So Called Secular State

"We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic."

Well, I feel I couldn't see the term secularism in our country other than in our Preamble. It is not sufficient to just declare that every man is equal before constitution irrespective of his religion, but it must be practised too. I am hundred percent right in making this sentence that we people lack the tolerance to other religions.

With the recent developments in India, the genuineness of secularism in our mother land is seriously questioned. When the violence due to Amarnath land issue is escalating, fresh violence have sparked in Orissa when a VHP cadre was shot death. The failure of the government to settle down the Land issue in Jammu and Kashmir has exposed the week management of our government.

The issue began when the government planned to allocate land for the Amarnath Yatra and handed it over to Amarnath Shrine Board, with the intention of helping the people who come for pilgrimage to Amarnath, by providing them with basic shelter and sanitation facilities. Muslim communities protested this move and in some places the protest turned violent and to pacify these agitating people the government recalled the order which gave the land to yatra. With this turn around of events, the members of the shrine board and the Hindu community started their own protests demanding back the allocated lands and the violence further spread in J & K. Road blockades became common and the Muslim communities started planning march to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Tensions escalated as various leaders including Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin malik were arrested. As the state turned out to be burning every where and the march towards POK was handled with iron fist by the police and as the mob turned out of control the police started shooting, which further worsened the already deteriorating situation.

The scenario in Orissa is equally worse for no reason. The Hindu fanatics started attacking the Christian missionaries and burning the houses and the issue became so serious that Pope Benedict condemned this barbaric act. With BJP as its coalition partner, Navin Patnaik is put into an embarrassed situation and he could hardly take any measures to restore normalcy there.

Things don't change by just blaming the government for its failure to bring peace, people must inculcate the habit of respecting other religions. My serious concern is that many people in Kashmir are expressing their need for self right and independence from India. It is our duty to make them feel protected under one country INDIA. We shouldn't give room for things that further induce such feeling of seeking Independence among people as one cant forget the lessons from Partition of India. Minority communities must be respected and must be protected in a country like India. Let us not further complicate the issues and make the situation to run out of our control totally.