Is India a secular country anymore?

With the Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India enacted in 1976, the Preamble to the Constitution asserted that India is a secular nation. The Constitution does not recognize, it does not permit, mixing religion and State power. That is the constitutional injunction.

How is India different from a theocratic state?

India is a secular state . All religions enjoy equal freedom . No discrimination is made on grounds of religion . Right to freedom of religion is granted by our constitution under the fundamental right.

How did Hinduism survive?

Hinduism has survived because of many reasons such as its flexibility, not a standarded structure , how it had been mingled with social life, bakthi and warriors.

Do you agree that a secular state does not promote any religion?

The state in its governmental capacity does not promote any religion or religious group, nor does it intervene in religious affairs. This model of secularism may be characterized as maximum separation between state and religion except on manifest grounds of morality, health, and public order.

Is Pakistan theocratic state?

In any case Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic State to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non-Muslims—Hindus, Christians, and Parsis — but they are all Pakistanis.

Are Baptists Congregationalists?

Baptists also practice this form of church government, but they are not referred to under the term Congregationalists (or its synonym Independents). Congregationalists are those who practice this form of polity while also maintaining the practice of infant baptism.

What are the three levels of church government?

Though each church or denomination has its own characteristic structure, there are four general types of polity: episcopal, connexional, presbyterian, and congregational.

Can India ever become a theocratic state?

As the deputy prime minister of India at the time, Lal Krishna Advani, said, ‘India is a Hindu rashtra, but can never become a theocratic state … a Hindu rashtra and a secular state are virtually synonymous’. But the intelligentsia’s fears are not entirely unfounded.

Is it enough that India is a secular nation?

For, I believe, it is not enough if the Indian state is secular, which it is not. It is equally, if not more, important that we are a secular society, a secular nation. I believe this question needs to be asked, reflected upon and answered truthfully. My latest book, Secularism — India At Cross-Roads, on this subject is under print.

What is Nehru’s view on secularism?

Nehru outlined his views on the subject in 1961, when he said, “We talk about a secular state in India. It is perhaps not very easy even to find a good word in Hindi for ‘secular.’ Some people think it means something opposed to religion.

How should India navigate the tricky terrain of religious diversity?

At the dawn of India’s independence in 1947, advocates of secular nationalism decisively won the debate over how the state should navigate the tricky terrain of India’s religious diversity. At the time, there were two other competing visions for how the state should handle religion, namely Hindu nationalism and Hindu traditionalism.