Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi Sparks Debate on Secularism in India

On Monday, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi sparked a debate by stating that secularism is a European concept that doesn’t belong in India. Speaking at a convocation of Hindu Dharma Vidya Peetham in Thiruvattar, Kanyakumari, he said, “A lot of frauds have been committed to the people of this country, and one of them is that they have been given a wrong interpretation of secularism. What does secularism mean!? Secularism is a European concept; secularism is not a Bhartiya concept.”

He further explained that secularism emerged in Europe due to conflicts between the church and the king, and argued that India does not need secularism. “In Europe, secularism came because there was a fight between the church and the king. How can India be away from ‘Dharma’? Secularism is a European concept and let it be there only. In India, there is no need for secularism,” he added.

His remarks have stirred a debate, with the ruling DMK party criticizing the Governor. DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said, “Secularism is the most needed concept in India, not in Europe. Particularly the Governor, he had not gone through the Constitution of India. Article 25 says that there should be a conscious freedom of religion that he doesn’t know…He should go and read the constitution fully…22 languages are listed in our constitution. Hindi is a language which is spoken by a few states. The remaining states speak other languages…The problem with the BJP is that they neither know India, nor the Constitution…They don’t know anything. That is why they could not even form a government on their own.”

CPI leader D Raja also criticized the Governor, stating that secularism is essential to keep religion and politics separate. “I strongly deplore the statement made by RN Ravi. What does he know about secularism? What does he know about India? He is a governor…he must abide by the Constitution. The Constitution of India defines India as a secular democratic republic…Dr BR Ambedkar emphatically rejected theocratic concept…Ambedkar went to the extent of saying, if at all Hindu Rashtra becomes a fact, that will be a calamity for the nation…secularism means keeping religion and politics separate…don’t bring Gods for electoral purposes,” D Raja said.

This is not the first time Governor RN Ravi has made such statements. Last year, he claimed that people who want to break the country have given a distorted interpretation of secularism. “Our Constitution is not against ‘dharma’ …it is the people who want to break this country, they have given a distorted interpretation of secularism. We have to understand the true meaning of secularism in our constitution…. those talking about eradicating Hinduism have a hidden agenda to break this country in collaboration with hostile foreign powers. They will not succeed as Bharat has inherent strength,” he said.