Secularism and Liberalism in India: A Case Study of Modi’s Era

Abstract

In the recent decade, a sea change from Nehruvian India i.e. liberal, secular and democratic state, to the rise of far-right and illiberal democracy can be discerned after Narendra Modi‟s triumph in two successive Indian elections – the last one in 2019 returning him to power with a thumping two-third majority. Though, Narendra Modi‟s staggering success is the upshot of procedural democracy or political democracy in India, yet his campaign was ridden with right-wing rhetoric and demagogy, and witnessed the rise of jingoism, majoritarian nationalism, marginalisation of minorities and squeezing civil liberties. In the West, development between state and society has been dialectical – that is, through interaction between state and society. Popular struggles from society and enlightened initiatives by the state culminated in congruent development between state and society. In India, on the other hand, most of the modernizing and secularizing transposition was top-down – sanctioned by the Indian Constitution and implemented by the Nehru Government. However, after Nehru, India could not sustain the momentum with progressive reforms. Subsequent to Modi in the saddle, development of India from secular and liberal state to secular and liberal society has come to a standstill. Hence, this paper sets out to delve into the rise of right-wing politics in the 21st century India especially under the leadership of Narendra Modi; how Modi‟s regime enfeebled and debilitated liberalism and secularism in India; how Indian Constitution and Indian intellectuals committed to secularliberal democracy are main obstruction in Modi‟s path; and why minorities are seen as a peril to the project of Hindutva i.e. India as a Hindu state. The paper also proffers ideas about the prospects of future of secularism and liberalism in India in the light of events of recent decades and so of the rise of far-right forces.