By Matters India Reporter
Hyderabad: Secularism was included in the Indian Constitution only in 1976 when the nation felt the need to do so. Until then, it was “an unarticulated premise” that interconnected values already named in the Constitution’s preamble.
This was stated by Kalpana Kannabiran, a renowned Indian sociologist and lawyer, on February 24 at the first regional conference of the Indian Christian Women Movement (ICWM) in Hyderabad, southern India.
Kannabiran, current director of Hyderabad’s Council for Social Development and co-founder of Asmita Resource Centre for Women, delivered the keynote address on the conference theme “Secularism and Minorities: Challenges and opportunities.”
Secularism, the 56-year-old activist explained, meant freedom of religion, faith and conscience. “Freedom should also be within faiths and streams of faith especially with regard to the women’s question,” asserted the scholar who has a doctorate in sociology from New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.
She also found problem with the term “minorities” which she said is used for those likely to be subjugated by the dominant group. What has made the situation worse is the use of the term by some groups to drive differences. “Hence we need to move to a point where the need for naming minorities should disappear. We need to move toward a common ground where dignity, equality and justice are non-negotiable for all people,” she added.
She used the example of how the BJP capitalised on the issue of “Triple Talak” that juxtaposed secularism with minority by making a law to criminalize Muslim men when all the Muslim women called for was restitutive justice in Triple Talak.
As many as 37 women from various Christian denominations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana participated in the seminar held at the Montfort Social Institute.
Participants included women political leaders from both states such as Vidya Sravanthi member of Minorities Commission Telangana and Municipal Councillor, and Esther Rani, state secretary of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, Christine Lazares former Anglo Indian legislator, and Mary Ravindranath, former Congress legislator.
Some women travelled from Warrangal, Khamam and Guntur to attended the one-day program.
Holy Spirit Sister Julie George, member of the national committee of ICWM, introduced the movement to the participants.
ICWM secretary Virginia Saldanha explained how the movement could help Christian women enter the mainstream of Indian polity through a process of attitudinal change, awareness and action. In her presentation on “Challenges of Being an Indian Christian Woman,” Saldanha called on the participants to become leaders and change makers, by addressing the challenges posed to Indian women by the pervasive structures of patriarchy.
Sravanthi briefed the women about the Minorities Commission of Telangana state and explained how the different schemes available for minorities could be accessed. The participants expressed happiness to discuss the problems faced by Christians from unregistered Evangelical denominations in accessing these funds.
The meet concluded with the women endorsing the proposal to launch a regional unit of ICWM in both states.
They decided to hold a follow up meeting within the next 15 days to put in place an ad hoc committee to work toward this goal. Lazares volunteered to coordinate the committee for both states.
Montfort Brother Varghese Theckanath, an associate member of ICWM, together with his team at MSI, helped in organizing the logistics of the conference with the help of Lazares.