Secularism refers to the official attitude of state which is pledged to equal protection of all its citizens irrespective of religion, caste or creed and to equal distribution of all the facilities of life to them.
The emphasis is on religion which is kept scrupulously and completely out of consideration. A secular state views its citizens as so many human beings who must be fed, clothed and provided with all other facilities of life; it takes no notice of the fact that they belong to this religion or that religion.
To the secular state, a citizen is but a man, he is neither a Hindu, nor a Mohammedan, nor a Christian, nor of any other religious group or community. Secular, thus, takes the essential humanity of man, and leaves out the rest of his identity.
The free air which an ideal democracy breathes is bound to remain absent from such a sate. It lays down such principles, aims, and objects of the government as are in perfect keeping with the ideals of a democratic state inspired by the noble motive of existing for the good even of the meanest citizen.