CHAPTER -6 CITIZENSHIP

Citizenship has been defined as full and equal membership of a political

community.

• In the contemporary world, states provide a collective political identity to

their members as well as certain rights. Therefore we think of ourselves as

Indians, or Japanese, or Germans, depending on the state to which we

belong.

• Citizens expect certain rights from their state as well as help and

protection wherever they may travel.

• In most democratic countries today they would include some political

rights like the right to vote, civil rights like the freedom of speech or belief,

and some socio-economic rights which could include the right to a

minimum wage, or the right to education.

• Equality of rights and status is one of the basic rights of citizenship.

• Each of the rights now enjoyed by citizens has been won after struggle.

• Many European countries experienced such struggles, some of them

violent, like the French Revolution in 1789.

• In the colonies of Asia and Africa, demands for equal citizenship formed

part of their struggle for independence from colonial rulers.

• In South Africa, the black African population had to undertake a long

struggle against the ruling white minority for equal citizenship. This

continued until the early 1990s.

• However, citizenship is about more than the relationship between states

and their members. It

is also about citizen-citizen relations and involves certain obligations of

citizens to each other and to the society.

Full and Equal Membership

• One of the rights granted to citizens in our country, and in many others, is

freedom of movement.

• This right is of particular importance for workers. Labour tends to migrate

in search of jobs when opportunities are not available near their homes.

• Some people may even travel outside the country in search of jobs.

• However, often resistance builds up among the local people against so

many jobs going to people from outside the area, sometimes at lower

wages.
• Resistance could even take the form of organised violence against

‘outsiders’.

• Another factor that we need to consider is that there may sometimes be a

difference between our response to poor migrants and to skilled migrants.

We may not always be as welcoming to poor migrants who move into our

areas as we may be to skilled and affluent workers.

• These are some of the issues which are being debated in our country

today regarding ‘full and equal membership’ for all citizens of the country.

• However, disputes may sometimes arise even in democratic societies.

• The right to protest is an aspect of the freedom of expression guaranteed

to citizens in our Constitution, provided protest does not harm the life or

property of other people or the State.

• If the guiding principle of providing full and equal membership to all

citizens is kept in mind, it should be possible to arrive at an acceptable

solution to the problems that may arise from time to time in a society.

• A basic principle of democracy is that such disputes should be settled by

negotiation and discussion rather than force.

Equal Rights

Slum Dwellers

• There is a large population of slum-dwellers and squatters in every city in

India. Although they may do necessary and useful work, often at low

wages, they are often viewed as unwelcome visitors by the rest of the town

population.

• Life and property are insecure in a slum. However, slum dwellers make a

significant contribution to the economy through their labour.

• Awareness about the condition of the urban poor is growing among

governments, N.G.O’s and other agencies, and among the slum-dwellers

themselves.

• Slum-dwellers also are becoming aware of their rights and are beginning

to organise to demand them.

Tribal People

• Among other groups of people who are becoming marginalised in our

society are the tribal people and forest dwellers.

• These people are dependent on access to forests and other natural

resources to maintain their way of life.
• Pressures from commercial interests wanting to mine the resources
which may exist in forests or coasts poses another threat to the way of life
and livelihood of forest dwellers and tribal peoples, as does the tourist
industry.

• Governments are struggling with the problem of how to protect these

people and their habitat without at the same time endangering development
of the country.

Complex Equal Rights

• To try and ensure equal rights and opportunities for all citizens cannot be
a simple matter for any government.

• Different groups of people may have different needs and problems and
the rights of one group may conflict with the rights of another.

• Equal rights for citizens need not mean that uniform policies have to be
applied to all people since different groups of people may have different
needs.

• The formal laws regarding citizenship only form the starting point and the
interpretation of laws is constantly evolving.
• The concept of equal citizenship would mean that providing equal rights

and protection to all citizens should be one of the guiding principles of

government policies.

Citizen and Nation

• The concept of nation state evolved in the modern period.

• Nation states claim that their boundaries define not just a territory but also
a unique culture and shared history.

• The national identity may be expressed through symbols like a flag,

national anthem, national language, or certain ceremonial practices, among
other things.

• Most modern states include people of different religions, languages, and

cultural traditions. But the national identity of a democratic state is
supposed to provide citizens with a political identity that can be shared by
all the members of the state.

• Democratic states usually try to define their identity so that it is as

inclusive as possible — that is, which allows all citizens to identify
themselves as part of the nation. But in practice, most countries tend to
define their identity in a way which makes it easier for some citizens to
identify with the state than others.

• France, for example, is a country which claims to be both secular and

inclusive. It includes not only people of European origin but also citizens
who originally came from other areas such as North Africa.

• Culture and language are important features of its national identity and all
citizens are expected to assimilate into it in the public aspects of their lives.
However they may retain their personal beliefs and practices in their private
lives.

