After Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the bhumipujan for Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, a debate has begun on secularism. Yet on both sides of the divide, whether ‘secular’ or ‘non-secular’, there is an absolutism and absence of free thought. While majoritarian politicians demonise and attack minorities, ‘secular’ politicians have often pandered to narrow minded community clerics. A new word is needed for those challenging majoritarian politics. ‘Plural’ is a better word than ‘secular.’
In the past, both ‘secular’ and Hindutva politicians have used religion as a political tool to either project a false majoritarianism or encourage minority orthodoxies and anxieties. Instead, we could follow Mahatma Gandhi’s example. Gandhi ‘spiritualised secularism and secularised religion’. Gandhi upheld the truth in every religion, Read More
