Hindutva politics of political parties is a threat to secular fabric of India: Contemporary analysis

Secularism is the core value of Indian constitution and is utmost important for democracy in India. However, the country has witnessed a long history of communalism and communal riots. Major political parties such as Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Congress Party use religion as a tool to garner vote and this is challenging the secular character of the country. The rise of Hindu nationalism is a major threat to the secular character of the country as the state has no religion of its own and it cannot discriminate on the basis of religion. In 2014, after the coming of BJP into power, there have been increased instances of the curtailment of right to freedom of speech and expression. Secularism became an issue of debate for many reasons like that of communal politics, religious militancy, coming into power by the pro Hindutva BJP party and its proclaimed notion of constructing one nation principle. The paper consists of four parts: first part deals with defining the concepts of secularism and Hindutva, second one deal with the development of secularism in India, the third part deals with rise of Hindu nationalism as threat to secular fabric of the country and in the last part conclusion is given-which is-secularism being the vital component of democracy is critical to its very survival, and hence state and civil society must perform its duty to safeguard and promote it so that India's peace, harmony, economic growth, democracy and sustainable development could be secured.