The term pseudo-secularism is used to describe individuals who claim to be

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

but may display

biases Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

towards a particular

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, whether consciously or unconsciously. This term has gained popularity in recent

Indian politics The Politics and Government of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution, which was adopted in 1950. India is a parliamentary secular democratic republic, described as a “sovereign, socialist, secular democratic republ ...

, where it is often used to criticize individuals who identify as secular and advocate for

minority rights Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group. Civil-rights movements oft ...

while remaining silent or opposing concerns faced by the majority religion. Some

Hindu nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...

parties employ this term as a counter-accusation against their critics, alleging that the secularism followed by the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and other self-declared secular parties are flawed or distorted.

Background

The first recorded use of the term "pseudo-secularism" was in the 1951 book ''Philosophy and Action of the R.S.S. for the Hind Swaraj'', by Anthony Elenjimittam. In his book, Elenjimittam accused leaders of the

of pretending to uphold secularism. According to the Indian lawyer and historian

A. G. Noorani Abdul Ghafoor Majeed Noorani (16 September 1930 – 29 August 2024), better known as A. G. Noorani, was an Indian scholar, lawyer and political commentator. He practised as an advocate in the Supreme Court of India and in the Bombay High Court. ...

, "pseudo-secularism" was coined by

K.M. Munshi Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (; 30 December 1887 – 8 February 1971), popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, he later turned t ...

. After the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) was accused of representing Hindu communalism in Indian politics, it started using the counter-charge of "pseudo-secularism" against the Congress and other parties. BJP leader

LK Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak San ...

characterizes pseudo-secular politicians as those for whom "secularism is only a euphemism for vote-bank politics". According to him, these politicians are not concerned with the welfare of minorities, but only interested in their vote. Congress leader

Mani Shankar Aiyar Mani Shankar Aiyar (born 10 April 1941) is an Indian politician and former career civil servant diplomat. He is a member of the Indian National Congress Party. He represented the Mayiladuthurai constituency of Tamil Nadu in the 10th Lok Sabha, ...

has criticized the term as propaganda by Hindu nationalists. Left-leaning historian

Mridula Mukherjee Mridula Mukherjee (née Mahajan) is an Indian historian known for her work on the role of peasants in the Indian independence movement. She is an ex-chairperson of the Centre for Historical Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, a ...

has described it as "a term propounded by the ideologues of

Hindu nationalism Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...

to delegitimize and deny the genuineness of secularism. The subtext is that secularism is only a veneer put on to hide alleged policies of minority appeasement. The proponents of the term ccusethe secularists of being pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu."

Examples

The state policies of independent India accorded special rights to Muslims, along with other religious minorities like Christians and

Parsis The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

, in matters of personal law. For example, * In 1986, a Muslim woman Shah Bano Begum was denied alimony even after winning a court case, because the then INC government reversed the court judgement under pressure of Islamic orthodoxy by passing bill in the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. * Sharia-inspired laws for Muslims, such as those allowing

triple talaq Divorce according to Islamic law can occur in a variety of forms, some initiated by a husband and some by a wife. The main categories of Islamic customary law are ''talaq'' ( repudiation), ''khulʿ'' (mutual divorce) and ''faskh'' (dissolution o ...

(now banned), half inheritance for females,

child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...

and

polygyny Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...

* The religion-based reservations in civil and educational institutions to improve the representation of minorities. The Hindu nationalist BJP is openly against reservation of Muslims in educational institutions and the parliament. * In 1998, the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

accused BJP of playing along with pseudo-secular parties for compromising on issues like

Article 370 Article 370 of the Indian constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a region located in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and part of the larger region of Kashmir which has been the subject of a dispute between India, ...

, Ram temple and Uniform civil code of India. * In 2006,

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

, then

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

, said that "We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. These must have the first claim on resources", during his speech at the 52nd meeting of the National Development Council. TOI reported that the former PM statement came after the Sachar Committee report which highlighted how Muslim communities were lagging behind in education and livelihood opportunities in India. * Hindu temples are managed by each state's government in India. Religious places of minority religions like Islam, Christianity and Sikhism are managed by their followers. Some argue that state regulation is necessary to prevent

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

- and gender-based discrimination in places of worship, and hence should be expanded to all religion instead of "freeing the Hindu temples".

References

External links

Hasan Suroor (30 April 2014) ''Sins in the name of secularism'' - ''The Hindu''

Identity politics in India Secularism in India Hindu nationalism Political pejoratives Political terminology in India

Background

Examples

See also

References

Further reading

External links