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A Retrospective View on Religious Pluralism in South Asia
In 1947, when South Asia split into half to create Pakistan and India, both nations declared themselves as “secular” states. Nehru, the principal leader of the Indian National movement and head of state in India post-independence, considered himself a staunch secularist, and often debated the meaning of a secular society. According to Nehru, the term instigated more than just a “free play of religions,” and was a pathway to creating “social and political equality.” On the other end of the border, although Pakistan was created on the basis of Islamic ideology, and has since been declared an Islamic state, Jinnah often made the appearance of a secularist in public. Jinnah’s idea of a secular society in Pakistan was etched onto the Pakistani flag, adopted just 3 days before the inception of the state on 14th August 1947. The dark, emerald green was chosen to represent the Muslims in Pakistan, while the white depicted the presence of other minority communities in South Asia. In fact, Jinnah is known to have stated “you may belong to any religion, caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the state.”
However, despite adopting secularist policies, academics have often debated what the term secularism entails for South Asia. This is because the concept of secularism is often attributed to the West. The first usage of the word “secularization,” appeared in 1648, as a product of the thirty years war in Europe, after which western society witnessed the transfer of church property in the hands of the state, often governed by monarchs and princes. It is perhaps, due to this, that many Western academics have come to regard the process of secularization as a divorce of religion and state. Although the history of the modern secular state is rooted in the protestant movement in Europe, today secularism is considered as a process of removing dogmatic beliefs in society to carve the way for rationale in establishing a just and fair society.
Here it is important to note that Europe witnessed the struggle between the state and different versions of one major religion (Christianity), whereas South Asia hosts a range of religious communities and schools of thought, ranging from monotheism, polytheism, atheism, etc. all of which have their roots in ancient India. It is due to this that South Asian politicians continue to regard and make efforts to appease the several religious communities till date. After all, the Pakistani flag is divided along religious lines. It is, therefore, important to reshape our understanding of “secular” in the western sense, and regard South Asia as a pluralistic society tied together with an expansive range of religious, ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity. Indian societies have, therefore, evolved to include a large debate on religious thought, instead of attempting to erase it from society. This essay aims a brief history of religious pluralism in India.