Abstract
Indian countries discussed above are in a way or another deeply religious. The issue is not so much to prevent religion fromentering the state, but rather to ensure that the role of religion is contained. In this context, the central issue is about how and to what extent religion can be reformed. The essential value of the secular state is that it offers a framework in which identity is a disputed and democratically contested concept. Symbolic religiosity can be used to justify a secular order, religion is secularised, becoming part of the democratic debate. Religion as culture.