• Religious belief is supposed to belong to the private sphere of citizens but

sometimes religious symbols and practices may enter into their public lives.
• The criteria for granting citizenship to new applicants varies from country
to country. In countries such as Israel, or Germany, factors like religion, or
ethnic origin, may be given priority when granting citizenship.

• India defines itself as a secular, democratic, nation state. The movement

for independence was a broad based one and deliberate attempts were
made to bind together people of different religions, regions and cultures.

• The Indian Constitution attempted to accommodate a very diverse society.

• The Republic Day parade in Delhi symbolises the attempt of the state to
include people of different regions, cultures and religions.

• The provisions about citizenship in the Constitution can be found in Part

Two and in subsequent laws passed by Parliament.

• In India, citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, registration,

naturalisation, or inclusion of territory.

• There is also a provision that the state should not discriminate against
citizens on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any
of them.

• The rights of religious and linguistic minorities are also protected.

• However, even such inclusive provisions have given rise to struggles and
controversies.
→ The women’s movement, the dalit movement, or struggles of people
displaced by development projects, represent only a few of the struggles
being waged by people who feel that they are being denied full rights of
citizenship.
Universal Citizenship

• Although many states may support the idea of universal and inclusive
citizenship, each of them also fixes criteria for the grant of citizenship.

• These would generally be written into the Constitution and laws of the
country. States use their power to keep unwanted visitors out.

• People may be displaced by wars, or persecution, famine, or other

reasons. If no state is willing to accept them and they cannot return home,
they become stateless peoples or refugees. They may be forced to live in
camps, or as illegal migrants.

• The problem is so great that the U.N. has appointed a High Commissioner
for Refugees to try to help them.

• Many countries have a policy of accepting those fleeing from persecution

or war. But they may not want to accept unmanageable number of people
or expose the country to security risks.

• India provided refuge to persecuted peoples, as it did with the Dalai Lama
and his followers in 1959

• The problem of stateless people is an important one confronting the world

today.

Global Citizenship
• We live today in an interconnected world. New means of communication
such as the internet, and television, and cell phones have changed the way
of living.

• New modes of communication have put us into immediate contact with

developments in different parts of the globe.

• Supporters of global citizenship argue that although a world community

and global society does not yet exist, people already feel linked to each
other across national boundaries. They would say that the outpouring of
help from all parts of the world for victims of the Asian tsunami and other
major calamities is a sign of the emergence of a global society.

• The notion of global citizenship might make it easier to deal with problems
which extend across
national boundaries and which therefore need cooperative action by the
people and governments of many states.

• The concept of global citizenship reminds us that national citizenship

might need to be supplemented by an awareness that we live in an
interconnected world and that there is also a need for us to strengthen our
links with people in different parts of the world and be ready to work with
people and governments across national boundaries.

Chapter -7 Nationalism

Introducing Nationalism

• During the last two centuries or more, nationalism has emerged as one of
the most compelling of political creeds which has helped to shape history.
• It has united people as well as divided them, helped to liberate them from
oppressive rule as well as been the cause of conflict and bitterness and
wars.

• Nationalism has passed through many phases.

• In the nineteenth century Europe, it led to the unification of a number of

small kingdoms into larger nation-states. The present day German
and Italian states were formed through such a process of unification and
consolidation.

• But nationalism also accompanied and contributed to the break up of

large empires such as the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires in the
early twentieth century in Europe as well as the break-up of the British,
French, Dutch and Portuguese empires in Asia and Africa.

• The process of redrawing state boundaries continues to take place.

• Today, in many parts of the world we witness nationalist struggles that

threaten to divide existing states. Such separatist movements have
developed among the Quebecois in Canada, the Basques in northern
Spain, the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, and the Tamils in Sri Lanka, among
others.

Nations and Nationalism

• A nation is an ‘imagined’ community, held together by the collective

beliefs, aspirations and
imaginations of its members. It is based on certain assumptions which
people make about the collective whole with which they identify.
Shared Beliefs

• First, a nation is constituted by belief.

• Nations are not like mountains, rivers or buildings which we can see and
feel.

• It is to refer to the collective identity and vision for the future of a group
which aspires to have an independent political existence.

• A nation exists when its members believe that they belong together.

History

• Second, people who see themselves as a nation also embody a sense of

continuing historical identity.

• Nationalists in India invoked its ancient civilisation and cultural heritage

and other achievements to claim that India has had a long and continuing
history as a civilisation and that this civilisational continuity and unity is the
basis of the Indian nation.

Territory

• Third, nations identify with a particular territory. Sharing a common past

and living together on a particular territory over a long period of time gives
people a sense of their collective identity.

