Secular governance and religious NGOs in India: A decolonial perspective

Abstract

In India, as in many countries, religious associations play a significant role in providing social care and services alongside the state and secular NGOs. Inherited from the colonial period, laws governing charitable giving impose a secular framework on formally registered organizations, shaping their distributive practices through the lens of what is considered “modern philanthropy”. How to these legal measures influence the work of religious associations? Based on research with Christian and Muslim NGOs in Delhi, the presentation examines how, under the BJP government, secularism has increasingly been deployed as a tool of governance to surveil and regulate organizations led by religious minorities. Building on Nivedita Menon’s (2024) argument that secularism can operate both as a democratic principle and as a mechanism for advancing majoritarian interests, I adopt a decolonial perspective to critically examine its colonial legacy and contemporary implications. Rather than a neutral framework, secularism can at times function as an instrument of control, defining the terms under which religious actors engage in aid and care. This analysis invites a reconsideration of alternative models, exploring what forms of ethical and redistributive practices might emerge outside this paradigm.