by PRADEEP CHHIBBER and RAHUL VERMA
Secularism takes the multi-dimensional interests of the Muslim community (economic, political and social) and flattens them by defining the community solely along a religious dimension.
The Sachar Committee report makes it clear that Muslims in India are less educated, poorer and fewer of them can be found in the national and state legislatures and in the bureaucracy. Experiential evidence by social science researchers also indicates that Muslims are discriminated against in the job market and have a harder time in the rental market for houses and apartments in Indian cities. At the same time, the state stresses its secular credentials, that is, it is equidistant from all religions. In our view, the use of the word “secular” diverts attention from the real problems faced by the Muslim community. Secularism as a rhetorical political tool has done more harm than good in four ways. It has flattened the diversity of the Muslim community, redefined their interests primarily in terms of religion and privileged the Muslim elite. It has also given right-wing Hindus a political tool to mobilise votes by using the empirically questionable rhetoric of a Muslim vote bank.
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(Thanks to Mukul Dube)