Indian Secularism: Ambedkar and the Chronicle of a Failure Foretold essay by Sankaran Krishna

 

Indian Secularism: Ambedkar and the Chronicle of a Failure Foretold

SANKARAN KRISHNA

As India steps into its 77th year of Independence, it has moved a considerable distance from its lofty founding vision of ushering in a new variant of secularism. The project to establish a distinctly Indian relationship between state and religion – neither a wall of separation; nor a fusing of the two – now lies in a shambles. The reason is as ubiquitous as it is invisibilised: the failure, wanton perhaps, to effectively dismantle the chronically hierarchical caste orderings that continue to direct, and scar, India’s social, economic, and political progress. In this Essay, Sankaran Krishna, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, Honolulu, points out that the definitional limitation of secularism resulted in the creation of checkpoints confined to the major religions of pre-Independent India, whilst overlooking the massive inequalities within its religions, especially in terms of caste. The oscillation between prioritising collective rights at certain points, and individual rights at others, not only turned the tables on the voiceless but also ensured that powerful coalitions continued to direct the narrative.. Read more...