Secularism is a Modality, not a Dogma - Vice President Vice President Addresses at Annual International Studies Convention at JNU

The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said that Secularism is a modality, not a dogma. Historically speaking, the term surfaced in the middle of the 19th century when the British publicist George Holyoake expressed it to describe his view of promoting a social order separate from religion without actively dismissing or criticizing religious belief. Addressing at the Annual International Studies Convention on the theme Some Thoughts on the Sacred and Secular in International Relations organised by the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University here today, he has said that since then, different societies have developed their own versions of it in theory and practice. Some of these in the Western world premised on homogenous, single-religion, citizen bodies are today facing challenges from emigrant communities of other faiths; as a result, this new multi-religiosity is threatening to throw western secularism into turmoil.