Secularism is an oft repeated word in India, which apparently came into danger in 2014 since the BJP came into power. In India, “Secularism” denotes equality of all religions in the eyes of the State. Though how does a country specifying “minorities” and giving them special rights, claim to be a “secular state” is beyond comprehension. And the same secularism doesn’t let Hindus get any minority rights anywhere in the country, no matter what their actual numbers are.

Secularism actually means separation of Church and State. The concept was borrowed from the West where this separation was necessitated by the excesses of the Church. The Church as the sole power centre had become extremely corrupt, exploitative and oppressive, even the highest offices weren’t exempt from this maleficence, the most well-known example being the Borgias.

In India or Bharat, the ancient rulers were always guided by Dharma, a concept unique to this land. Dharma is fluid and changes from person to person, situation to situation and is relevant to the times. It is not an absolute, like black and white, it an everchanging myriad of grey, rather like life itself.

Just to explain this key difference, the absolute religions would say that “Stealing is a sin”, such a blanket statement absolutely disregards the situation. What if the theft was of food and was given to a starving person, what if it was stolen to given one roti to a poor helpless child? Would you still consider it in the same league as a theft to earn riches or theft of someone’s livelihood? It is these nuances of daily existence that are captured by Dharma. Those who are conscious of Dharma are also conscious of there being greater powers at play and that we all have a duty to play our part correctly.

This consciousness of there being different roles and different parts to be played, as per situations, broadens the mind of the Dharmics and stops them from bigotry. We realize that each person is in his own quest to seek the truth. And this could be one reason why Hinduism or Santana Dharma hasn’t been an aggressive religion when it comes to conversions. And this is also the reason why the borrowed cloak of Secularism is a misfit for this wise and ancient land and now is the time to shrug it off.

Just like a lot of excesses were committed in the West by the absolute power of the Church, a lot of excesses have been committed in India, in the name of secularism. This word was made the albatross around the neck of the Hindus. All the sense of guilt and shame that plagues the Hindus can be attributed to this one word. And all the benefits to be accrued from it, have been enjoyed by the two religions that have the highest numbers in the world. The true minorities of our land have never claimed protection of this word.

Now is the time for Dharma to reclaim this land and the Dharmic consciousness to seep in once again. The code designed by Dharma has been the guiding light of our ancestors since times immemorial and now the whole world is waking upto it. We are the originators of this thought and it’s time to take the lead in it. And let’s not forget “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah” meaning Dharma protects those who protect Dharma,

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