Secularism
Secularism is the very soul of Indian society and the democracy. India has a tradition of co-existence, tolerance, co-operation and mutual respect between all its social and religious groups. Islam came to India with Muslim conquerors. A large number of natives turned Muslims over the period and presently they make the second largest community of our nation. The contribution of Islam to Indian culture and civilization has been spectacular. It added variety, colour and richness to native heritage. Islam enriched India with architectural wonders, the most precious being ‘Tajmahal’, the symbol of aesthetic India. Christianity had preceded Islam to India. St. Thomas, the twelve disciples of Christ arrived in India to preach his message when St. Peter was in Rome. Paris came to India in 8th century to escape from religious persecution in Iran. They brought Zoroastrianism. Jews sailed to India 2000 year ago to settle down in Mumbai, Pune, Kochi and Delhi. Hinduism itself was a religious conglomeration of thousands of sects having distinct beliefs, rituals, customs and practices. Three nearly different religions branched out of it, namely, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism having separate places of worship and holy books. In all, India remained a shining example of unity in diversity, nowhere else found in the world.
Honouring this eternal spirit of India, our constitution makers declared our nation to be a secular state without any discrimination. Although the people of our country are deeply religious yet they don’t harbour any ill will or intolerance against other faiths. Even during the freedom struggle the leaders who led it made secularism a basic policy to rally all the people against the British. The secular polity was fiercely strengthened by Mahatma Gandhi. Himself a deeply religious Hindu, he had great respect for all other religions and faiths.
To divide the Indians, the colonial rulers tried to destroy file spirit of secularism by aiding and abetting communal forces. Some of our people forgot that sacred tradition and played in the hands of British. Our country paid a terrible price for that lapse. India got divided into two nations and we lost father of, the nation, Mahatma Gandhi to the bullets of a degenerated fanatic who had no use for our secular legacy. It should teach us a lesson that only secular spirit will keep India going.
