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Secularism is a principle which advocates the separation of religion from politics. It is the principle of separation of government institutions and persons mandated to represent the state from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. Thus, religion should be separate from aspects of state and governance.
Secularism is a normative doctrine which seeks to realize a secular society that is, one devoid of either inter-religious domination or the intra-religious domination. It promotes freedom within religions and equality between, as well as, within religions. It also includes separation between the state and religion. In fact the nature and extent of separation may take different forms, depending upon the specific values it is meant to promote and the way in which these values are spelt out.