Is Secularism breathing its last in India?

On 2 Oct 2025, when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS] celebrates the centenary of its foundation, India may cease to be a “secular and socialist” nation. All steps are being taken to remove those two words from the Preamble of the country’s Constitution, though the apex court had rejected a petition for the same on 25 Nov 2024. Though those two words were added to the Preamble by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, the ideals have only done good to the country, the Supreme Court observed. Ironically, the very next day of the SC’s verdict, the President of India spoke on the occasion of the 75^th anniversary of the Constitution and refused to mention those two words: secular and socialist.

The President, the Prime Minister, all ministers except George Kurien in the PM’s cabinet are all Hindus. (There are two Sikhs and Buddhists each, but they are Hindus, according to the Sangh). Many of them share the opinion of the General Secretary of the RSS, Dattatreya Hosabale, that Muslims and Christians should not be given equal status with the Hindus in India. India is a Hindu nation and people of other religious affiliations should be treated as second-class citizens. That’s fundamentally been the RSS stand right from the beginning.   

It may be ironic to recall here that more than 35 million Indians, most of whom are Hindus, live freely in other countries whose official religions are Christianity and Islam. But the Sanatana Dharma [eternal order] of the Sangh always loved to classify people into neat hierarchies. Even among the Hindus, not all are equal. As George Orwell would put it, some are more equal than others. The RSS, for example, has never had a Dalit Hindu as its chief. In Kerala, my state, the Dalit Hindus weren’t even allowed to enter the temples of the higher castes until rather recently.

The simple truth is that India is run by Hindus, whatever the Constitution may say. Prime Minister Modi and his bhakts [devotees] speak ceaselessly about minority appeasements. If there was indeed such appeasement, why are the minorities still living in pathetic conditions?

I mentioned Christian and Muslim countries above, countries where Hindu Indians live and work comfortably without facing discrimination. What do the Constitutions of those countries say about religion?

The Anglican Church is the official religion of England but the country’s Constitution recognises equal rights to all citizens ensuring freedom of religion and prohibiting all discriminations on the basis of religion. The Irish Constitution articulates that the state cannot endow any religion or discriminate on religious grounds, though the Preamble begins with the name of the Most Holy Trinity. Even Pakistan displays religious tolerance in its Constitution with its Preamble stating that “adequate provision shall be made for the minorities freely to profess and practise religion and develop their culture.” The actual practice may not be quite edifying, though. 

India’s secularism is based on Ashoka’s Dhamma. Jawaharlal Nehru gave shape to its modern version. Nehru was not a believer. In fact, he said that organised religions filled him “with horror… with its blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition and exploitation.” He preferred Ashoka’s inclusive vision which allowed people to live together in civility and promote equal respect for all religions. Nehru wanted the state to remain neutral.

As India moves away from the inclusive secular vision of its first Prime Minister to the exclusive tunnel vision of the present PM, as a citizen of this country I’m left wondering whether I will be a second-class citizen in my own country sooner than later.