Important Questions: Secularism | Political Science Class 11 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: How the secularism promotes justice and equality?
Ans: Secularism is not a simple separation of politics and religion, it is something humane, democratic, and natural concept based on broad philosophy. Its purpose is to remove the inequalities, domination and discrimination, and exploitation in inter and inter-religious and social groups. Secularism is the most powerful philosophy which opposes all forms of undue domination. It seeks to promote justice and equality by humanizing and educating and enlightening society.

Q2: Write some basic features of a secular state.
Ans: Following are certain basic features of a secular state:

• The state should not be a theocratic state.
• It should not have its own religion.
• It should not be governed by any religious man.
• There should be a complete separation between state and religion.
• The state should not patronize any religion.
• The state should not discriminate against any religion.
• The state should promote equality and justice within and without the social and religious groups.

Q3: What type of Secularism was practiced by Kemal Ataturk in Turkey?
Ans: Kemal Ataturk came to power in Turkey after First World War. He had a different view of secularism which he had practiced there and which was not based on the principled distance between the state and religion. Instead, it supported active involvement and intervention of religion. He was determined to put an end to the institution of Khalifa in public life. Through this type of secularism, he wanted to modernize the society of Turkey.

Q4: What is the Indian View of Secularism?
Ans: Followings are the main features of Indian secularism out of these features, some are similar to that of western view but some are their own.

• Separation of state and religion to certain limits.
• Inter-religious equality.
• Removing the inter and intra-religious dominations and exploitation.
• Promotion of minority rights.
• Giving aid to religious educational institutions on the basis of equality.
• Positive interference in the management of religious affairs.

Q5: On what grounds the Indian Constitution is criticized?
Ans: Indian secularism is criticized on the following grounds:

• As Anti-religious.
• Western import (Idea is taken from the west).
• Minorities (It is based on the appeasement of minorities).
• Interventionist (Excessive intervention in religious affairs).
• Vote bank politics.
• Unpracticable.

Q6: How far it is correct to say that Indian secularism is anti-religious?
Ans: It is said that secularism in India is anti-religious. This is fallacious. Indian secularism may be against institutionalized religious domination but it cannot be referred to as the anti-religions. It is also argued that Indian secularism threatens religious identity but the fact is that Indian secularism promotes religious freedom and equality. Therefore it does not threaten religious identity, but on the contrary, it protects the religious identity. If it threatens any form of religious identity, it is dogmatism fundamentalism and the narrowness of any religion.

Q7: What is a Minority?
Ans: Indian secularism is charged with Minoritism which means that Indian secularism advocates minority rights. It is a fact that it is only Indian secularism that advocates minority rights. Minority means to suggest that in Indian secularism gives special privilege to the minorities which is a sort of appeasement of the minorities. This charge also does not hold any ground.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q8: What do you mean by inter-religious domination and intra-religious domination?
Ans: Although religion is a positive and pious feeling and viewpoint it has been in grip of a number of negative feelings of hatred, suspiciousness, negative competition, and urges for dominance within religions and without religions i.e. inter-religious groups and intra-religious. There are hatred and communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. They fight for dominance over each other. Similarly, there is a sense of inferiority and superiority within religions.in Hindus, women and SCs have been dominated by male and upper castes. Similar are the examples in Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs.

Q9: Discuss India as a secular state.
Ans: India is a secular state as conceived by the architect of modem India, Pt. Jawahar Lai Nehru. India does not have any state religion but supports all the religions. It has the followings features of a secular state:

• There is no state religion in India.
• It neither patronizes any religion nor it becomes a hindrance in the way of any religion.
• Citizens are free to profess any religion in which they have failed.
• Indian secular inter-religious exploitation.
• Indian secular state religions affairs.

Q10: What are the merits of secularism?
Ans: Human history has witnessed a lot of religious fundamentalism and fanaticism which had caused harassment and exploitation of man by man. But the development of science, technology, education, and press and with the development of democratic culture, people have become rational and broadminded. All these developments have brought the idea of secularism. It has the following merits.

• It is based on a broader outlook.
• It is more democratic.
• It is more scientific and based on rationalism.
• It is more humane.
• It is a more natural philosophy.
• It is a more acceptable and popular philosophy.

Q11: Explain the views of Pt. Jawahar Lai Nehru on secularism.
Ans: Pt. Jawahar Lai Nehru was a great philosopher, humanitarian, and a democrat by heart. He gave his doctrine of secularism on the basis of these referred values. His doctrine of secularism is the part of the Indian Consitution. The main features of Nehru’s doctrine of secularism are as under:-

• Separation of state and religion.
• No state religion.
• Equal protection by the state to all religions.
• Neither patronage to any religion nor discrimination against any religion.
• All people are free to profess and practice any religion.
• Positive interference of the state in religious affairs, particularly the management of religious activities and social reforms.
• Complete opposition to communalism.
• The purpose was to establish equality, freedom, and justice.

Q12: On what grounds the Indian secularism is criticized? Are they justified?
Ans: Indian secularism is criticized in different quarters on the following grounds:-

• It is said to be anti-religious.
• It is considered as an imitation of western secularism.
• It is said to be based on minorities.
• It is called interventionist because it allows interference in religious matters.
• It is based on vote bank politics.
• It is criticized for being impracticable.

A careful study of Indian secularism concludes that all the above charges are far from reality and are not justified for being based on a poor understanding of Indian secularism.

