Political Secularism in India

Conceptual Ambiguities and Institutional Operationalisation

von Lahari Chakraborty

318 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

With the BJP securing a third consecutive term in power in 2024, India is no longer debating secularism—it is witnessing its metamorphosis into majoritarian rule. To some, this is a long-overdue reckoning that corrects decades of minority appeasement. To others, it is the death of the republic’s founding ideals. But what if both are wrong? But what if both are distractions from the larger truth? Secularism in India was never pure—it was always political. The collapse of secularism is not the doing of the last decade—it has been unraveling for 77 years. Since Independence, successive governments have distorted, exploited, and selectively applied secularism to serve their own political survival. It was never about true neutrality; it was about control. The judiciary, once the strongest safeguard of secular values, has become an inconsistent force—at times upholding secularism, at other times legitimizing its erosion. Secularism remains a constitutional principle, but in practice, it has been reinterpreted, redefined, and weakened to the point where it no longer functions as a safeguard against religious majoritarianism. The real crisis lies in its indecipherability. Framed as neutrality but often practiced as negotiation, secularism has meant different things at different times—to the state, the courts, and the people. Its contradictions have allowed it to survive, but they have also made it vulnerable. If secularism is to survive, it must be reimagined—not as passive neutrality, but as Diversity-Embracing Secularism, an active force that refuses to bow to political expediency. The fight is not between parties but between two visions of India—one that embraces diversity and one that seeks to erase it.

• Reihe: FAU Studien aus der Philosophischen Fakultät
• Themen: Gesellschaft und Sozialwissenschaften Politik und Staat Politische Strukturen und Prozesse
• ISBN: 9783961478422
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 17.09.2025
• Größe: 24 x 17 cm
• Verlag: FAU University Press