The Future of Secularism

This volume studies secularism in a cluster of developing countries in Asia and Eastern Europe, all with histories of multicuralism and religious strife. It examines the roots of the secular principle in the society, politics, law, literature, and media of India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, and the former Yugoslavia. It further investigates the current threats to secularism, and lists the options before national and international institutions to defuse them. The crisis of secularism in contemporary India is an important theme in the volume. The essays present an understanding of the manner in which India developed its peculiar variant of secularism. They analyse the complex social processes by which intended violence against some groups get transformed into aggression against others in times of communal tension. In addition to a historical retrospective on religion and secularism in the subcontinent, there is also a discussion on whether Pakistan can ever become the secular state that Mohammed Ali Jinnah wanted it to be.