• People who see themselves as a nation speak of a homeland. The

territory they occupied and the land on which they have lived has a special
significance for them, and they claim it as their own.
• The Indian nation identifies with the rivers, mountains and regions of the
Indian subcontinent.

• However, since more than one set of people may lay claim to the same
territory, the aspiration for a homeland has been a major cause of conflict in
the world.

Shared Political Ideals

• Fourth, it is a shared vision of the future and the collective aspiration to

have an independent political existence that distinguishes groups from
nations.

• In a democracy, it is shared commitment to a set of political values and

ideals that is the most desirable basis of a political community or a
nation-state. Within it, members of political community are bound by a set
of obligations.

• A nation is strengthened when its people acknowledge and accept their

obligations to their fellow members.

Common Political Identity

• Many people believe a shared cultural identity, such as a common

language, or common descent bind individuals together as a nation.

• Observing the same festivals, seeking the same holidays, and holding the
same symbols valuable can bring people together, but it can also pose a
threat to the values that we cherish in a democracy.
• There are two reasons for this:
→ One, all major religions in the world are internally diverse. There exists
within each religion a number of sects who differ significantly in their
interpretation of the religious texts and norms.

Two, most societies are culturally diverse. They have people belonging to

different religions and languages living together in the same territory.

• For both these reasons it is desirable to imagine the nation in political

rather than cultural terms.

• That is, democracies need to emphasise and expect loyalty to a set of

values that may be enshrined in the Constitution of the country rather than

adherence to a particular religion, race or language.

National Self-Determination

• Nations, unlike other social groups, seek the right to govern themselves

and determine their future development. They seek, in other words, the

right to self-determination.

• In making this claim a nation seeks recognition and acceptance by the

international community of its status as a distinct political entity or state.

• In some cases such claims to self-determination are linked also to the

desire to form a state in which the culture of the group is protected if not

privileged.
• In the nineteenth century in Europe. The notion of one culture - one state

began to gain acceptability

• After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles established a number of small,

newly independent states, but it proved virtually impossible to satisfy all the

demands for self determination which were made at the time.

• Besides, re-organisation of state boundaries to satisfy the demands of

one culture - one state, led to mass migration of population across state

boundaries.

• Indeed most states had more than one ethnic and cultural community
living within its boundaries.

• These communities, which were often small in number and constituted a

minority within the state were often disadvantaged. Hence, the problem of
accommodating minorities as equal citizens remained.

• The right to national self-determination has also been asserted by national

liberation movements in Asia and Africa when they were struggling against
colonial domination.

• It proved almost impossible to ensure that each cultural group, some of

whom claimed to be distinct nations, could achieve political independence
and statehood. As a result, migration of populations, border wars, and
violence have continued to plague many countries in the region.
• Thus we have the paradoxical situation of nation-states which themselves
had achieved independence through struggle now acting against minorities
within their own territories who claim the right to national self-determination.

• Virtually every state in the world today faces the dilemma of how to deal
with movements for self-determination.

• More and more people are beginning to realise that the solution does not
lie in creating new states but in making existing states more democratic
and equal.

• This may be essential not only for resolving problems arising from new
claims for self-determination but also for building a strong and united state.

Nationalism and Pluralism

• The kinds of group rights which have been granted in different countries
include constitutional protection for the language, cultures and religion, of
minority groups and their members.

• In some cases identified communities also have the right to

representation as a group in legislative bodies and other state institutions.

• Different groups need to be granted recognition as a part of the national

community.

• Ultimately, the right to national self-determination was often understood to

include the right to independent statehood for nationalities.

• But not only would it be impossible to grant independent statehood to

every group that sees itself as a distinct cultural group, or nation, it would

probably also be undesirable.

• Today we witness many struggles for the recognition of group identities,

many of which employ the language of nationalism.

• In a democracy the political identity of citizen should encompass the

different identities which people may have.

• It would be dangerous if intolerant and homogenising forms of identity and

nationalism are allowed to develop.

Chapter-8 Secularism

What is Secularism?

Inter-Religious Domination

• Secularism is first and foremost a doctrine that opposes all such forms of
inter-religious domination.

• An equally important dimension of secularism is its opposition to

intra-religious domination.

Intra-Religious Domination

• Some people believe that religion is merely the ‘opium of the masses’ and
that, one day, when the basic needs of all are fulfilled and they lead a
happy and contented life, religion will disappear.
• It is unlikely that human beings will ever be able to fully know the world
and control it.

• Religion, art and philosophy are responses to such sufferings. Secularism

too accepts this and therefore it is not anti-religious.

• However, religion has its share of some deep-rooted problems.

• For example, one can hardly think of a religion that treats its male and
female members on an equal footing.

• Thus religious domination cannot be identified only with inter-religious

domination. It takes another conspicuous form, namely, intra-religious
domination.

