Religion and politics have been mixed together in Indian society so long that one cannot talk about them separately today, said Indian journalist Vishal Arora in a presentation to the Oxford Centre's course on Religion & Politics in Washington, D.C.

Arora, who works with a journal of politics and the arts called The Caravan, discussed how religion, as it gets tangled up in politics, makes up the very idea of India. His presentation deals with the following controversies in Indian politics and religion:

1) Debates over the meaning and application of the term “secularismâ€.
2) Hindu nationalism and the concept of “Hinduness†(Hinduvta) as a political ideology.
3) The use of “communalism†in politics, which is a sort of identity politics that utilizes religion to create divisions.

Arora comments on religious freedom:

Read the summary of Arora's paper.

Read the full text of Arora's paper.

Go to the Washington, DC, conference page.