Book Discussion on 'Europe, India and the Limits of Secularism' by Jakob De Roover

After the partition of India in 1947, secularism was uncritically accepted as one of the core values of the Indian republic regardless of its delayed inclusion in the preamble of the Indian Constitution. However, this acceptance has led to grave consequences for the broad spectrum of the Hindu tradition, awkwardly labelled as Hinduism. Adarsh and Ashish discuss Jakob de Roover's excellent book, 'Europe, India and the limits of secularism' and examine secularism's historical origins while exploring its conceptual deficiencies.


00:00:00 Intro
00:02:30 Limits of Secularism in Today’s World
00:08:23 Secularism in Multicultural Europe
00:14:08 Liberal Secular Model
00:16:17 Real Secularism vs Pseudo Secularism
00:19:16 Split of Identity
00:25:36 Harm Principle
00:27:53 Nehruvian Secularism
00:32:31 Constituent Assembly Debates
00:33:34 Essential Religious Practices
00:36:58 Stories of Liberal Secularism
00:40:40 Agenda of History Writing
00:43:30 Relationship of Culture and Religion
00:45:30 Reason vs Rationality
00:51:12 Political Theology of Two Kingdoms
00:54:19 Difference b/w Brahmins and Catholic Priests
00:59:38 Monasticization of Daily Life
01:07:00 Reformation and Widespread Chaos
01:09:43 Replacing Religion with Conscience
01:15:00 Clash of Cultures
01:19:21 Distinction b/w Religion and Tradition
01:21:44 Story of Indian Intellectuals
01:26:38 Alternative to Secularism