                              Vol. 3 Issue 1 225 Aug, 2016 Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602                 UNMASKING NATION: READING SECULARISM IN SHIV K. KUMAR’S A RIVER WITH THREE BANKS DR. RADHA S. GAUTAM Associate Professor, S. B. Garda College, Navsari Gujarat. ABSTRACT Since the Vedic period, Indian subcontinent has been an embodiment of inclusive culture and civilization. Over the centuries, the continuous interaction and assimilation of different people and cultures has inculcated deep rooted traits of tolerance, a highly evolved humanism, and ethos in which any particular linguistic, religious or ethnic group is able to tolerate and appreciate the creative elements of others. However, in post-Independence period secularism in India has proven to be a contested issue. The partition of the colonial nation into two independent nation-states, India and Pakistan, in 1947 was brought about by the primacy of religion. August 1947 not only saw the establishment of two nation-states, India and Pakistan, but also the moment of inception of new identities. This harrowing event rendered millions widowed, orphaned and homeless. With the partition, religious sentiments of people in their divisive and exclusionist sense became defining forces of identity. At this juncture, political nationalism gave way to religious nationalism. The present paper examines Shiv K. Kumar's A River with Three Banks (1998) and explores how this literary testimony represents secular ethics of coexistence and offers its own subaltern way of secularism. Keywords: India, Nation, Secularism, Politics, Humanism, Identity and Tolerance. Introduction: Since the Vedic period, Indian subcontinent has been an embodiment of inclusive culture and civilization. Over the centuries, the continuous interaction and assimilation of different people and cultures has inculcated deep rooted traits of tolerance, a highly evolved humanism, and ethos in which any particular linguistic, religious or ethnic group is able to tolerate and appreciate the creative elements of others. The Indic culture and value system always advocated ‘acceptance of all differences.’ In fact India strives on the principal concept that originates in the Vedic scripture Maha Upanishad (Chapter 6, Verse 71): अयं बध ु रयं नेत गणना लघ ु चेतसाम ्।