ABSTRACT:
Jawaharlal Nehru was the originator of contemporary India. His farsightedness and sagacity were rooted in nothing less than a thorough doctrine of democracy, socialism, secularism and non-alignment. This doctrine emanated from a deep study of history and a keen empathy for the needs and feelings of the people whom he loved, and who loved him back. India is a vastly different country. After independence first prime minister pundit Jawaharlal Nehru made up the unity in diversity. With his hand India started to operate as a developing country. He chose a few tenets as the basis for the construction of the state. For example, secularism was very important point with him. Its importance is still very significant today. Throughout his life Nehru was committed to inter-faith harmony. At the same time, he was very critical of politics based on divisions he assailed. Belief or faith in anyone religion is a personal matter and the state should not intervene. The list of fundamental rights in the constitution very explicitly proclaim the right of religion to every individual. The state is not allowed to compel citizens to engage in any religious activities. Even though the term secularism is not found anywhere in the constitution originally, the concept of ‘secular’ was introduced by the 42nd amendment to the constitution in 1976. Anyway final at the end scenario of riots according to Nehru’s concept of secularism very essential and also it can provide always communal harmony in the country.
INTRODUCTION:
Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru was not only a politician but also a country builder of India. The character of secularism implemented in the Indian constitution was defined vide the awakening of Indian custom, societal colonial experience, ideological background of the nationalist movement, Nehru's understanding of social conditions and his quest for a nation's identity in the modern age. Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru conveyed modern urban alternative views and subject in modern Indian political thought. His thoughts cannot be classified in a linear way. Throughout his life, Nehru dealt with various contradictory aspects. These various aspects are democracy, socialism, secularism, nationalism, foreign policy, diplomacy, mixed economy, non-alignment, and so on. He has dealt with these concepts in his books ‘Autobiography’ (1936), ‘Glimpses of World History’ (1939), ‘Discovery of India’ (1946), Whither India. He was the one who had made a very significant contribution to the development of Indian democracy and culture. Nehru’s views on religion were altogether different from other Indian thinkers. He saw a religious amalgamation of the state as a threat to the Indian heterogeneous, multi-religious society. Therefore Nehru adopted the secularist ideology as the society’s welfare. While looking at Jawaharlal Nehru’s life, one can also say that he belonged to the Kashmiri Brahmin family not that long ago. He was however not a conservative person. The Buddha, Shankaracharya, Saint Kabir, Emperor Ashoka, and Akbar influenced him. He always described the things scientifically and technologically. In his point of view the latter should ultimately bring the Indian democracy forward.
VIEW ON SECULARISM:
Jawaharlal Nehru used the concept of secularism as one of the main pillars of the Indian society and politics. He was always very clear in his views and consistently condemned any political office or power that tried to mix religion with politics. Nehru used the term secularism as opposed to communism during the whole struggle of India for freedom Nehru was the brain behind the draft of the congress resolution on fundamental rights (1931) at Karachi. In this draft it was indicated that the state should be completely neutral in regard to all religions. He kept the practice on propagation of religion of individual as personal and avoidance of the parochial idea of religion from the political, culture, and social. On a personal note, Jawaharlal Nehru was an agnostic. He did not believe in spiritualism. In his political life, he was influenced by Gandhi but he did not accept the Gandhian concept of religion. He said in his book ‘Discovery of India’ that Nehru used term ‘Dharma’ and declared.
❝ Dharma in truth comes closer to something beyond religion. Dhar comes from a root word which means to support each other, it is the most basic feature of a thing, the law of its very life. It is one ethical idea which combine the moral code, Righteousness and the entire range of man’s duties and responsibilities. ❞
And he commented on Hindu
❝ To be a Hindu means to be part of a people and not the follower of a certain religion. ❞
This view inclines to show that India is a country of many nations. He mentioned that Hindu means every Indian. He conveyed the idea that Hindu, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, and others are like one religion.
