Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Despite ongoing debate and growing interest in binary relationships of religion and secularism in upholding the state identity and framing constitutions around the world, the comparative and theoretical study of settling religious issues in constitution-making and state-building in South Asia has remained surprisingly limited. Even secularist scholars in South Asia tend to be somewhat reluctant to discuss this complex subject. This intellectual skepticism about secularism is not confined to those actively engaged in politics. Indeed, eloquent expressions of this skepticism can also be found in the high theory of South Asian culture and society. In South Asia, one group focuses on the normative aspect of religion-state relationship on the basis of normative secular literature and define secularism from western perspectives as the complete absence or equal-distance from all religions. They believe that the religious institutions’ actions will be separate from any sort of state’s patronage. This group has little influence on state power structure except in Nepal and partly in Bangladesh and India. Another group defines secularism from the perspective of South Asia. To them, South Asian secularism means religious tolerance by which all religions are equal before state’s patronage. However, between these intellectual dichotomies we find the concept of Jurgen Habermas who sees religion-state relationships as the reflection of post-secular society, termed post-secularism. This study explores post-secular dynamics in South Asia.