India has been a land of co-existence, tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation since ancient times. Hinduism itself was a religious conglomeration of thousands of sects having distinct beliefs, rituals, customs and practices. Several religions branched out of it, namely, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, having separate places of worship and holy books. Islam is the second largest community of our nation, with a spectacular contribution. All the religions have added variety, colour and richness to our native heritage.

Christianity had preceded Islam to India. St. Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Christ, arrived in India to preach his message when St. Peter was in Rome. Parsis came to India in the eighth century, and they brought Zoroastrianism. Jews sailed to India two thousand years ago to settle down in Mumbai, Pune, Kochi and Delhi. In all, India remained a shining example of unity in diversity, nowhere else found in the world.

Thus, our constitution makers declared our nation to be a secular state without any discrimination. Despite being religious, they did not harbour any ill will or intolerance against other faiths. Even during the freedom struggle, the leaders who led it made secularism a basic policy to rally all the people against the British. The secular polity was fiercely strengthened by Mahatma Gandhi. Himself a deeply religious Hindu, he had great respect for all other religions and faiths.

To divide the Indians, the colonial rulers tried to destroy the spirit of secularism by aiding and abetting communal forces. Some of our people terribly played into the hands of the British. Our nation paid a terrible price for that lapse, as it got divided into two nations. Gandhiji was sacrificed to the bullets of a degenerated fanatic who had no use for our secular legacy. It should teach us the lesson that only the secular spirit will keep India going.