The secular and the sacred

THIS IS to continue Andre Beteille's "Secularism re-examined" (The Hindu, Sept. 3). I would like to propose that this ism, like all other ideological isms which motivate action, is based on a body of knowledge which has its own particular frame-of-reference and epistemic rules. The secular refers to the world here and now, and the ism seems to imply the well-being of the world, here and now. In contrast, the sacred refers to the world of the gods, of faith and religion. While the knowledge system of the secular is based on science, the knowledge system of the sacred is based on the tenets of faith. It is interesting that one of the three scientists who has appealed to the Supreme Court regarding opposition to the introduction of astrology in the universities, when interviewed by Star News team, stated that astrology cannot be a science subject since its statements cannot be "falsified". I regret that I could not catch the name of the scientist being interviewed, but this seems an excellent way to demarcate science from other forms of knowledge.

The scientist was of course referring to Karl Popper's Logic of Scientific Discovery (Hutchinson & Co., London, revised 1980), wherein the problem of inductivism was seriously raised and an entirely new view on scientific method was taken. Popper proposed that knowledge is scientific only when seeds of falsifying this knowledge are in-built in this knowledge system. A system of knowledge which does not allow detection of flaws in its statements has stopped engaging with reality and therefore is not a science.

Scientific knowledge system is concerned with continuous challenges to our understanding of the world. The values of the Secular State evolve from this scientific ethos. The finest secular societies have inbuilt self-corrective mechanisms. Thus, the Secular State does not take cognition of tradition or religious values when considering the well being of the planet. The Secular State is guided by scientific knowledge in all its action, whether it is a child seeking legal intervention against parental abuse of power, or enabling a single mother to live in dignity, or the protection of minorities, or the protection of the environment and ecology against abuse by the human kind.

Andre Beteille's "Re-examination" fell shy of defining the word secular and secularism and instead examined the red-herring "pseudo-secularism" &151; a phrase used in common parlance by those whose emotive commitment is to the sacred, but dare not deny the relevance of secularism. Secularism, in common parlance, merely means the equality of all religions and the mandate that all religious groups should be treated as equals and without discrimination by the state. `Hidden' agendas

The deeper meanings of the word secular need to be reiterated in the context of the on-going discussions on the "hidden" agendas and education policy of the Central Government, and not so hidden agendas of organisations such as the RSS, Bajrang Dal, etc.

Secularism is not merely an ideology of tolerance to different faiths and cultures. As the protagonists of Hindutva point out, Hindus were always tolerant of other faiths. Can we then equate secularism with Hindutva?

Secularism is about engagement with the secular world, this world, a world other than that of faith and tradition; that is why the Secular State is supposed to be different from states which are guided by religious principles and governed by rules of law interpreted by the clergy.

I do not have information to know whether astrology can be studied as a science subject. Human Resource Development Ministry and University Grants Commission spokespersons also do not seem to know whether it can be taught as a subject of science courses. They cite the fact that it is already being taught in certain arts disciplines and then push through the mandate that it may be introduced as a science discipline! Scientists have given up the principle of inductivism (perhaps followed in astrology) and are firmly committed to the principle of "falsifiability".

Astrology studies the supposed influence of the stars and the planets on events on the earth and human affairs. Proof for statements from astrology may be possible, but is it possible to disprove any of the statements? The logic of scientific discovery requires statements which can be disproved, scientific process is always one of scepticism and not one of faith, and open to correction.

We hope that the founding fathers of the Constitution did not embrace secularism and the secular identity merely to garner ethnic and religion based vote banks. The Secular State was forged surely to fulfil the dream of a rainbow hued multi- cultural plural society. The allegation that that wisdom and that vision of the founding fathers is getting fudged by the current education policies, needs to be answered seriously.

RATNA NAIDU

Former Vice-Chancellor, SPMVV, Tirupati

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