Ronojoy Sen - Articles of Faith: Religion, Secularism, and the Indian Supreme Court

Articles of Faith

Articles of Faith

Religion, Secularism, and the Indian Supreme Court

Ronojoy Sen

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ISBN-13 (print edition): 978-0-19-948936-7

ISBN-10 (print edition): 0-19-948936-X

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Contents

This book is a small contribution towards understanding the place of religion in modern India and the nature of Indian secularism. While there are several possible ways to approach this complex task, I have chosen to do so by looking at the Indian Supreme Court judgments. This is not intended to be a comprehensive account of the Courts understanding of religion and secularism, but a discussion of judicial interventions in areas which, I believe, are important to the life of the Indian nation and Indian secularism.

Several public events have shaped the argument of this book, even though it might not be apparent from the text itself. The first was the riots following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, when I realized for the first time how my Sikh friends in school and their families in Calcutta became demonized overnight because of their religion. I felt the tremors of the Babri Masjid demolition in the distant environs of an American campus and worried about Indias future. Many years later, images of the twin towers of the World Trade Center crumbling on 11 September 2001, the 2002 Gujarat riots, and the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks would be defining moments of my journalistic career. One reaction to these acts of terrible violence, where religion or religious extremism could be seen to be central, might have been to argue for banishing religion from the public sphere. This book traverses an opposite path because I believe religion and religiosity were not at the heart of these violent events. This is, of course, not a novel position. More than anyone else, it was Mahatma Gandhi who through his life and teaching embodied this principle. I believe, too, that religious pluralism and tolerance are critical for the survival of the Indian nation. The book seeks to bring this view back to centre stage in the context of the courts in particular and public policy in general.

This book has not just been an academic exercise. It has also meant a re-evaluation of my own understanding of religion. Having grown up in a Brahmo family, where visits to houses of worship were few and far between, I had a dim view of religious rites and ceremonies. However, after marrying a practicing Hindu, I have frequented places of worship with greater regularity. Though this has not had any impact on my personal agnosticism, I have come to appreciate the faith of practicing believers. I remain optimistic that the uplifting as well as the quotidian elements of religion can triumph over its parochial and destructive side.