I am surprised that this sort of articles are written by persons who profess themselves to be scholars. If you read the book on Islam by Karen Armstrong it says that Prophet Mohammad began by saying that he does not deny the existence of any god or prophet but Al Lah is the strongest of these gods so one should worship him. Islam assimilated the pre Islamic practice of venerating Kabah and Kabah had pre Islamic Arabic gods and godesses enshrined in the premises. So if assimilation of local religious and cultural rites is un Islamic then Saudi Arabia is the most un Islamic nation. A very thin line divides local custom from performing religious rites. If lighting lamps shows a religious bias then so does sending persons on Hajj on State expenses without similar rights given to other religions. Why should separate personal codes be maintained? Secular does not mean denial of religions or religiousity but we have developed our own hue of secularism when equal treatment is given to all religions. Judging whether a nation is secular or not is not comes after understanding what is "secular".

Regarding some groups being termed as "martial" and "non-martial" it is well known that all the groups that took part in the first war of independance/Sepoy mutiny were all termed as "non-martial" to reduce their intake in the army. This distinction no longer exists and it is mischievous to use this fact to term India unsecular.

Regarding the census it is foolish to state that there is any such attempt. Firstly, the term Hindu is very imprecise and all embracing. All the persons living in the Sindhu Valley were termed as Hindu ("S" pronounced as "H"). How many agnosts and tribals who do not follow these religions do u now of ? This is some one sitting in the US or Europe may not know it but someone who has been in India certainly does.. You are being intellectually dishonest.

It is all very fine to sit on armchair and speak through the hat but it is another to notice the good things the official policy of non-discrimination, the bon homie between the groups, the sharing of wishes and celebrations in each others festivals. India may be imperfect but certainly secular and, you sir, are certainly no lover of secularism because it makes you uncomfortable

India can NOT be secular as long as MUSLIMS have separate LAW, violating the Indian Constitution which states that India should have a common CIVIL CODE.

But of course all Indian Muslims have the option to freely migrate to "the most secular state of Pakistan and Bangladesh"!!! ENJOY SECULARISM- GO TO PAKISTAN- any takers??????

India is truly not a secular country. The reason I say that, There are two laws in India. General Law (which covers Hindus, Sikhs, Christian, Zorastrians, Jews, Jains, Buddhists, etc) and the Islamic law.
In a truly secular country like US, there is only one law for all citizens.
The muslim minorities should fight for one single secular law, then India can be called a secular country.
Regarding treatment of minorities, India treats its muslim minorities better then any other religious denomination. Christians are not given money money to fly to Jerusalem, Hindus are not given money to goto Varanasi, but Muslims are given money by Govt of India and State Govts to make Haz pilgrimage to Mecca (all on Tax dollars).
India is full of Bull, so it doesnt have balls to place all communities under one umbrella.
I have lot of muslim friends who are not fundamentalists, but the very few who are fundamentalist and narrow minded drive me crazy. If you dont like India, you can get your ass out of India, as I did buddy.

This is in response to your article on India’s Secularism.

I think the person responsible for making this comment must be hardcore religious fundamentalist or may be having poor knowledge about India and its culture, or may very weak in the History .

Please check whether you are Secular enough to comment on other country’s secularism.

First, you should look in to your foolish approach on IRAQ, AFGANISTAN and Pakistan and comment on other countries affairs.

Just, think about the loss of life in Iraq due to your Invasion. Here the victims are Muslims.

No religious minority in India requires any outside support. Indian constitution provides equal opportunities to all Indians and all are safe here.

When India got Independence, the Christians and Muslims population was just around 5 to 10%. Now Christians and Muslims constitute 50% of the total population.

Can this happen, if India is not secular? We have most number of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. Thousands of Hindus are being converted to Christianity daily all over India. Can this happen if, India is not secular? Can this happen if Indians are not tolerant?

Before speaking about the Gujarat or Kandhamal riots, please go back to 1980, 1990. In Hyderabad, thousands of Hindus were murdered by Muslims, Hindu girls were raped & killed. Hindus were forced to vacate their lands, homes from their own home land. But during those periods, Media wasn’t active and these incidents weren’t reported or brought to the notice of outside world.

If you are good enough, please read for the atrocities carried out by Moghuls and later by British on India and its people during 17, 18 & 19 th century. You will understand whether India is doing enough for their Minorities, if you compare the % of Hindus with Muslims& Christians now.

It is n’t just what country is giving you, but you should also think about your contribution to the country. Muslims contribute nothing to the country except for population increase. But they expect everything from the country. They are eating away the country’s food grains. It is because of them them, inflation is going up. Shortage of food . They don’t pay any taxes electricity bills, telephone bills etc.. But they want all the facilities. If stopped, they will threaten the concerned authorities.

For your information the so called majority ( on papers) is threatened by Minority. It is unfortunate that, the concerned authorities are just looking only for votes and not bothered about the future.

Please visit and experience what is mentioned above.Finally,

Please think about your country and its Economy. India don’t require external support. It is other way now. Please think about the efforts , that you did to get the Nuclear deal signed and your plans for other getting business from India.

