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THE GOVERNANCE OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
MORE OR LESS SECULARISM?
10-12 June 2015
SESSION:
THE GOVERNANCE OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN THE PUBLIC SPACE: PERSPECTIVES FROM ASIA
THE GOVERNANCE OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN INDIA: SOME REFLECTIONS
Rochana Bajpai | SOAS London
India does not represent one single case with regard to the governance of religious
diversity. The position of the Indian state during constitution-making in the late 1940s
was very different from that adopted in the late 1980s, even though both were officially
termed secular. Indeed, the text of the Indian constitution itself embodies multiple
positions towards the accommodation of religious diversity. In the areas of religious
freedom and personal law, India’s constitutional framework is broadly multicultural in
character, sanctioning the public expression of religious difference. With regard to the
electoral system and reservations, however, Indian constitution-makers de-recognised
religious diversity, and sought the eradication of difference. Institutional and normative
heterogenity in India’s constitutional framework has often been an asset, allowing for
flexibility, negotiation and change over time in the state’s stance towards religious
diversity. At different times, legislatures and courts have articulated both more and less
accommodationist positions towards religious diversity. Nevertheless, India’s
constitutional vision is characterized by a normative deficit with regard to the protection
of religious difference. This has been politically influential, with the rights of religious
minorities remaining under-supported by liberal democratic and nationalist principles, a
line of critique exploited skillfully by a resurgent Hindu right.