Discuss India as a secular state and compare with the secular principles of the US constitution.

Secularism in India, declared part of the Constitution's basic structure in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) and made explicit in the Preamble by the 42nd Amendment (1976), differs significantly from the American model.

India as a secular state

• India follows 'principled distance': the state has no official religion but may engage with religions to ensure equality and reform.
• Articles 25-28 guarantee freedom of conscience and religion, subject to public order, morality and health.
• The state can intervene in religious affairs for social reform - abolishing untouchability (Article 17), opening temples, and regulating secular aspects of religious institutions.
• It treats all faiths equally (sarva dharma sama bhava) and can extend limited support to all religions.

US model of secularism

• The First Amendment erects a 'wall of separation between church and state' (Jefferson), through the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.
• The state maintains strict separation - it neither aids nor interferes with religion and stays largely hands-off.

Key differences

• India permits state intervention for reform; the US insists on non-interference.
• India allows differential and affirmative treatment (personal laws, minority rights under Articles 29-30); the US emphasises strict neutrality.
• Indian secularism is community-sensitive and positive; American secularism is individual-focused and negative (separation).

Both protect religious freedom and prohibit a state religion, but India's model of accommodative, reformist secularism suits its deep religious diversity.