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Thursday, May 31, 2012

It’s time for India to revisit its model of secularism, Islam and Pluralism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Pluralism
It’s time for India to revisit its model of secularism
By Bhikhu Parekh
August 27, 2008

Our independence struggle threw up different models of secularism. Two were most influential, the Gandhian and the Nehruvian. For Gandhi religion was a vital moral and political resource. The answer to any problems caused by it must be found in religion itself. The state should work together with religion because the latter reached areas the state could not. Religion’s primary public role was the promotion of dialogue and harmony. Nehru drew the opposite conclusion. ‘Religion had divided India and will kill it one day’, he once said. The state should therefore avoid all contact with religion, discourage its role even in civil society, and unify the country using its own resources. For him the secular state was concerned with citizens, not communities, and should foster the spirit of common citizenship.

http://newageislam.com/it%E2%80%99s-time-for-india-to-revisit-its-model-of-secularism-/islam-and-pluralism/d/645


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