Secularism

What the official syllabus says

UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination, Paper II: General Studies I.

Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.

This page covers secularism.

Topics in detail

Concept

• Western secularism: separation of church and state
• Indian secularism: equal respect for all religions (sarva dharma sambhava) and principled distance; the state may reform religious practice
• Secularisation as a social process

Constitutional basis

• ‘Secular’ added to the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment (1976)
• Freedom of religion: Articles 25 to 28
• Cultural and educational rights of minorities: Articles 29 and 30
• Equality and non-discrimination: Articles 14, 15 and 16
• The Uniform Civil Code as a Directive Principle (Article 44)
• Judgments: secularism as part of the basic structure (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973; S.R. Bommai, 1994)

Secularism in practice

• Personal laws and the reform debate
• State support to religious institutions and pilgrimages
• The essential religious practices test
• Landmark cases on personal law: Shah Bano (1985), the triple talaq judgment (Shayara Bano, 2017)
• State laws on religious conversion; the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991

Thinkers on secularism

• Gandhi’s sarva dharma sambhava; Nehru’s scientific and secular state
• Ambedkar’s views on religion, reform and the state

Challenges

• Communalism and the use of religion in politics
• Majoritarian and minority fundamentalism
• Tension between religious freedom and other rights (gender equality)

Strengthening secularism

• Constitutional morality and education in shared values
• Neutral and fair institutions
• Inter-faith dialogue and syncretic traditions

Overlaps

• The Constitution’s provisions are studied in General Studies II; tolerance as a value in General Studies IV.