Secularism does not mean non-religious but equal respect to all faiths, says EAM Jaishankar 

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar emphasized that secularism in India entails equal respect for all faiths, dispelling the notion that it implies non-religiosity. The “appeasement” government policies of the past made the biggest religion of the country feel like it had to be self-deprecatory in the name of equality, he said. Speaking during an interaction titled ‘How a Billion People See the World’ at the Royal Over-Seas League in London, Jaishankar addressed the question of whether India has shifted towards a more “Hindu majoritarian” stance under the BJP-led government, deviating from the Nehruvian era. While acknowledging that India has undergone changes, Jaishankar clarified that these changes do not imply a reduction in liberalism. Instead, he emphasized that the transformation signifies a greater authenticity in expressing the country’s beliefs. “Has India changed from the Nehruvian era? Absolutely, because one of the assumptions of that era which very much guided the thinking of the polity and its projection abroad was the way we define secularism in India,” said Jaishankar, in response to a question by journalist-author Lionel Barber. “For us, secularism doesn’t mean being non-religious; for us secularism means equal respect to all faiths. Now, what happened in reality in politics was beginning with equal respect for all faiths, we actually got into a sort of politics of minoritarian pandering. That, over a period of time, I think, created a backlash,” he said. Jaishankar referenced “appeasement” as a very powerful word in the Indian political debate, which guided the direction in which politics went. “More and more people started feeling that in a way, in the name of equality of all religions, in fact, the biggest religion had to be self-deprecatory and play itself down. A big part of that community felt it was not being fair,” he noted. The senior BJP leader said the political and social changes seen in India in the last few years have partly been a reaction “at an intellectual and political level” to this sense of unfairness. Specifically asked if tolerance had gone down in India as a result, he responded: “I don’t think so; I think on the contrary. I think people today are less hypocritical about their beliefs, about their traditions and their culture. “We are more Indian, more authentic. We are not today, either currying favour before a global audience or really trying to live up to some kind of left-wing liberal construct which a lot of Indians felt was not us.” The question-and-answer session, organised by foreign policy agency Wilton Park in partnership with the High Commission of India in London, marked the minister’s final engagement in London as he concluded his five-day UK visit. The discussion covered a wide range of topics, including India-China relations, the ongoing diplomatic row with Canada and the socio-political scenario in the country.