There has been almost a consensus among the political opinion
makers in India that the Constitution of India that came into force in 1950 has
been a secular constitution. This paper critiques that consensus and
demonstrates that the secularism of India's constitution is Hindu-tainted. It
takes up some key articles of the Indian constitution and, by analysing the
constitutional debates of the 1940s that went into the making of those articles,
highlights the Hindu bias features of the Indian nationalist movement and the
constitution. While acknowledging some admirable and progressive features of
the constitution, the paper argues that its Hindu bias must be read as
symptomatic of the depth of institutionalised Hindu communalism in India and
the shallowness of the secular foundations of the Indian republic. The existence
of institutionalised Hindu communalism means that the power of Hindu
communal sectarianism is greater than that which is merely represented by
Hindu nationalist organisations. The paper concludes by suggesting that the
secular reconstruction of India demands critical combat with the institutionalised
communalism embedded in a range of societal and state institutions.
Examining Hindu bias in the constitution is an instance of an examination of
institutionalised communalism in one key institution of the Indian state and
society.
There has been almost a consensus among the political opinion
makers in India that the Constitution of India that came into force in 1950 has
been a secular constitution. This paper critiques that consensus and
demonstrates that the secularism of India's constitution is Hindu-tainted. It
takes up some key articles of the Indian constitution and, by analysing the
constitutional debates of the 1940s that went into the making of those articles,
highlights the Hindu bias features of the Indian nationalist movement and the
constitution. While acknowledging some admirable and progressive features of
the constitution, the paper argues that its Hindu bias must be read as
symptomatic of the depth of institutionalised Hindu communalism in India and
the shallowness of the secular foundations of the Indian republic. The existence
of institutionalised Hindu communalism means that the power of Hindu
communal sectarianism is greater than that which is merely represented by
Hindu nationalist organisations. The paper concludes by suggesting that the
secular reconstruction of India demands critical combat with the institutionalised
communalism embedded in a range of societal and state institutions.
Examining Hindu bias in the constitution is an instance of an examination of
institutionalised communalism in one key institution of the Indian state and
society.