The Fundamentalist Face of Secularism and Its Impact on Women's Rights in India, Joseph C. Hostetler-Baker & Hostetler Lecture

I am going to talk about three things today: The first is to give you a very brief account of the competing understandings of secularism that have emerged in India. I look at the model of secularism that is being promoted by the Hindu Right and the validation this has received from the electorate, but more importantly, the Supreme Court. Secondly, I will address why the wall of separation does not provide a way out of the crisis of secularism in India and how it has not solved the problem of majoritarianism even in the American context. And finally, how the Hindu Right's agenda for women from the religious minority communities, is related to its secular project; a project that seeks the establishment of a Hindu State.