(Book Review / The Hindu
March 20, 2007)
Not yet a lost cause
K. N. PANIKKAR
Secularism in Asia and Eastern Europe which have histories of multiculturism and religious strife
THE FUTURE OF SECULARISM: T. N. Srinivasan — Editor; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 595.
The recent literature on secularism has certain predictability. It is either concerned with its European origin and its consequent irrelevance to societies like India or concentrates on the inadequacies of secular practices of the state. What happens at the ground level, particularly in political practice and social relations is often missing.
The essays, collected together in this volume, substantially depart from this well-trodden path. They are different in two significant ways. Firstly, beginning with the editor himself who, though very briefly, locates secularism as a philosophical doctrine, the concept of secularism receives critical consideration. Secondly, most of the essays are detailed empirical enquiries into secular political practice in different countries in Asia and Europe, which affords a comparative perspective. The latter form a distinct contribution of this volume.
South Asia
The major part of the book deals with South Asia. There are six essays on South Asia, five on India and one on Pakistan. Among the rest two are on Indonesia, one on Iran and one on Yugoslavia. Collectively they offer considerable insight, through empirically rich and theoretically nuanced studies, into the complex relationship between secularism, nationalism and religion, set in different ideological and political contexts. The implication of invoking religion in politics has different possibilities and implications in different systems. It may lead to entirely different consequences in a democracy like India or dictatorship like Pakistan or a controlled polity like Indonesia. Yet, in all of them the process of secularisation of polity and society is likely to be adversely affected by the intrusion of religion into politics. That is the idea, either explicit or implicit, running through all essays, which provides a unity for the volume.
The first part of the book on South Asia has five essays on India. The tone of the volume is set by two excellent essays in this section by Rajiv Bhargava and Romila Thapar. In a theoretically- nuanced piece Rajiv Bhargava, while dismissing that secularism is conceptually flawed argues that it faces an internal threat due to the failure to "realise the distinctive character of Indian secularism." These distinctive characteristics which he identifies are the "full-blooded self-recognition of its multi-value character" and the rejection of the claim that "separation must mean strict exclusion and neutrality." The distinctiveness of Indian secularism, Bhargava argues, can be understood only when the cultural background and social context are properly understood.
In India
Romila Thapar's essay, "Is Secularism Alien to Indian Civilisation", complements Rajiv Bhargava's thesis in as much as it brings out the proto-secular trends in Indian history. Thapar views secularism as a process of "gradual change affecting not just politics but the social and cultural life of society." She suggests that the "notion of secularisation of society is more appropriate than the limited notion of the ideology of secularism." Viewed in that light Indian society, like all other societies, have undergone a process of secularisation, particularly as a part of modernisation. Although she does not directly engage with the arguments of "anti-secular secularists" like T. N. Madan and Asish Nandy her essay is a powerful refutation of their argument.
The commentator on Thapar's essay, Shyam Sunder, points out that secularism is best seen not as a state of affairs, but as a value, a structural dimension, in human societies. The relationship between caste and communalism is a relatively unexplored and untheorised area. The recent communal conflagrations like that of Gujarat in which the lower castes had actively participated adds urgency to a proper understanding of this evolving connection.
In a brief but interesting essay Dilip Menon argues that communalism is a "deflection of the central, unaddressed issue of violence and inegalitarianism within the Hindu religion" and that communalism is the highest stage of casteism. He also locates communal violence in the context of lower caste mobility and assertion. This is an attractive proposition which however requires much more empirical substantiation than what is marshalled in the essay. Most of the ideas and arguments, in these essays are tested in the remaining essays on predominantly Muslim societies like that of Pakistan and Indonesia. In them the relationship between religion, nationalism and secularism form the main focus.
In the Balkans
In a brief but excellent exposition of the Yugoslovian situation Amila Buturovic demonstrates the inter-relationship between the three and examines its consequences as unfolded in the Balkans. The essays in this volume possibly do not provide a clear indication about the future of secularism. What they all highlight is the tension that secularism is facing in these societies, particularly in the wake of the rise of fundamentalism and militancy, and the efforts to cope with it.
The editor rightly observes that secularism is facing a serious threat in all these societies under discussion. Hindu communal forces have made considerable headway in India, Pakistan lost its initial urge for secularism and religious conservatives established their hold on the state. Although Indonesia is not an Islamic state, the radical conservative Islam has been on the rise. Despite such tendencies secularism is a powerful idea, which continues to engage the political discourse in all these countries. Secularism, both as an idea and as a practice has considerable vitality and therefore is not a lost cause. The essays provide enough proof for this optimism.
