Struggle Between Hindu and Secular Nationalisms in India Essay

Struggle Between Hindu and Secular Nationalisms in IndiaIndia holds a prominent agency in the history of imperialism and decolonization, making recent events in this country of nearly unrivalled billion especially important to the current day citizen. India also faces problems associated with meet religion and diversity within a large federal republic, making their experience important for Americans concerned with these issues. India faces growing action of governing which invites the use of emphasis to achieve political objectives. In spite of Indias size and importance, it is hard for an American to gain an understanding of the issues and conflicts which have set the stage for the most recent revitalization of Hindu nationalism. The central feature of this new reform in Indian federal politics is the clash between Hindu and secular nationalists. The overview of this situation comes from the attitude of an American born Indian student interested in Indian history and federal systems, so the observations be intended as suggestions designed to get on more progressive work both in India and the United States. While the prominence of Hindu themes affects many levels of Indian government, this paper will focus completely on Indias central government on Hindu Nationalism. This conflict is crucial to understanding the current situation in India. Indian democracy and secularism face a menace from the forces of militant Hinduism which hope to turn India into a Hindu state. What is the nature of the present challenge to secularism in India? What do Hindu nationalists hope to achieve by making their government more assertively Hindu? One can begin to answer these questions by examining the large body of writing on secularism lately produced by Indians. Academics, lawyers, journalists, and political citizens have explored the many facets of Indian secularism. These works provide clues to the nature of Hindu nationalisms appeal in contemporary Indian politics. Th ese writings are interesting for what they reveal about India and its versions of nationalism. Sudipta Kaviraj, a scholar from Jawaharlal Nehru University, admits that, among those who consider themselves secular individuals there is an intensifying sense of crisis. What are the criticisms of secularism which lead to the perception of a troth? At first glance, the challenge appears minuscule, ... ...d world, comparisons to the United States may prove more fruitful.Second, excessive use of historical analogy from other periods in condemnation runs the risk of incorporating outmoded assumptions regarding development stages so prominent in modernization theory. Indias current problems relate directly to developments in this phase of world history one could go so far to say that Indias problems foreshadow those the United States is likely to face when the resources used to lubricate the machinery of a diverse federation can no longer be borrowed. Furthermore, those familiar with the constitutional debate over the separation of church and state in the United States and Stephen Carters recent book The Culture of misgiving How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion understand that questions regarding religion and politics are by no means confined to the supposed developing world. Rather than grappling with issues already solved by Western countries, India faces dilemmas associated with the modern state. Understanding Indias experience in confronting these problems may provide unanticipated insights into problems set about by federal government in the United States.