started believing that God was nonexistent, and there was no role of religion whatsoever in the modern world. The high voltage propaganda by the traducers of Islam gained some successes in creating confusion in the minds of the educated Muslims about the adequacy of Islamic principles for growth and development. Whoever harangued in favour of the religion was labelled obscurantist, retrogressive or retrograde; whoever, advocated allegiance to the Islamic way of life was mocked, derided or ridiculed as fundamentalist or extremist, The anti-religion fervour of the westernist and leftist elements grew in intensity owing to the fact that the traditional scholars of Islam proved unequal to the task of defending the faith by presenting it in a jargon not understood by the modern man; they usually stuck to the interpretation of Qur'an and Sunnah by a handful of jurists which often deviated from the original spirit of the sources, and also because they explained them only in accordance with the knowledge the contemporary world possessed about the facts of life.
The growth of Secularism in India was on a different pedestal altogether. Unlike West and Islamic countries like Turkey and Egypt, it was not primarily aimed at the negation of religion. It was more a product of the plural nature of Indian society composed of several religious groups and sects many of which have considerably large population in the country. Nor secularism in India chose to deny after-life. In contrast, it developed as an ideology of the state which gives due respect to all religions but will not have any religion of its own. A secular person in India need not be anti-religion or non-religious. He may in fact be a devout practitioner of the rituals and values preached by religion. His secular credentials become disputable only when he, by speech or action, shows disregard for the other religious communities, or spreads hatred against them. Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Mohd. Ali Johar, Pt. J.B.Pant -- all these political stalwarts were, either devout Hindus, or devote Muslims and still secular to the core. The opposite of 'secular' in India has not been, as in the west, sacred but communal.
The unfortunate feature of the whole history of the decline of religion in most parts of the world, especially as a dominant social force, was that the protagonists of all the religions assumed an outright defensive posture. Their defence of religion was generally weak and ineffective as they attempted to use the same criteria as their detractors had laid down for examining the religious beliefs and practices. They often turned apologetic in their arguments. This position has shown signs of change in many Islamic countries during last few decades as an outcome of the realisation in the educated class of their folly in blindly pursuing western life styles, rejuvenated interest in Islam of Muslim experts in modern subjects and the growing dissatisfaction of the masses with the modern legal, political, economic and social systems. The modern Islamists have discovered more rationale in their religion than the emerging order. They have gradually turned the table in several Muslim countries on their opponents. The whole Islamic world is now witnessing revival of faith. Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Algeria, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Malaysia -- in fact, almost every Muslim country, which had at one time or the other in the last century become westernised in varying degrees, is back on the path towards the establishment of an Islamic state. Christianity, Buddhism, Hiduism and Sikhism have also displayed signs of palingenesis in specific areas. But still, most of the religionists including the Islamists tend not to be aggressive in their approach and often exhibit sectarian bias. Instead of focusing on the faults and discrepancies of the new dispensations that are numerous, they continue to dissipate their energies in erecting defences around their faiths. By the time, they defeat the mischievous propaganda unleashed against one principle or practice, the opponents supported by the economic fundamentalists open another front. The ideological war goes on unabated. But this is still being fought in the domains of religion. Religionists have forgotten that for ultimate triumph the battle-line is to be pushed into the domain of the enemy.
Though the virtues like probity, self esteem, patience, endurance and truthfulness are also unwelcome, what particularly annoys the economic fundamentalists is insistence in religion on taboos. The practices forbidden by different religions are obviously such as tend to lure, mesmerise and addict the humans. These cause temporary pleasures, which may sooner or later be followed by undesirable effects, often severe, on person, family and society. The very fact that they had to be prohibited indicated the culpability of the people for them. They rapidly transform their users or practitioners into physical or psychological dependants. Every religion has its prohibitions. Many of them are common with other religions. Christianity shuns sexual waywardness; Jainism and Buddhism forbid meat, alcohol and adultery; Hinduism and Christianity are not too sure about alcohol. In Islam, prohibitions have taken a more elaborate form, and cover all the aspects of life. Taking of alcohol, pork and blood are not allowed; and gambling, hoarding, usury, adultery, fornication, murder, theft and bribery are expressly unlawful. It can easily be seen that the habits and practices proscribed by different religions can produce serious ailments and social tensions. But the economic fundamentalists had little concern for the welfare of the individual or society. They could foresee extraordinary scope, once the outlets are open in these taboos, for their commercial aggrandisement. It would however not be easy till religion retained a central position in society. The privatisation of religion was therefore a compelling necessity for them.
The banishment of religion along with its dos and don'ts from society ensured smooth sailing in future for the big business. They were now on a robust platform to bring about rapid onset of huge transformation in social values. These changes had absolutely nothing to do with the well-being of society and were aimed only at utilising human temptations for the geometrical multiplication of wealth.
4.
Law Doctored
The early economic fundamentalists had several impediments and obstacles in their path towards glory. They knew that, for hosts of the activities required for the protection and promotion of large-scale business, the contemporary laws had become a liability rather than the asset. Till the beginning of the nineteenth century, the whole world had almost similar laws. Roman, Jewish, Islamic and all other legal systems that were in vogue in different parts of the earth rested on capital punishment, which was based on the principle of the right to seek revenge. The concept of eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear and soul for soul formed the foundation of almost all the constitutions. Crimes like murder and treason were unfailingly punished with death. The same punishment was often awarded to those found guilty of spreading chaos in the land. Death sentence (by beheading or hanging) was the rule rather than an exception for all serious crimes. Adultery and rapes too were punishable by death sentence. The convicts were either beheaded in full public view or were stoned to death. Lesser sexual misdemeanours invited lashes. Theft and bribery led to the chopping off of one hand from the wrist or other harsh punishments. The process of trial was incredibly quick; the cases were usually decided within a few days. The magistrate was usually helped in arriving at his decision and the pronouncement of the punishment by the jurists of the land. Appeals were entertained only in exceptional cases. The result was that the isolated crimes like murder, rape, adultery, etc., were uncommon. The victims of these crimes usually remained satisfied with the sentence meted out to the offenders. This more or less compensated for the grief and anger they were stricken with. They did not have to resort to extra-legal ways to avenge their injured sentiments. The people normally remained in peace except where the rulers flouted the law of the land themselves, or when civil wars broke out. Such examples where the rulers did not care for the life and honour of their subjects are aplenty in human history; but the instances of the rulers justly treating the ruled are also numerous.
The supremacy of the law in the land and the severity of punishment would prevent the economic fundamentalists from developing a nexus with criminals which was necessary for the rapid expansion of their empire;
the acceptance by the law of certain practices like adultery, gambling and drinking as crimes would make it impossible for them to commercialise human susceptibilities for instant enjoyment. A sea-change was therefore required in the whole legal system so that it became business-friendly. Several legal theories were put forward in the eighteenth and the nineteenth century. Out of these, the ones liked by the industrialists gained currency. The fact that the development of legal system in the West has been related to the new developments in the economic field is substantiated even by the observation made by a number of legal pundits. Encyclopaedia Britanica says. “—these realisms (of Kant, Stammler, Kohler & Hagel), despite their formal or philosophical antagonism to rationalism and natural law thinking, seem to have reinforced in the age of Industrial Revolution the Individualist and libertarian trends that natural law had built up successively against medieval church and empire, the shackles of medieval social, political, and economic organisations, and, the 8th