Abstract
The State’s engagement with religion has formed one of the recurring themes of conflict in India’s democratic experiment. The Indian model of secularism, which evolved in an attempt to resolve this conflict, has distinguished itself from separation-model secularism. This paper seeks to analyse the impact of the measures undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic on the Indian understanding of secularism. To this end, it provides an overview of the nature and evolution of Indian secularism. Thereafter, it encapsulates the steps taken by the State to meet the exigencies of the present contagion and attempts to gauge the impact of the said steps on the jurisprudence on religious freedoms. It then seeks to contextualise this impact by using it to inform the Indian conception of secularism and, thereby, promote a richer, more holistic understanding of how a deeply divided society has functioned as a secular State for seven decades.
Highlights
Religion has frequently formed the bone of socio-political contention in India; a country whose social milieu is characterised in equal parts by its multicultural diversity and inter-religious strife
The words of Nalawade, J. of the Bombay High Court best sum up the steps that had been taken against the individuals forming part of the Tablighi Jamaat: There was big propaganda in print media and electronic media against the foreigners who had come to Markaz Delhi and an attempt was made to create a picture that these foreigners were responsible for spreading covid-19 virus in India
The constitutional developments beginning with the Constituent Assembly and germinating in a vast jurisprudence on religious freedom, secularism and the limits of State action, inform us of an uneasy truce between ideology and reality
Summary
Religion has frequently formed the bone of socio-political contention in India; a country whose social milieu is characterised in equal parts by its multicultural diversity and inter-religious strife. 25–30), subsequent legislations and judicial decisions (Padhy 2004, 5027), India has evolved its own unique brand of secularism (Bhargava 2006, 20) This brand has arguably shaped by an enmeshment of social realities, constitutional ideals and the vicissitudes of time. This paper seeks to analyse the impact of India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic on its engagement with religion and, thereby, the Indian understanding of secularism itself To this end, firstly, an attempt has been made to encapsulate the nature and evolution of secularism in India. The pandemic represents a situation wherein the State has been forced to clamp down on individual liberties without adhering to the constitutional safeguards that are the logical corollary of a proclamation of emergency This creates a crucible for tension between the State’s regulatory functions and the constitutionally guaranteed right to religion. The authors lastly examine whether the steps taken by the State in light of the COVID-19 pandemic are in consonance with the existing understanding of Indian secularism or whether they constitute a departure from the same
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