Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'To be Secular or Communal?' that was published in Newsband

To be Secular or Communal?

There was controversy over the demands for dropping the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ from the Preamble of the Constitution. Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah said that the Preamble, as it stands today, should remain and that there is no need to change it. What is now needed is for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to endorse his political aide, Mr. Shah, and give a public assurance on retaining the two words.

BJP is on record owning up their ideological umbilical cord to RSS whose Ideologue Shri Golwalkar disparages democracy as alien to Hindu ethos. RSS Ideologue thinks in terms of only Hindu India. Shri Golwalkar demonizes those Indians not born in Hindu fold. In his formulations non Hindus Indians must entertain no idea but glorification of Hindu race, culture or may stay in country, subordinated to Hindu Nation, claiming not even citizen’s rights.

Many Hindus bitterly ask the question, “How did the entire Nagaland become Christian? Then why shouldn’t India become all Hindus?”

Indian history is replete with conversions of Hindus to other faiths. Many of our present day citizens had Hindu ancestors. The government should allow only voluntary reconversions but not coercion.

If conversion has to be abolished then make all conversions illegal by an act of law. Hindus are justifiably worried due to alarming rate of growth (24%) of Muslims in India since it is likely to deprive them of the majority status in their own motherland, within decades. "Ghar wapsi" is not a solution to this growing demographic imbalance but only an attempt to focus people's attention to the growing menace. All responsible citizens of India should first follow family planning in the interest of the nation, before airing grievances.

It is agreed that whatever you add or delete in the constitution, a secular feeling has to be developed in spirit and soul when we live in a country like India. Conversion is not a solution or an ultimate end of life. Let us accept the fact that when Mr. Obama won the presidential election in the USA, there was an in depth research in European countries about the possibility of the person of foreign origin occupying the highest office in their countries. So one can’t blame the Hindus in India if they think along the same line.

Conversion by a third person, only with an intention to increase his tribe is not legal. But a self generated urge to convert to any religion chosen by an individual is a right guaranteed by the constitution. This principle does not differentiate majority and minority communities and it equally applies to the Christian missionaries in their "conversions" as well as Hindu protagonists to their action in Ghar Vapsi. Secularism is a concept which is applicable to India as it does in Western polities. Even though the word is not defined in the constitution it definitely means that religious laws are not justiciable in Indian courts nor should the religious laws influence civil laws in the country. Hence India cannot have a 'state religion' nor can it have a state scripture as recently pointed out by Susma Swaraj. The constitution is our state scripture and the policy pronounced by it, is the religion of this country.