N.G. Krishnan Bangalore I was extremely pleased, but certainly not surprised, about India providing an oasis for approximately 1,000 Polish children for four years until the hostilities ceased, particularly at a brutal time when the Soviets were massacring tens of thousands of Polish army officers and Nazis exterminating Jews. Naturally I am very proud that my country has historically inclined to be a heterodoxy, which in a religious sense means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". Long history of heterodoxy has not only nourished the survival and development of democracy in India, it has also richly contributed to the emergence of Indian concept of positive secularism based on the toleration and equal protection of all religious communities without being supportive of any particular religion unlike the West where secularism has always had a narrow connotation meaning that the state does not follow any religion. The separation of church and state has been the main emphasis by Western negative secularism. Tolerance of religious diversity is implicitly reflected in India’s having shared home for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Parsees, Sikhs, Baha’is and others. Secularism in contemporary post independent constitution contains strong influence of the Indian intellectual history of heterodoxy.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 13:46:44 +0000
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