Republic of Religion

<p>How did India aspire to become a secular country? Given our colonial past we derive many of our laws and institutions from England. We have a parliamentary democracy with a Westminster model of government. Our courts routinely use catchphrases like 'rule of law' or 'natural justice' which have their roots in London. However during the period of colonial rule in India and even thereafter England was not a 'secular' country. The king or queen of England must mandatorily be a Protestant. The archbishop of Canterbury is still appointed by the government. Senior bishops still sit by virtue of their office in the House of Lords.</p><p>Thought-provoking and impeccably argued <i>Republic of Religion</i> reasons that the secular structure of the colonial state in India was imposed by a colonial power on a conquered people. It was an unnatural foreign imposition perhaps one that was bound in some measure to come apart once colonialism ended given colonial secularism's dubious origins.</p>