With Modi in power, India’s secularist elites have taken a beating. The secularism championed by the Congress and various regional and caste parties is under siege. Yet, Indian secularists do not surrender but hope for a comeback once the political climate has changed. In the meantime, they retain influential positions in public service, civil society, universities, media, and so on. To some extent, this shields them from an unfriendly political climate.
Yet, secularists suffer from unresolved tensions. On the one hand, they stand for minority accommodation. On the other hand, many Hindus resent this as ‘appeasement.’ On the one hand, the constitution mandates a friendly attitude towards religious minorities (Art. 25–30). On the other hand, secularists are also progressivists. They find it difficult to justify that people deserve a more favourable treatment because they belong to this or that religion.
To resolve this tension, secularists seek better justifications for minority accommodation. Some of these justifications are more compelling than others. In this article, I present ways by which secularists try to redefine Indian secularism in ways that are more compatible with progressivist values. Then I discuss their prescriptions for India and suggestions for Europe. Finally, I show how Indian secularism can serve European liberals not only as a model but also as a warning.
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