Nehru’s explanation of secularism was:
- Separation of religion from all areas i.e. political, economic, social, and cultural. Religion is meddled only as a personal matter.
- From the religious point of view, the state was to be neutral.
- Total freedom for all religion and non aggression from the side of any religion.
- Equal chances for people of all religions and no discrimination based on religion.
Fundamental rights in the Indian constitution (article 25 28) and the 42nd constitutional amendment act of 1976 inserted the right to freedom of religion and secularism in the preamble after independence era. That is consistent with Nehru’s concept of secularism. Throughout his life, he condemned fanaticism, communal separation, and violence. Nehru’s position may be understood better if we look at Indian history which is replete with instances of secularism from ancient times. But it was secularism that was strengthened by Nehru. The manner in which Nehru dealt with secularism at that time of his contemporaries is still relevant today and will be in the future.
NEHRU ON RELIGION:
Nehru was no doubt defiant of fanaticism and bigotry and his stance on religion was marked by his adherence to the humanist liberal tradition, in which individualism, rationalism, universalism were the core assumptions. Nehru had very definite views on religion but the question still remains if the society and even the political leadership of the country were ready for it. Had Nehru’s views on religion been employed, religion would not have been a source of trouble in public life. Very few people had a rational viewpoint on religion as that of Nehru. Communal division had permeated deeply into the society and the dominance of religious prejudices in the two major communities could not be underestimated. From here came the problem of minority which, in turn, became the main issue in the solution of the political problem of the country.
SECULARISM AND DEMOCRACY:
Often, Nehru tied secularism to democracy. He was unsure if two things were not one and the same. The secular concept is an absolute necessary condition for the full regime of equal rights as proclaimed by modern democracy. A religious or theocratic state is something that has no place in the era of the world. Out of this belief, Nehru was compelled to caution certain members of the constituent assembly who had done ‘not even one thing amazingly generous’ in establishing a secular India. When its law makers made India a secular nation by drawing up the constitution, they had done only what almost every country in the world was doing, with the exception of a few backward countries isolated from the modern thought. For a long time, many people considered India to be synonymous with Hinduism, therefore the stronghold of Hinduism on the individual should have made one stop and think before talking about a secular India. The religious tendency and the resilient nature of the people are also quite evident. Moreover, most of the people are Hindus. Under such conditions, the turning point of India in the middle of the twentieth century as a secular state is a momentous event.
CONCLUSION:
This final chapter will try to evaluate Nehru’s idea of the secular state critically and his contribution in bringing about this ideal in India. A secular state was initially a concept and later on, it was a concept of separation of church and state. The idea of a secular state had developed very slowly and was heavily influenced by the historical events of the 18th and 19th centuries. The implementation of secularism in India brings up issues that Western countries have never had, such as the provision for separate electorates for different religious communities, communal personal laws, the caste system, and the like. Moreover, the ideal of secularism in the Indian constitution is not an exact duplicate of the American one. Nehru’s ideas played a key role in giving the constitution and the society a secular character. The fact is that secularism might be the most lasting of his contributions to India and the one that he was mostly proud of. The establishment of a secular state in India had to tackle numerous problems. The multi religious society which was superstitious and had blind faith, was both culturally and economically backward, thus it could hardly be the soil for a secular state. The country would be closer to the goal as long as those who are responsible for implementing the constitution keep Nereu’s ideology in mind.
REFERENCE:
- Chakrabarty, B. & Pandey, R.K. (2009). Modern Indian Political Thought: Text and Context. New Delhi: Sage Publication.
- Gauba, O.P. (2017). Indian Political Thought (2nd ed.). New Delhi: Pearson.
- Needham, A.D., & Rajan, R.S. (2007). The Crisis of Secularism in India. Durham: Duke University Press. doi.: https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822388418
- Nehru, J. (1989). The Discovery of India. New Delhi: Neil O’ Brien, Oxford University press, YMCA Library Building.
- Verma, V.P, (1974). Modern Political Thought. Agra: Lakshmi Narain Agarwal Educational Publishers.