India is a secular state. Equality before the law is a guiding principle. It is neutral in belief. Blind to caste, colour, language, and faith. Fine, I too read it. But somewhere between the Constitution and the checkout cart, secularism seems to log out without a whimper. If the Constitution is secular, why is the market not secular?
Because the marketplace, our most powerful daily institution after the state itself, is anything but secular.
Brands will correctly argue, they don’t discriminate; they segment. And in that way, they don’t tamper with the promise. The market is not secular; it is selectively neutral.
They don’t divide people; they understand consumers. A harmless academic exercise, apparently. GEN Z. Millennials. Seniors. Urban Achievers. Aspiring India. Value Seekers. Premium Loyalists. Budget Warriors. Digital Natives. Silver Spenders. Each label is neat, profitable, and deeply psychological.
These are not census categories. These are mental boxes.
And mental boxes, once internalised, quietly rewrite self-worth, aspiration, and limitation.
Nowhere is this more dangerous than under 18. Children are not just consumers-in-the-making; they are identities in the making. Yet product markets and social media platforms classify, target, nudge, and pressure them relentlessly.
If a secular state claims neutrality of belief, should it not insist on neutrality of psychological manipulation, primarily where minors are concerned? Monitoring and strict enforcement here shouldn’t be optional; it should be non-negotiable. But not like banning social media.
But let’s move to adults, where the marketplace’s version of equality collapses entirely.
Take the illusion of “one price across India.” The MRP of the product may be the same, however, the realised price does not. The promotions, discounts and offers change depending on when you order, how often you order, how loyal you are, whether you belong to a virtual club, whether your phone runs a certain OS, whether you are a prepaid or postpaid consumer, whether the algorithm thinks you are worth retaining, or quietly letting go.
Service fulfilment follows a similar theology. Calls are answered not by queue but by value. Complaints are resolved not by urgency but by status. Transparency is replaced by polite ambiguity. Tiers replace equality, undeclared but enforced. Data has replaced religion and caste, and the discrimination remains in a market that is not secular.
This isn’t the unorganised vegetable vendor charging differently across lanes and cities. That’s survival economics and demand dependency. What I am referring to is the branded, centralised, data-rich discrimination, clean, invisible, and contractually justified.
Ironically, the only truly secular participants in this system are lead generators and call centres. They will call you for a ₹3 crore 3BHK, a platinum credit card, or a personal loan with saint-like neutrality. No questions asked. No capacity checked. And there isnNo bias for caste, colour, region, religion, or reality. Pure outreach. Absolute faith.
Perhaps that is the marketplace’s version of secularism: blind where it shouldn’t be, and calculating where it must not admit to being so.
The state may promise equality before the law.
The market promises equality before data.
And data, unlike the Constitution, has no moral preamble.
That’s not secularism.
That’s convenience dressed up as neutrality, sold with conditions attached.
In practice, the marketplace is not secular—only efficient.
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You may also read this article on SELECTIVE SECULARISM
