The Indian constitution gives the idea of secular India, the secular word was not added to the original preamble of the Indian constitution. It was in the year 1975, the congress government lead by Indira Gandhi amended the preamble under the 42 amendment which added worlds like secular and socialist. The founding fathers of the Indian constitution did not mention the word secular because it was not necessary to be mentioned according to them. The world like liberty, equality, fraternity and justice were indirectly addressing the same idea, the constitutional assembly members thought that writing words like secular and socialist would put new India into a box of pre-assumption to any foreign land, basically a stereotype the nation.
It was in the S.R. Bomai Vs Union of India that the supreme court said that secularism is part of basic structure of Indian constitution. Secondly, socialism was nearly communism in the post-world war 2 time, therefore putting the word like socialism would make things difficult in the foreign policy matters. India was not willing to go either of the side of the U.A.S or the U.S.S.R in the cold war time. India always maintained good relations with both the countries simultaneously.
The opposition parties to the Congress like the Bhartiya Janata Party and many other party thinkers believe that putting the world like secularism had opposite reaction to the social mechanism of the country. It has been observed by many thinkers’ scholars that after the 42nd amendment the country has been split between people who define secularism in different ways. Some define it under religions tolerance and others under separation of religion and state administration. India does to come under the definition of western secularism. In west secularism means separation of state and church. Therefore, when same idea is implemented in the south east Asian region, may not like the idea and hurt the religious sentiment of the people. The Indian secularism is not actually secularism but religious tolerance to maintain peace and harmony in the country, it does not have any influence of western secularism, moreover it could be said that Indian secularism is pluralism rather than secularism, because it has an idea of flourishing of all religions, respecting their culture, brotherhood and celebrating diversity. Pluralism would be much appropriate world to Indian secularism, it is a way to balance the diversity in the nation and to make people celebrate their culture along with nationalism. The feeling of “we” ‘the people of India’ arises from such concepts.
