Tampered secularism of India.

In the year 1950, we were handed in our constitution by one of the greatest leaders that the nation has ever had.

The first line of Indian Constitution’s preamble reads

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC.

I have been reading about the constitution’s preamble from around class VI but lately I got the chance to look over the constitution with impeccable and utter concentration. One of the words mentioned in the first line of preamble threw me into the ditch of incredulity. The word is “secular”.

The preamble valiantly averred that the whole nation has adopted secularism but still we lack the main spirit and rights to call ourselves a secular state. When our sowed the seeds of the paramount document of the nation, they knew that we have to transmute overselves.  Not change for change’s sake but change to endure this world and to withstand the revival that we would have to undergo but haplessly we forgot to change and recalled only to take forward the outdated and obsolete things and still today we continue to befool ourselves on secularism.

But what is secularism???

Merriam Webster dictionary explains it this way:

  Indifference to or rejection or exclusion of religion and religious considerations.

A secular state or nation is one which doesn’t endorse any religion and has not official religion.

These simple definitions are nothing if you want to apprehend the meaning of secularism in India. Secularism in India is somehow an aberration from that of other countries. Here every five years, two months before the elections, a race starts. The race named “Secularism”. Every party takes the placard of secularism and run to be called “THE MOST SECULAR” and leaders of different parties are just ready to tear off their chest to show that they are secular. In the race the party who wins is given the title of “Most Secular” but don’t be mistaken to think that this “secular” means not following or adhering to only one religion. In India a secular party or a leader is one who plays the vote-bank politics and who is ready to play appeasement policy all the time.

Secularism in India doesn’t mean that the person or the political party doesn’t follow any state religion but in India secular people play vote-bank politics and minority appeasement policies to garner as much votes as they can because they can’t use their development agenda which has been a complete zero to ask people to vote for them.

Nowadays the word secular has been used by each and every politician who is against BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party). When they have nothing to challenge Narendra Modi, they just clad themselves in the brittle shell of “secularism” which is in fact truly unauthentic and gives an account of the nadir that politicians can reach to blame a good person from coming to power.

More than our great constitution drafters Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, must be attributed to raise awareness for this word among the whole nation. He was the first person who expounded the whole nation what it means to be a secular person. Nitish Kumar was the first person to allege Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat and BJP’s PM candidate, of not being secular. All this took place when JDU ( Janata Dal United) quashed its 17 years old alliance with NDA (National Democratic Alliance). For the past 17 years the whole NDA was secular for JDU but when Narendra Modi was expected to become the PM candidate of BJP(Bhartiya Janata Party), Nitish Kumar’s sixth sense stroke and told him that Narendra Modi and BJP are not secular. His secularism soared to such a high that even when thousands were in danger during the flood crisis in Bihar, he refuted to take financial assistance from Gujarat, just because after 17 years of alliance with BJP, he came to know that BJP, especially Narendra Modi was not secular.

Next supporter of Secularism is Lalu Prasad Yadav. Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Chief Minister of Patna, is vehemently decrying Narendra Modi of not being secular and says that Narendra Modi ought not be the Prime Minister of the nation and if he becomes the PM then non-secular forces would engulf the whole nation. Let me ask him one question. What would happen if Lalu Prasad Yadav becomes the Prime Minister of India. If he becomes the PM of the nation then corrupt forces would engulf the whole nation. His fodder-scam is known to all of us, and his so-called governance which left the whole state of Bihar devastated is also not hidden to us but still Lalu Prasad Yadav is secular because he doesn’t want to vie to development but to appease Muslims and minorities which have also been exploited by him.

Mulayam Singh Yadav also accuses Narendra Modi with tooth and nail of not being secular and partisan to Hindus only.  Has he forgotten the Muzaffarnagar riot? He accused Narendra Modi of mishandling the Godhra riots but was his son able to control the Muzaffarnagar riot well? Has his own son apologized in public for the Muzaffarnagar riots? The answer to all the above mentioned questions is NO. So how can Mulayam Singh Yadav call himself a secular person? He calls himself a secular person just because he plays muslim and yadav card in all the elections and this great biasedness makes him a secular person.

Next in the race of being secular is Mayawati, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. I don’t think that I need to say much about Mayawati. It was only her party BSP(Bahujan Samaj Party) in 2002 gave the slogan Tilak, Tarazu aur Talwar, Inko maaro jutey chaar, which means that Brahmins, Kshatriya and Baniya (traders) should be detested to the hilt and that’s why she is secular. Great secularism!

Last but the most secular is INC (Indian National Congress). Indian National Congress first of all criticizes Modi of the Godhra riots, but the 1984 riots should never be talked about because at that time Rahul Gandhi was a child  and because they were mishandled by the INC. Then Rahul Gandhi condemns Narendra Mod of false development agenda, but Rahul Gandhi is definitely a pro-development person. We all have seen this in his UPA’s stint where scams developed too much that people are not  ready to believe that UPA’s scams can be of less than hundred crores. Rahul Gandhi also says that Narendra Modi is harsh towards muslims and that’s why he is not secular but his own party is secular because it endorsed casteism and religion based politics rather than a developmental one. Today Congress is secular because it has nothing to say except that Modi is not secular.

All this proves that Narendra Modi is not secular because he is pro-development and progressive and doesn’t play religion or caste based politics as secularism here means the appeasement policy.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat

Jai Ma Bharti