Challenges to Secularism in India : The Constitutional Ideal, Political Process and Prospects

Contents: Preface. 1. Secularism : an introduction: a). Studies on secularism. b). Critical issues. 2. The Concept of Secularism: a). The concept of secularism. b). The origin of secularism. c). The problem in a global setting. 3. Historical and cultural ethos: a). cultural ethos. 4. The constitutional ideal. 5. Challenges to secularism: a). Critique of secularism. b). Communalism. c). Majority communalism. d). Minority communalism. e). Separate personal laws. 6. Secularism, state and the political process: a). State policies. b). Political parties and the electoral process. 7. Prospects of secularism. Select bibliography. Index.

From the Preface: "The thrust of the present book is on the major challenges to secularism in India, which have arisen in the course of the past fifty years. In this context, the book has attempted to analyse the phenomenon of majority and minority commmunalism, and how far they pose a challenge to secularism in India. Moreover, the study delves into the role of the state and the political parties in order to examine their impact in strengthening or detracting from the constitutional ideal of secularism. The arguments of the critics that secularism is not working in India and must be abandoned alongwith the assertion of the communalists that Indian secularism is merely pseudo secularism have been analysed within this context. The major objective of the book is to defend secularism and to prove that regardless of the multifaceted challenges confronting secularism, it does have reserves of strength. Hence, it must not be abandoned, but strengthened. Accordingly, some viable suggestions for strengthening the secular framework are presented."