Congress Leader Abhishek Singhvi Speaks At National Seminar by Rajiv Gandhi Intellectual Forum (RGIF)
PRERIT CHAUHAN (PHOTO/VIDEO SAURABH SHRIVASTAVA) TENNEWS DELHI
On Friday, In New Delhi At National Seminar organised by Rajiv Gandhi Intellectual Forum (RGIF). Intellectuals Shared their views on “Institutional Pillars of Indian Democracy:SWOT Analysis”
The panel discussion was Addressed by Personalities like, Senior Party Leader Abhishek Singhvi who shared his views about the role of Secularism and Fundamentalism in India.
Congress Leader Abhishek Singhvi Said, “what does secularism mean to and in India? Even the Supreme Court of India, in one of its judgments, has stated that secularism is a complex and a very difficult concept to define. In the West, there is no such confusion.
Secularism has three core features: equal citizenship to each citizen irrespective of his or her religion, freedom of religion and the separation of state and religion. However, in India, secularism is always perceived as anti-minority and pro-majority; that is why, majority of the people and policy makers in India perceive secularism through a religious conflict prism”.
In other words, secularism in India has come to mean pro-majoritarian that is, slanted in favor of the dominant group fed by a narrative of Minority-phobia.
The question is: why is there such confusion in India with regard to secularism? Why is the entire discourse around secularism so confusing and puzzling in India? To understand secularism in the Indian context, we need to explain secularism in general- its origins in Europe and its different forms. Like cricket or the English language, secularism in India is a borrowed notion.” Singhvi added.