The Coming of the Secular in Indian Polity

Abstract

Instead of searching for a definitive connotation of what is ‘secular’, the present essay explores how secular concepts gradually arrived on the scene of the Indian polity from a variety of areas and re-examines possibilities of probing the place of the secular in Indian polity by problematising its practice over time. Our methodology involves a shift of focus in searching for the roots of this concept in local and peripheral arenas rather than central texts and events. The dynamics of Indian centre-periphery relations have been dominantly historicised by the struggle for independence. This essay highlights the relevance of peripheral texts in defining secular aspects of polity, examining the dominant texts of the centre from the vantage point of the margin. While documenting an alternative discursive construction of secular politics in India, a sociologically informed reading on the question of ‘the secular’ argues that it will never dominate Indian politics without multiple challenges.