ABSTRACT
The chapter provides a genealogy of the concepts of the secular, religion and politics in early modern and colonial South Asia in order to make intelligible a tradition of civility, one that rivals the project of colonial modernity and cultivates the conditions of co-habitation of different denominations in South Asia. It is written in the wake of the ongoing protests against the adoption of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in India, widely perceived to threaten civic co-habitation. The chapter also reflects upon how being attentive to a tradition of civility demands a different account of the relations between international law, religion and politics than has been provided by critical international lawyers.
