Civil society perspective

We have defined civil society earlier. The term stands for people outside the political framework. For laymen it refers to non-political groups of people devoted to various types of social action. India has had a long history of organizations devoted to charity, relief, religious and social activities, and welfare. Globalization, free movement of people, capital and ideas, and development processes have, however, changed the issues before civil society. Some of the civil society organizations are quite strong. Some of them are also in a position to influence state policies. They exist in various forms:

A) Strong religious groups, sects and movements :- There is a common belief that religion can solve the problems of unhappiness and social pathology. Religious groups are believed to be having the key to formation of perfect society. The fact is that religious groups have their own ideas of good society and good conduct. While most religions agree on certain fundamental human mores they tend to identify humanity with their followers. The followers of any religion or religious leader are expected to have blind faith in the preachings of the religion or leader and accept that they constitute the absolute, unblemished Truth. In a multireligious society such as India political leaders make a fetish of secularism and the idea that all religions take us to the same goal, and, therefore, we must show equal respect to all religions. In practice, it is, however, unthinkable how different and often conflicting versions of Truth can be simultaneously true. Thus tolerance for religious differences becomes a matter of political expediency rather than a social value.