 "Secularism more than ideal, it is a compelling necessity: Sonia")
Keeping majoritarianism and and authoritarianism at bay is the best means of managing India's extraordinary diversity and holding the country together, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said.
Quoting Jawaharlal Nehru in her article "Architect of Modern India" on '50 Years After Nehru' in 'The Week' magazine, she said that Nehru's warning of the danger of authoritarianism creeping into democracy has resonance even today.
"Nehru also saw in democracy the best means of managing India's extraordinary diversity and holding the country together. He was clear, however that it could only do if the majoritarianism, religion and authoritarianism were kept at bay," Sonia wrote quoting Nehru.
"Secularism was more than an ideal, it was a compelling necessity. It meant making every minority group feel safe, assured of protection and equality in the eyes of the Indian state. There could be no Indianness, no India without secularism," she wrote.
Describing Nehru's style to be "as unique the man himself", Sonia said that in striking contrast to present day politics of political skulduggery and vote bank, the former Prime Minister's was like an extended and intimate conversation with all sections of people.
Quoting Jawaharlal Nehru in her article "Architect of Modern India" on '50 Years After Nehru' in 'The Week' magazine, she said that Nehru's warning of the danger of authoritarianism creeping into democracy has resonance even today.
"Nehru also saw in democracy the best means of managing India's extraordinary diversity and holding the country together. He was clear, however that it could only do if the majoritarianism, religion and authoritarianism were kept at bay," Sonia wrote quoting Nehru.
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She also said that secularism was more than an ideal and was a compelling necessity in a country like India so that minorities felt safe.
"Secularism was more than an ideal, it was a compelling necessity. It meant making every minority group feel safe, assured of protection and equality in the eyes of the Indian state. There could be no Indianness, no India without secularism," she wrote.
Describing Nehru's style to be "as unique the man himself", Sonia said that in striking contrast to present day politics of political skulduggery and vote bank, the former Prime Minister's was like an extended and intimate conversation with all sections of people.