Don’t be foolish, you are harming your interests by making irresponsible comments. You will be loosing the business. They are many others who are eagerly waiting at our doors.

Unfortunately The process of saffronization of fuctions under the aegis state began in the time of Nehru itself. Every function of the Ministry of Education begins with Saraswati vandana (Homage to the Hindu deity of education). How can a secular state invoke a deity of any religion, asks Dr. Khalidi?

boediger

If India is a nation of minorities, should the Constitutional Provisions for protecting 'minorities' not apply to all people as members of one or the other minority. Why is it that the Indian Constitution awards protection to religious and linguistic minorities by inference without ever so much as establishing a definition of minority in the mosaic of both diversity and disparity that is India.

How is it that the leaders of the most vocal 'religious' minority in India did not question this majority - minority distinction when it meant special status in the constitution as the chosen minority to create enclaves of theocracy with state sanctioned and state supported primacy for religious identity above all other concerns. When rest everybody left out of the loop of special status for protection of religious identity affiliates themselves with a religious identity called 'Hindutva' to present themselves as the majority identity and want to be represented in the State where secularism has always been presented as 'embodiment of all religions', Mr. Khalidi seems to be waking up to the fact that there should be a 'strict' separation of Church and State in a diverse country like India.

And in that vein, I would like to know if separation of Church and State in Mr. Kahildi's view also applies to reforming laws for a common areligious civil code, and abolishing Haj subsidies at tax payers expense or does he only have a problem with inclusion of Saraswati Vandana and other Hindu symbology in the public realm, where majority of the people know Saraswati to be the goddess and symbol of knowledge and Saraswati Vandana is a prayer for knowledge. It is kind of like majority of the people in the United States - where Church and State are separate - are Christian, so a Pastor offers an invocation at the Presidential Inauguration and the President for all people of all religious persuasion, takes the oath of Office to abide by a secular Constitution on the Bible. The difference is that symbolism aside, citizenship rights of all people in the United States are protected by the Rule of Law, and if they are violated there is recourse in the court of law and violators regardless of majority/minority status do not get away scot free because criminality does not have political protection regardless of the criminal's affiliation.

Incidentally, what is a dalit outside the caste of Hindus? The term dalit, which literally means oppressed, originated and is used to refer to lower caste Hindus. Hindus is not a caste - there are several castes within Hindu society.

Man did Jinnah not predict that Hindus will oppress the Muslims in India. Didn't he get a separate "country of PURE" for sheltering the people persecuted by the evil Hindus.

But still muslims continued to stay on. You made a choice. The Hindus did not beg you to stay and even now will not bother if you make that decision.

jis thali meh khateh hoo usmeh ched karte hoo

Your forefathers were all hindus .. check them .. as islam is not the religion of india

Abeh except muslims all are hindus so see u r only 15 crore and rest 100 crore are hindus

we dont differentiate in sikhs and christians they are like us .. u guys should be thrown out of the country

Hindutva is Brahmanism. It involves the art of defending the caste system and Brahmin dominance while pretending otherwise ! Here is the methodology.

1) Uphold Brahmanism but talk about Hindu interests. Make a furious defence of the Brahmin Kanchi Shankara on the grounds of what could happen to the common man if the pontiff’s arrest is allowed – as if Brahmins ever cared for the common man !

2) Tell the Dalits they have an important role to play in Hinduism. In reality, utilise the Dalits as kar sevaks for street fighting, and ask them to stand outside when the Ram temple when it is built.

3) In the internet, defend Brahmanism by posing as a sudra who supports Hindutva. If a sudra supports Brahmanism, then the caste system is alright, isn’t it ? !

4) Defend the caste system and invent all manner of untestable claims. Say it was ideal before British and Muslims spoilt it !

5) Say Hindutva is about returning to Vedic civilisation – without specifying this involves living according to Manusmriti.

Crazy man Abishek

Be grateful to us, ur forefathers have survived on our genourosity. What threat r u giving to us,what u denizens of hell can wipe us out. Protect urself from fire which u can if not like ur forefathers u too will be reaching it soon .

god is the provider for everyone, yet no one seems to care.
everyone living anywhere are working hard for their living. country is just a piece of land.

Mr.Khalidi u have once again prooved that all muslims in the world r fools and terrorists . u live in a country that provides u everything and u blame it, i pity u man.u live on our sympathy and u dare to talk like this.shame on u.its bcos of us u r able to survive on this earth. u talk about secular what a joke, u hoist pakistani flags even in india and talk about secularism.its high time u be quite else we dont become ruthless towards u people and wipe u out from the face of the earth. dare u not do this mistake once again.

Joke from Dr Omer Khalidi..
Hinduism is the way of life...it is Dharma ..not a religion like Christianity(Based on Preachings of Jesus), Islam (Preachings of Prophet Mohammad). Hindus regard Christ,Prophet Mohammad, Buddha,Mahaveer,Chaitanya Prabhu ..etc as saints.
I feel it is nothing wrong in lighting lamp in govt. functions. I strongly feel that India is secular because Hindus are in Majority.