Secularism, is the view that religious considerations should be excluded from civil affairs or public education. Secularism is a form of governance that is not affiliated with any particular religion. In political terms Secularism is a movement toward the separation of church and state as opposed to a union. Its proponents argue secularism is the concept that states should be governed by a process of reasoning rather than dogmatic belief.
As the term "secularism" is often used in different contexts, its precise definition can vary from place to place. A democracy need not necessarily be secular. For example, the United States of America is a democracy but still has "in God we trust" printed on its currency. Another example is the Iraqi Constitution which seeks to establish a democratic government but also calls for the Supreme Federal Court to be made up of judges who are experts in Sharia (Islamic Law).
Indian Secularism
that the Indian model of secularism does not conform to any of these definitions. In fact no definition of secularism is offered in the Indian constitution. While the general public in India understands it to mean "equal respect for all religions, and Morarji Desai's Janata Party government introduced the Constitution (45th Amendment) Bill seeking to define 'secular' to mean 'equal respect for all religions', the Congress Party refused to endorse such a definition.
1. In practice the Government of India and the legal system do not treat all religions and in particular the Hindu faith with equal respect, nor does it treat all religions equally under the law. There are countless examples, of which some of the most egregious are the separate civil law provisions for Muslims, in which the civil law sections of the Indian Penal code do not apply to Muslims.
2.Another is the special status of Jammu and Kashmir state simply for no other reason than the fact that it is a majority Muslim state
3. A third is the special subsidy given to Muslims to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage, which runs into very large sums of money. No such subsidy is available for Hindus to visit their places of pilgrimage even to proximate locations such as Mt. Kailash
4. While the government maintains a hands off attitude to the administration of Mosques, it administers Hindu trusts through the appointment of a Administrative officer (there is no requirement for him or her to be a Hindu) and not only does not subsidize the maintenance of Hindu temples many of which are in disrepair but diverts money from Hindu trusts to Muslim religious Waqfs.
5. Minority Educational institutions get subsidies that are not available to Hindu educational trusts. The situation became so dire that the Ramakrishna math started by Swami Vivekananda himself, petitioned to be classified as a non Hindu institution, in order that they be eligible to receive subsidies.
Such unequal treatment under the law is becoming intolerable to the Hindu, who is becoming increasingly alienated in the land of his own forefathers, which is another reason for the nascent self awareness of the Hindu and his increasingly vocal participation in the Hindu renaissance movement
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