THE 42nd amendment to India`s Constitution inserted the word `secular`into the preamble, thus making it a `secular` republic. But is India truly a secular country? While the dictionary defines secularism as `the belief that religion should not play a role in governance, education, or other public parts of society`, the most commonly accepted definition of secularism is `separation of religion and state`.

By this definition, India of today is not a secular country and its policies are not just anti-secular, but they smack of blatant religious discrimination against its minorities. This is evident from the Islamophobic and blasphemous remarks by Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and subsequent Muslim protests and brutal tactics by Hindu extremists and the ultra-rightist Indian government.

The Indian constitution guarantees democracy, civil liberties and secularism, but fears of India becoming a Hindu authoritarian state have been continuously voiced after Narendra Modi, clearly inspired by Nazism, came to power in New Delhi in 2014. The party`s Hindutva philosophy the creation of a great Hindu state envisages a state where citizens with other religious beliefs would be tolerated, but will have second class status. It lauds military toughness against its own people.

The Modi government started discriminating against the minorities from the very first day and it still continues. The American State Department`s report on religious freedom globally in 2021 described the attacks on members of minority communities, including killings, assaults and intimidation, that occurred throughoutlastyearinIndia.

Thousands of Muslims have been rallying across South Asia and in the Arab world over the derogatory remarks.

Protests have been reported from various Indian cities, including New Delhi, as Muslims marched after the Friday prayers, raising slogans against the government and calling for the arrest of the two BJP members. Anger has beengrowing in India and Muslim-majority countries across the world.

But what has been the Indian government`s reaction? It opened fire on the protestors, killing at least two individuals, cut internet connections, imposed curfews, and razed the house of one Muslim family just like the Israelis do all the time against the Palestinians. This is continuation of the larger policy of making life miserable for the Muslim community by doing whatever it takes to get to the target.

From placing curbs on freedom of worship to the wearing of hijab, it is all happening unashamedly in India. By assessing India under BJP, we can say that the country has completely lost its secular roots and has degenerated into a Hindu extremist state.

Syed Tahir Rashdi Shahdadpur