Knowra Indian secularism Indian secularism A model of secular governance in which the state may engage with religious institutions while seeking equal respect, protection, and treatment across faiths.
Indian Constitution : India’s supreme legal framework, adopted in 1950, establishing institutions, rights, and limits on government. Its rights and institutional provisions give Indian secularism its legal framework.
Constituent Assembly of India : The body that debated and drafted India’s Constitution between 1946 and 1949. Its debates reveal competing visions of religious freedom and state neutrality.
French secularism : France’s model of laïcité, emphasizing state neutrality and restricting religious expression in some public institutions. Its stronger separationist tradition contrasts with Indian accommodation of religious institutions.
Shah Bano case : The 1985 Indian Supreme Court decision granting a divorced Muslim woman maintenance under a general criminal procedure law. The case exposed tensions among gender equality, religious personal law, and minority protection.
Freedom of religion in India : The constitutional protection in India of freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice, and propagate religion. These guarantees protect religious practice while allowing constitutionally specified limits.
Partition of India : The 1947 division of British India into the independent states of India and Pakistan, accompanied by mass displacement and violence. Partition intensified the stakes of protecting religious minorities in the new republic.
United States secularism : A constitutional arrangement prohibiting government establishment of religion while protecting its free exercise. Its establishment-and-free-exercise framework differs from India’s broader scope for state engagement.
S. R. Bommai v. Union of India : A 1994 Supreme Court judgment holding secularism to be part of India’s Constitution’s basic structure. The judgment gave secularism a prominent constitutional status and limited state power.
Religious personal law in India : Laws governing matters such as marriage and inheritance that apply to members of particular religious communities in India. Personal laws illustrate how Indian law accommodates religious difference while regulating it.
Government of India Act 1935 : A major statute that established a federal framework and expanded provincial government in British India. Its institutions formed part of the administrative inheritance debated by constitution-makers.
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