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Secular Rethink

We believe that secularism as we have known it has failed this country in many ways. We think the whole idea of secularism needs introspection and fresh thinking, so that it can return to vibrancy and new relevance to India.

We see this initiative, then, as a fledgling attempt to raise the immune system of civil society. Our premise is that the health of our society depends not just on battling hatreds and prejudice, but in actively working to make our secular culture strong, secure and vibrant. Being so, it will naturally resist attempts to undermine it.

From that beginning flow some broad themes:
• Fresh thinking needs terminology that is free from baggage of the past.
• Our focus is on civil society, though eventually we want our work to influence the working of the State.
• The current stress on equal respect between communities needs to be re-defined at two levels:
- Equal indifference at the State level. Where indifference means the separation of religion and State, and government bodies and related public institutions do not show either favour or disfavour to anyone on the basis of religion
- Mutual acceptance at the level of the individual and society. Individually, we need not like people who are different from us. But society must learn to manage difference in peaceful, democratic ways.
• What does it mean to be Indian today? What is our shared cultural and social heritage, and what are its roots in religion and spirituality?
• What does it mean to be Indian today, but in a complex, profoundly polarised world that is nevertheless more connected than ever before?

As we take the Secular Rethink forward, we look for more themes, a deeper understanding of the issues involved.

We now have a document, which we hope will be the starting point of a sustained and profound discussion. We urge you to read through this and send us your views.

Secular Rethink
A Journey of Reflection with Citizens for Peace
by
Rajni Bakshi

What would it take to build a truly dynamic, plural and secular culture

in 21st century India?

We invite
your comments,
ideas, views.

Write to us ...

Citizens for Peace (CfP), has been pondering over this question for the last few years.

CfP was founded in 1993 by several residents of Mumbai, who were horrified by the communal violence that scarred the city in the months following the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Set up as a registered public trust, CfP engaged in relief work for the victims of the 1993 riots.

In the subsequent 17 years, identity-based conflicts have proliferated -- from Kashmir to Orissa, Gujarat to the North East -- and have become even more complex.

In 2003 CfP renewed its resolve to foster communal harmony by creating a space for collective thinking and self-critical reflection.

In the past, many of us who are committed to secular ideals have felt impatient with any opposition to ‘secularism’ as we perceive this to be the very soul of India. Over the years, we began the process of revisiting its generally accepted definition by acknowledging that the diverse sharp, opposing and sometimes bitter responses to the very term ‘secularism’ need to be understood more deeply, and wherever possible, with empathy.
For instance, for some, India is already a richly plural and secular country – and in their view, this heritage must simply be reaffirmed and protected. Others argue that ‘secularism’ has become a farce, a political ploy, which should now either be abandoned or redefined to ensure unity rather than diversity. The space between these extreme views is rife with powerful and conflicting emotions that over the last two decades have bitterly divided not only communities but even families and friends within each community.

Therefore, the need for an open space -- in which people who hold different, even conflicting, perspectives can look at ‘secularism’ afresh:

A Secular Rethink.

CfP aims to generate a public dialogue on all the facets of the challenge posed by this divide. We believe that the proposed ‘rethink’ by all the stakeholders is a vital and necessary step towards building the kind of civic culture and stable democracy which India needs in order to grow in both moral strength and material prosperity.

The Approach

1. Round Table Discussions

We aim to bring together diverse groups of individuals, activists, supporters, policy makers etc to discuss and debate these issues. By doing so, we aim to bring in a diversity of views and approaches that will enrich our own understanding; and build long term partners in the public education and advocacy process

So far, we have held round-table discussions with:

• Ram Guha, historian [columns in Outlook, The Telegraph]
• Sudheendra Kulkarni, veteran journalist [columns in The Indian Express]
• Harsh Mander, former IAS officer and founder of Aman Biradari
• Dr. Ashish Nandy, sociologist
• Vijay Pratap, activist and founder of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
• The late Prof. V.P.Sathe, legal scholar who worked extensively on a common civil code
• Yogendra Yadav, political scientist

Among those who have participated in these discussions apart from the CfP team are:
• Anu Aga, Chairperson, Thermax
• Shailesh Gandhi, RTI activist
• Smriti Koppikar, journalist
• Arvind Krishnaswamy, senior corporate executive
• Nandan Maluste, senior corporate executive
• Rohini Nilekani, founder, Akshara, Bangalore
• Prabodh Parikh, writer and journalist
• Anjum Rajaballi, film script writer
• Satish Sahney, former Mumbai Police Commissioner
• Ingrid Srinath, CEO, CRY (Child Rights and You)

2. Public Advocacy

In the coming years CFP will seek to take the ideas that emerge from the Round-table Discussions and the Essay Competition to the public through a series of:
• Public lectures and seminars with a particular focus on youth
• Workshops with schools and colleges
• Partnerships with the media and corporate sector

3. Essay Competition

The Citizens For Peace - Indian Express Essay Competition

We, as Citizens for Peace, have a dream — a dream that moves us to do more than just celebrate India’s cultural diversity.

The Essay Competition is one way of creating a public platform for collective introspection that will help us to move towards a fresh and finely tuned understanding about what it means to be Secular. In other words this is the quest for a State of the Art Secular culture for India in the 21st century.

This annual essay competition, held since 2005 in collaboration with the Indian Express, has been our very first major step towards nurturing an open space in which citizens from all over India and all walks of life can voice and share their concerns and aspirations.

The response has been heartening. Hundreds of essays in English and Hindi have came in from across India — Shimla to Salem, Jamnagar to Kolkatta and some from small villages. Most of the entries were painstakingly prepared and filled with a passionate determination to foster a social political climate of fairness between not only different religions but also castes.

Essay themes:

2005 : “A Secular Re-think” [Read the essays].