Description

The ideology of Secularism had taken shape during the European Enlightenment (18-19 centuries).  Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who had never used the term in his pre-independence writings or speeches simply picked up a prestigious word from the Western political parlance and made it mean the opposite of what it meant in the West.  The outcome of this perversion proved disastrous for the newly independent nation, as became more than obvious in due course.  In Pre-Independent India, the ‘Muslim minority’ had exercised a veto on who was to be hailed as ‘nationalist’ and who was to be denounced as ‘Hindu communalist’.  Now the same minority reacquired the same veto on who was to be applauded as ‘secularist’ and who has to be hounded out as ‘communalist’.  In short, the term ‘secularism’ in the post-independence period has been and remains no more than a euphemism for Hindu-baiting.

Political developments in India in recent years indicate that a National Vision is emerging in the Hindu intelligentsia at large.  The pace of this emergence is slow because old slogans continue to dominate the media and academia.  It will take some time for these slogans to get exhausted.  The world at large is realizing the danger which Islamic terrorism poses to peace and progress, and we too will have to face the truth.