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Steer Clear Of Confusions
Then there is the confusion of equating 'secularism' with 'nationalism'. The two can never be the same. 'Nation' is a whole and living entity. It has ever so many functions, one of which is the statecraft. And 'secularism' is only one of the qualities of that statecraft. Thus equating 'secularism' with 'nationalism' would be like identifying one of the functions of a limb of a body with the body itself, and exhibits a sad lack of understanding of the basic distinction between 'Nation' and 'State'.
Again, if 'secularism' is to mean only the mundane things of life and something divorced from the higher and nobler attributes of the spirit, as it is sometimes made out to be, then we will not touch it even with a barge-pole. If, however, 'secularism' is to mean, as it ought to, not anti-religion but scope and opportunity for every religious persuasion to grow, and restraining of one religion from pouncing upon another, then that is undoubtedly in tune with the spirit of Hindu Rashtra. Then, the apt word for such a state would be 'multireligious' and not 'secular'. In this country, the 'state' was never tagged on to any particular faith. Relegating men of non-Hindu faiths to second-class citizenship or levying of 'Jezia' on them was unknown. All were absolutely equal in the eyes of law. Never did the king prostitute the state apparatus to impose his personal religious dogmas.
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