The term pseudo-secularism is used to describe individuals who claim to be secular but may display biases towards a particular religion, whether consciously or unconsciously. This term has gained popularity in recent Indian politics, where it is often used to criticize individuals who identify as secular and advocate for minority rights while remaining silent or opposing concerns faced by the majority religion. Some Hindu nationalist parties, who are accused of promoting communalism, employ this term as a counter-accusation against their critics, alleging that the secularism followed by the Indian National Congress and other self-declared secular parties are flawed or distorted.

Background

The first recorded use of the term "pseudo-secularism" was in the 1951 book Philosophy and Action of the R.S.S. for the Hind Swaraj, by Anthony Elenjimittam. In his book Elenjimittam accused leaders of the Indian National Congress of pretending to uphold secularism.^[1]

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was accused of representing the Hindu communalism in Indian politics it started using the counter-charge of "pseudo-secularism" against the Congress and other parties.^[2] The BJP leader LK Advani characterizes pseudo-secular politicians as those for whom "secularism is only a euphemism for vote-bank politics". According to him, these politicians are not concerned with the welfare of the minorities, but only interested in their vote.^[3]

The Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has criticized the term as propaganda by Hindu nationalists.^[4] Historian Mridula Mukherjee has described it as "a term propounded by the ideologues of Hindu nationalism to delegitimize and deny the genuineness of secularism. The subtext is that secularism is only a veneer put on to hide alleged policies of minority appeasement. The proponents of the term allege the secularists of being pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu."^[5]

Examples

The state policies of independent India accorded special rights to Muslims, along with other religious minorities like Christians and Parsis, in matters of personal law. For example,

• In 1986, a Muslim woman Shah Bano Begum was denied alimony even after winning a court case, because the then INC government reversed the court judgement under pressure of Islamic orthodoxy by passing bill in the parliament.^[6][7]
• Sharia inspired laws for Muslims, such as those allowing triple talaq (now banned), Half Inheritance for Females,^[8] Child Marriage^[9] and Polygyny^[10]
• The religion-based reservations in civil and educational institutions to improve the representation of minorities.^[7] The Hindu nationalist BJP is openly against reservation of Muslims in educational institutions and the parliament.^[11]
• In 1998, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh accused BJP of playing along with pseudo-secular parties for compromising on issues like Article 370, Ram temple and Uniform civil code of India.^[12]
• In 2006, Manmohan Singh, then Prime Minister of India said that "We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. These must have the first claim on resources." during his speech at the 52nd meeting of the National Development Council.^[13] TOI reported that the former PM statement came after the Sachar Committee report which highlighted how Muslim communities were lagging behind in education and livelihood opportunities in India.^[14]
• Hindu Temples are managed by each state's government in India. Religious places of minority religions like Islam, Christianity and Sikhism are managed by their followers.^[15][16] Some argue that state regulation is necessary to prevent caste and gender based discrimination in places of worship, and hence should be expanded to all religion instead of 'freeing the Hindu temples'. ^[17]
• In 2023, Udhaynidhi Stalin, a leader of ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, gave a speech calling for "eradication of Sanatana Dharma(Hinduism)". He compared Hinduism with "malaria and dengue".^[18] DMK, an ally of Congress Party, claims to be a Secular party and it's leaders have made such anti-Hindu statements from time to time, destroyed Hindu temples^[19] and even called for genocide of Brahmins.^[20]