Q13: What is the ultimate objective of Secularism?
Ans: Secularism which prevailed in different forms in different parts of the world has broader objectives. It seeks to realize a secular society that is free from all forms of domination in inter and inter-religious communities. It seeks to promote freedom within religions and equality between, as well as within religions. All these goals of secularism can be realized only in a state which is secular, democratic, and free from intolerance, fundamentalism, and fanaticism. There should be a relation among the communities based on mutual understanding and a sense of togetherness. There should not be any religious discrimination.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q14: Explain the main features of Western View and Indian View of Secularism critically.
Ans: It is said that Indian secularism is originated from the west, therefore it has certain similarities with the western view of secularism but it is also very much different from the western view in a number of ways.

Western view of secularism:

• Complete separation of state and religion.
• The state and religion will not interfere in each other’s affairs. Both have their respective jurisdiction.
• No religious classification can be the basis of any public policy.
• The state cannot aid any religious institutions.
• Its conception of equality and liberty is an individualist manner.
• There is no scope for minority rights.

The Indian view of secularism:

• The separation between religion and states but support to all the religions.
• Indian secularism allows positive interference in the matter of religious affairs and management of regions’ activities.
• A state can aid religious institutions.
• A state can give financial assistance to educational institutions run by the states.
• Its conception of equality and liberty is community-based.
• It allows minority rights.

Indian secularism is criticized on the following bases:

• Anti-religious
• Western origin
• Minorities
• Interventionist
• Based on vote bank politics
• Impracticable.

Q15: Explain the meaning of Secularism.
Ans: Secularism is a philosophy that is concerned with the relationship between state and religion. Secularists think that religion is a personal matter of a person, the state has nothing to do with religion. Hence it should neither patronize any particular religion nor it should discriminate against any religion. A man should be left free to profess and practice any religion of his or her choice. Secularism does not mean to be irreligious or anti religiousness.
In fact, Secularism means respect to all religions and ways of life because ultimately religion’s a way of life. Secularism is not a narrow philosophy, it is a broader view of life and ways of leading life which have been interpreted differently in different areas in different periods. This is a philosophy based on human and democratic values that seek to achieve equality, justice, and freedom and try to remove discrimination, exploitation, and domination within and outside the social and communal groups.

Q16: Explain the essential elements of a secular state.
Ans: A state-organized on the basis of the doctrine of secularism is called a secular state. Generally, the state with the separation of religion is called the secular state. But the mere separation of state and religion is not a sufficient requirement for a secular state because there are many states which are non-theocratic and continue to have a close alliance with a particular religion.
To be truly secular, a state must not only refuse to be theocratic but also have no formal, legal alliance with any religion. The separation of religion and state is not a sufficient condition but a very much necessary condition of a secular state. A secular state must be committed to principles and goals which are at least partly derived from non-religious sources. These goals should include peace, religious freedom, and freedom from exploitation, discrimination, and exclusions. It also seeks to remove inter and intra-religious dominance and exploitation. A secular state allows its citizen full freedom in religious and social matters without the interference of the state.

Q17: Describe the characteristics of Indian secularism.
Ans: It is said that Indian secularism is an imitation of western secularism. It is far from the reality that Indian secularism is fundamentally different from western secularism. Indian secularism does not only emphasize the separation of religion and politics but the idea of inter-religious equality is crucial to Indian views of secularism. India has already a culture of inter-religious tolerance. The liberal values of the west brought ideas of inter communitarian equality to replace the notion of hierarchy which prevailed in India for a long time.
Indian secularism is equally opposed to the oppression of weaker sections within a society. Indian secularism allows positive interference in religious matters. It also allows the minority rights. Indian secularism gives citizens to profess and practice any religion of their choice. It is a personal matter of the citizen. Secularism does not mean to be irreligious or to be anti-religious or to oppose the religion. It supports all the religions.

Q18: How far do you agree with the criticism of Indian secularism that it is based on Minoriticism or is pseudo-secularism?
Ans: A very serious charge against Indian secularism is that it is pseudo-secularism. It is based on minorities i.e. the appeasement of minorities keeping in view the vote banks of minorities. India seems to be divided between genuine secularists and pseudo-secularists. It is true that Indian secularism advocates and supports minority rights but not for any special reason.
India is a plural society where people of different dialects, languages, and religions live together. In this situation some are in the majority’ and some are in minority. In this situation, there may be fear of inter religions and intra-religious domination and exploitation. India is a democratic country therefore for the purpose of infusing confidence and a sense of belongingness, minority rights are given. But they are not given any special or privileged position. Therefore the charge of pseudo-secularism is not correct. Indian secularism aims to build a society based on harmonious relations between the majority groups and minorities.

Q19: Who was Kemal Ataturk? What was his view of Secularism?
Ans: Kemal Ataturk was a Turkish philosopher who propounded his own theory of secularism which was practiced in Turkey. It was altogether different from the western and Indian views of secularism. His secularism was not about the separation of state and religion, instead, it involved active intervention in and suppression of religion.
He came to power in Turkey after First World War. He was determined to put an end to the institution of Khalifa in the public life of Turkey. He wanted to break Turkey all traditional thinking to make it modern. He set out as an aggressive Wanner to modernize and secularise Turkey. He encouraged western manner thinking and clothing for men and women to change the traditional and orthodox view of life and religion.

Q20: Discuss the Western model of Secularism.
Ans: It is said that secularism is of Western and American in origin. Followings are the main features of the Western model of secularism:

• Complete separation of religion and state.
• No interference in the matters of each other. All the states and religions have their own jurisdiction.
• Neither state will interfere in the matters of religion nor religion will interfere in the affairs of the state.
• No policy of a state can have an exclusive rationale.
• No religious classification can be the basis of any Public policy.
• The state cannot aid any religious institution.
• It cannot give financial aid to educational institutions run by religious communities.
• Citizens are free to profess and practice any religion of their choice.
• It emphasizes individual liberty.