Unveiling Secularism

The recent Hijab ban split verdict has raised pertinent questions about how secularism has been constructed by the Indian judiciary. Critics have pointed out that secularism has been clothed in terms of formal equality, ignoring individual practices. The judgment has renewed criticisms about Indian brand of secularism and the inconsistent application of erp test followed in India so far. Inconsistencies in holding religious practices have led to mis- conceptualisations, if not a complete subversion of the Constitutional ideas of secularism, which was the consequence of imposition of a Nehruvian Socialist ideal, in the Constituent Assembly. In this context, the authors argue that the post-independent critique of Indian secularism is largely correct in that it has promoted a reformist homogenous idea of religion. This in turn has formed the erp practice, where the Indian Courts in a reformist role have churned out absurd, ambiguous, capricious principles that have undermined indigenous practices.