Secularism and the secular State, with a note on India

1. Meaning

The word comes from the Latin saeculum, “this age” or “this world”, as opposed to the eternal or religious. The term secularism was coined by the English writer George Jacob Holyoake in 1851 for a system of social ethics based on reason and concern for this life, without either accepting or rejecting religion.

In political science, a secular State is one that has no official religion, does not use religion as the basis of its laws or citizenship, treats all religions and non-believers equally, and guarantees freedom of religion to all. Donald Eugene Smith, India as a Secular State (1963): the secular State guarantees individual and corporate freedom of religion, deals with the individual as a citizen irrespective of his religion, is not constitutionally connected to a particular religion, and does not seek either to promote or interfere with religion.

2. Two models

3. Main features of a secular State

1. No State religion.
2. Freedom of religion for individuals and groups: to profess, practise and propagate.
3. Equality of citizens irrespective of religion; no religious test for public office, voting or citizenship.
4. No discrimination by the State on grounds of religion.
5. No compulsory religious instruction in State institutions, and no tax for the promotion of a particular religion.
6. Laws based on reason and the common good, not on religious scripture.
7. Protection of minorities.
8. Religion a private matter, subject to public order, morality and health.

4. Arguments for secularism

• Necessary for national unity in a multi-religious society.
• Protects minorities and so strengthens democracy.
• Protects individual liberty of conscience, including the freedom not to believe.
• Prevents religious conflict and the use of State power by one religion against others.
• Allows rational, scientific policy and social reform.
• Protects religion itself from State control and politicisation.

5. Arguments against (and criticisms)

• Anti-religious: critics say it marginalises religion and spiritual values.
• A Western import unsuited to deeply religious societies.
• Minority appeasement (the charge often made in India) or, from the other side, majoritarian bias.
• Vote-bank politics: parties use religious identity for electoral gain while professing secularism.
• Inconsistency: separate personal laws, State management of some temples but not of other places of worship.
• Vagueness: the term has no fixed meaning and is used differently by different parties.

6. A special note on India

Constitutional provisions.

• Preamble: the word secular was added by the Forty-second Amendment, 1976, though the Constitution was secular in substance from the start.
• Article 14: equality before law; Article 15: no discrimination on grounds of religion; Article 16: equality of opportunity in public employment.
• Article 25: freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality and health; the State may regulate secular activities associated with religion and provide for social reform and the throwing open of Hindu religious institutions to all classes.
• Article 26: freedom of religious denominations to manage their own affairs.
• Article 27: no tax for the promotion of any particular religion.
• Article 28: no religious instruction in institutions wholly maintained by the State.
• Articles 29–30: cultural and educational rights of minorities.
• Article 325: no one excluded from the electoral roll on grounds of religion.
• Article 44 (Directive Principle): the State shall endeavour to secure a uniform civil code.

Judicial view. In Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, 1973 INSC 91, the secular character of the Constitution was listed among its basic features. In S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, 1994 INSC 111, a nine-judge bench held secularism to be a basic feature of the Constitution and accepted that a State government which acts against it can be dismissed under Article 356. The Court described Indian secularism as positive: the State is neutral and gives equal treatment to all religions, but religion cannot be mixed with State power.

7. Is India a secular State?

Yes. India has no State religion; the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and equality to all; citizenship, voting and public office carry no religious test; the courts enforce secularism as part of the basic structure; and India has had Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chief Justices from different religious communities.

But with qualifications. Separate personal laws persist for different communities, and a uniform civil code has not been enacted nationally (Uttarakhand enacted one for the State in 2024). The State manages Hindu temples through endowment boards in several States, and funds minority institutions, which critics on each side read as departures from neutrality. Communal violence, religious mobilisation in elections and disputes over places of worship show the gap between constitutional principle and political practice.

Conclusion. India is a secular State in constitutional law and in its basic design. Its secularism is of a distinctive kind: not a wall of separation but equal respect and principled distance, allowing the State to reform religious practice in the interest of equality. Its success depends less on the text of the Constitution than on tolerance in public life.

How this is examined

January 2026 (100-mark): “Is India Secular State? Discuss” (10-mark compulsory option). January 2026 (80-mark): “Explain the features and importance of secularism” (10). June 2025: “Define about a Secular State” (6). January 2025: “Secularism” (10-mark compulsory option). August 2024: “Main features of secularism” (6); April 2023: “Write an essay on secularism” (6). For the India question, write the Indian model, the constitutional provisions, Bommai, the arguments for and the qualifications, and a clear conclusion.