• Secularism is a normative doctrine which seeks to realise a secular

society, i.e., one devoid of either inter-religious or intra-religious
domination.

• It promotes freedom within religions, and equality between, as well as

within, religions.

Secular State

• A state governed directly by a priestly order is called theocratic.

• Theocratic states, such as the Papal states of Europe in medieval times

or in recent times the Taliban-controlled state, lacking separation between
religious and political institutions, are known for their hierarchies, and
oppressions, and reluctance to allow freedom of religion to members of
other religious groups.

• However, many states which are non-theocratic continue to have a close

alliance with a particular religion.
→ For example, today Pakistan has an official state religion, namely Sunni
Islam. Such regimes may leave little scope for internal dissent or religious
equality.

• To be truly secular, a state must not only refuse to be theocratic but also
have no formal, legal alliance with any religion.

• A secular state must be committed to principles and goals which are at

least partly derived from non-religious sources.

• To promote these ends the state must be separated from organised

religion and its institutions for the sake of some of these values.

• In fact, the nature and extent of separation may take different forms,
depending upon the specific values it is meant to promote and the way in
which these values are spelt out.

• There are two conceptions:

→ the mainstream western conception best represented by the American
state.
→ an alternative conception best exemplified by the Indian state.

The Western Model of Secularism

• All secular states have one thing in common: they are neither theocratic
nor do they establish a religion.
• By the American model, separation of religion and state is understood as
mutual exclusion: the state will not intervene in the affairs of religion and, in
the same manner, religion will not interfere in the affairs of the state.

• Similarly, the state cannot aid any religious institution. It cannot give
financial support to educational institutions run by religious communities.

• No policy of the state can have an exclusively religious rationale.

• On this view, religion is a private matter, not a matter of state policy or law.

The Indian Model of Secularism

• Indian secularism is fundamentally different from Western secularism.

• Indian secularism does not focus only on church-state separation and the

idea of inter-religious equality is crucial to the Indian conception.

• Indian secularism deals not only with religious freedom of individuals but

also with religious freedom of minority communities.

• A secular state must be concerned equally with intra-religious domination,

Indian secularism has made room for and is compatible with the idea of

state-supported religious reform. Thus, the Indian constitution bans

untouchability.
• The Indian Constitution grants all religious minorities the right to establish

and maintain their own educational institutions which may receive

assistance from the state.

• Indian secularism allows for principled state intervention in all religions.

Criticisms of Indian Secularism

Anti-Religious

• It is often argued that secularism is anti-religious.

• Indian Secularism does undermine some forms of religious identity: those,

which are dogmatic, violent, fanatical, exclusivist and those, which foster

hatred of other religions.

• But the real question is not whether something is undermined but whether

what is undermined is intrinsically worthy or unworthy.

Western Import

• Indian secularism is linked to Christianity, that it is western and, therefore,

unsuited to Indian conditions.

• A secular state may keep a principled distance from religion to promote

peace between communities and it may also intervene to protect the rights

of specific communities.

• India evolved a variant of secularism that is not just an implant from the

west on Indian soil.

• The fact is that the secularism has both western and non- western origins.

In the west, it was the Church-state separation which was central and in

countries such as India, the idea of peaceful coexistence of different

religious communities has been important.

Minoritism

• A third accusation against secularism is the charge of minoritism.

The most fundamental interest of minorities must not be harmed and must

be protected by constitutional law. This is exactly how it is in the Indian

Constitution.

• Minority rights are justified as long as these rights protect their

fundamental interests.

Interventionist
• A fourth criticism claims that secularism is coercive and that it interferes

excessively with the religious freedom of communities.

• It is of course true that Indian secularism permits state-supported religious

reform.

• Personal laws can be seen as manifestations of freedom from

inter-religious domination or as instances of intra-religious domination.

• Personal laws can be reformed in such a way that they continue to

exemplify both minority rights and equality between men and women. But

such reform should neither be brought about by State or group coercion nor

should the state adopt a policy of total distance from it.

Vote Bank Politics

• Fifth, there is the argument that secularism encourages the politics of vote

banks.

• In a democracy politicians are bound to seek votes. That is part of their

job and that is what democratic politics is largely about.

• There is nothing wrong with vote bank politics as such, but only with a

form of vote bank politics that generates injustice. The mere fact that
secular parties utilise vote banks is not troublesome. All parties do so in

relation to some social group.

Impossible Project

• Secularism cannot work because it tries to do too much, to find a solution

to an intractable problem.

• Critics claim this will not work today when equality is increasingly

becoming a dominant cultural value.

• Indian secularism mirrors the future of the world.

• It is doing so because with the migration of people from the former

colonies to the west, and the increased movement of people across the

globe with the intensification of globalisation, Europe and America and

some parts of the Middle-East are beginning to resemble India in the

diversity of cultures and religions which are present in their societies.