ABSTRACT
Because of the nature of Indian politics surrounding the 1947 Partition, much debate has grown on the questions of communalism and secularism in India. First, secularism and communalism are pitted against each other, putting religion at its centre. It is assumed that communalism is embedded in religious conviction and secularism is the opposite of religiousness, which means that a secular person cannot be communal and vice versa – a communal person cannot be secular – forgetting that Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the communalist par excellence, had not much interest in religion and Gandhi, a great adherent to religion, and his illustrious follower, Abul Kalam Azad, an equally devout man, could by no means be considered communal.
