How ideal is India's secularism?

[Śrī Anil asked: Padanamaskaram Swami! Could You kindly grace us with Your response to this question raised in an internet discussion forum? At Your Divine Lotus Feet-anil.]

Swami replied: Secularism means treating all religions of the world to be equal. It does not mean rejecting all religions like an atheist. Theism is the essence of secularism, but today, we only find atheism wearing the mask of secularism. Such atheism has become the meaning of secularism today. Hinduism, with its many sub-religions is a representative model of the world having many religions. Śaṅkara brought unity among the sub-religions within Hinduism. Similarly, Swami Vivekananda brought unity among religions in the world.