cause and why we should bother about it today. Let bygones be bygones. It means that while not appreciating the present happenings, the secular people should also stress this: They should not be guided by what happened in the past and spoil their present.

It is also essential that we should practice unadulterated secularism. The secularism provides freedom to profess and propagate religion. But it does not allow a mixture of the two. There is clear cut demarcation of the same. The secular platform should not be used for addressing any religious issue. It should be done from a religious platform. We should not sort out differences from the secular platform. The secular platform is there to crush any disorderly behaviour against the followers of any religion. Secularism also envisages that public laws are not framed on the basis of any religion. The participation of Government in any religious activities brings law and order for holding religious congregation by the people concerned. They may create Public Trusts for the purpose.