Class 11 Political Science Book 2 Chapter 8 Secularism NCERT Solutions

Let’s Do It 1. List some of the ways in which you feel communal harmony could be promoted.

Answer: The chapter itself suggests the first two: education, which helps change the mindset of people, and individual examples of sharing and mutual help, such as the stories of Hindus saving Muslims or Muslims saving Hindus in the midst of a communal riot. Other ways: learning about the festivals, beliefs and practices of other communities; inter-community activities in schools, neighbourhoods and sports; and refusing to spread rumours or hate. But the chapter adds that mere education or the goodness of some persons is unlikely to eliminate religious discrimination, so the most important way is a secular state: one that is not run by any religious order, has no formal alliance with any religion, protects religious freedom and equality, punishes religious violence and discrimination impartially, and protects minorities.

Let’s Debate 1. “Learning more about other religions is the first step towards learning to respect and accept other people and their beliefs. But that need not mean that we should not be able to stand up for what we feel are basic human values.”

Points for the debate: In support: prejudice usually grows from ignorance, so knowing about other religions builds respect and acceptance, and helps people live together as equals. The second half: respect for a religion does not mean accepting every practice in it. The chapter’s own example is that Indian secularism does not accept religiously sanctioned caste hierarchies, and allows “equal disrespect for some aspects of organised religions”; so one can respect other faiths and still oppose untouchability, discrimination against women or violence in the name of religion, in one’s own religion as much as in others.

Box: Kemal Ataturk’s Secularism. Can you imagine a secularism that does not give you the freedom to keep the name you are identified with, wear the dress you are used to, change the language you communicate in? In what ways do you think Ataturk’s secularism is different from Indian secularism?

Answer: Such a secularism takes away the very freedoms that secularism is meant to protect. Ataturk’s secularism was not about principled distance from organised religion; it involved active intervention in, and suppression of, religion: he ended the institution of Khalifa, banned the Fez through the Hat Law, encouraged Western clothing, replaced the Turkish calendar with the Gregorian one and adopted a new alphabet in a modified Latin form in 1928. Indian secularism differs: (1) it is not hostile to religion (Nehru, the philosopher of Indian secularism, did not practise any religion, yet for him secularism did not mean hostility to religion); (2) it follows principled distance, which allows the state to keep away from religion or to intervene only to promote peace, freedom and equality, for example by banning untouchability; and (3) it protects religious freedom, including the right of minorities to maintain their own culture and educational institutions, instead of forcing one way of life on everyone.

Let’s Debate 2. “Religious identities and differences have no significance for the young.”

Points for the debate: For: many young people study, work and make friends across religious lines, and care more about education, jobs and shared interests than about religious differences. Against: religion still shapes the names, festivals, food, dress and family life of most young people; religious identity can be used to mobilise them; and the chapter’s examples of inter-religious domination (1984, the Kashmiri pandits, Gujarat 2002) show that such differences can still decide people’s safety. A balanced view: secularism does not ask anyone to give up a religious identity; it protects religious identity and opposes only domination, so young people can value their own identity while treating others as equals.

Let’s Think. Is secularism compatible with the following? (a) Subsidising a pilgrimage for a minority community. (b) Performing religious rituals in government offices.

Answer: (a) Open to debate. Indian secularism allows positive engagement with religion (for example, state assistance to the educational institutions of religious minorities), so support to a minority community is not ruled out in principle. But the chapter’s test is whether the state’s action promotes peace, freedom and equality and has goals at least partly derived from non-religious sources; a subsidy for a purely religious activity of one community, if not available on equal terms to others, can look like favouring one religion, and the chapter warns against politics that gives priority to one group over the equality of all citizens. (b) Not compatible. A secular state has no formal alliance with any religion and does not adopt any religion as its own; performing religious rituals in government offices makes the state itself take part in a religion, and puts employees and citizens of other faiths, or of no faith, in an unequal position.

Let’s Do It 2. Watch films such as Bombay and Garam Hawa. What ideals of secularism do they depict? Read a short story ‘Name’ in Forsaking Paradise: Stories from Ladakh by Abdul Ghani Sheikh.

How to do it: This is an activity, so watch and read for yourself. While watching, note how the story shows the ideals the chapter describes: freedom to follow one’s religion, equality between communities, opposition to inter-religious domination and violence, the pain of people forced to leave their homes, and people of different faiths helping one another. Then ask whether the film or story shows mere tolerance or real equality and dignity, a distinction the chapter makes clearly.

Margin and text questions on vote bank politics and equal treatment. (i) What if the interests of the majority are undermined by secular politicians who seek minority votes? Can you think of such examples? (ii) How can a State treat all religions equally? Would granting equal number of holidays to each religion help? Or would banning any religious ceremony on public occasions be a way of doing this?

Answer: (i) If the welfare of one group is sought at the cost of the welfare and rights of other groups, the chapter says “a new injustice is born”. Examples to look for are policies or promises made only to win a group’s votes, in which the principle of equality of all citizens is disregarded; the chapter adds that such minority appeasement has ironically led to further alienation of the minority group itself. (ii) Treating religions equally does not mean giving them identical treatment in every respect. An equal number of holidays would be mechanical and would ignore the different needs of communities; banning every religious ceremony on public occasions would turn secularism into hostility to religion, which Indian secularism is not. The better way is principled distance: the state keeps its distance from all religions, does not favour any, intervenes only to end discrimination or domination, and supports each community on equal terms when it does engage.

Gazetted holidays. Read out the list of gazetted holidays in India. Does it uphold the case of Secularism in India? Give your arguments.

Answer: Largely, yes. The 2019 list has three national holidays (Republic Day, Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday) and festivals of many religions: Hindu (Maha Shivaratri, Holi, Janmashtami, Dussehra, Diwali), Jain (Mahavir Jayanti), Buddhist (Buddha Purnima), Christian (Good Friday, Christmas Day), Muslim (Id-ul-Fitr, Id-ul-Zuha, Muharram, Milad-un-Nabi) and Sikh (Guru Nanak’s Birthday). No religion is adopted as the state religion and every major community is recognised, which matches Nehru’s idea of a state that protects all religions without favouring one at the expense of others. A counter-argument is that the number of holidays differs from one religion to another and some smaller communities are not represented; but, as the margin question above suggests, equal treatment does not have to mean an equal count of holidays.