Freedom of religion in India
Freedom of religion in India is a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 25–28 of the Constitution of India. Modern India came into existence in 1947 and the Indian constitution's preamble was amended in 1976, to explicitly declare India a secular state. Supreme Court of India ruled that India was already a secular state from the time it adopted its constitution, what actually was done through this amendment is to state explicitly what was earlier contained implicitly under article 25 to 28. Every citizen of India has a right to practice and promote their religion peacefully. However, there have been numerous instances of religious intolerance that resulted in riots and mob violences; notably, the 1984 Sikh Massacre in and around Delhi, 1990 Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir, the 1992–93 Bombay Riots in Mumbai, the 2008 Anti-Christian riots in Odisha and other anti-Christian violence in India. Some perpetrators of the 1984 Sikh Massacre have not been brought to justice despite widespread condemnation.
The Indian subcontinent is the birthplace of four major religions: Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Even though Hindus form 80 percent of the population, India also has religious adherents concentrated in certain places: Jammu and Kashmir has a Muslim majority, Punjab has a Sikh majority; Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram have Christian majorities; states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka have significant minorities of Jains; the Himalayan states and territories such as Sikkim, Ladakh and Arunachal, the state of Maharashtra, and the Darjeeling District of West Bengal have significant minorities of Buddhist populations. Islam is the largest minority religion, as Indian Muslims form the third largest Muslim population in the world and account for over 14 percent of the India's population. Other than Hindus and Muslims, India is a diverse country that is home to Sikh, Christian, Buddhists, Jain, Zoroastrian, Indigenous and Irreligious populations.
Rajni Kothari, founder of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies has written, "India is a country built on the foundations of a civilisation that is fundamentally tolerant."
History
Tradition of religious freedom
The plural nature of Indian society in the 3rd century BC was encapsulated in an inscription of Ashoka:King Priyadarshi dear to the Gods, honours all sects, the ascetics or those who dwell at home, he honours them with charity and in other ways. But the King, dear to the Gods, attributes less importance to this charity and these honours than to the vow of seeing the reign of virtues, which constitutes the essential part of them. For all these virtues there is a common source, modesty of speech. That is to say, One must not exalt one's creed discrediting all others, nor must one degrade these others Without legitimate reasons. One must, on the contrary, render to other creeds the honour befitting them.
Emperor Kharvela declares himself in his inscription :
Kharvela's self-description must be contrasted with other rulers around the world, who took pride in calling themselves "but-shikan" or "defender of the faith".
Badayuni in his Muntakhab-ut-Tawáríkh reports that the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who had established the Din-i-Ilahi faith, decreed the following in AH 1000 :
Hindus who, when young, had from pressure become Musalmans, were allowed to go back to the faith of their fathers. No man should be interfered with on account of his religion, and every one should be allowed to change his religion, if he liked....People should not be molested, if they wished to build churches and prayer rooms, or idol temples, or fire temples.
The Sikh Gurus built freedom of religion in their faith to such an extent that while being a persecuted minority themselves under many Mughal rulers like Aurangzeb, Sikhs felt obliged to fight for the religious freedom of others. The sixth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Hargobind, even had a mosque built for his Muslim disciples, instead of putting them under any pressure to adopt the Sikh faith.
The tradition of religious freedom continued under Sikh Empire, and other Sikh Principalities where Sikh rulers commissioned several Gurdwaras, Temples and Mosques for their subjects of various faiths.
Refuge from religious persecution
India, with its traditional tolerance, has served as a refuge for groups that have encountered persecution elsewhere.- Jews: Jews in India were granted lands and trading rights. The oldest of the three longest-established Jewish communities in India, traders from Judea and Israel arrived in the city of Cochin, in what is now Kerala, 2,500 years ago and are now known as Cochin Jews. According to recordings by Jews, the date of the first arrival is given at 562 BC. In 68 AD, more Jews fled to Kerala to escape attacks by the Romans on Jerusalem..
- Christians: Christianity is believed to have come to India in the 1st century through Saint Thomas who formed the Saint Thomas Christians in Kerala. Later in the 15th and 16th centuries European Missionaries brought in Christianity in places such as Goa and Mangalore. Protestant Missionaries came in 18th and 19th centuries to North-East India.
- Parsi: The Zoroastrians from Greater Persia arrived in India fleeing from religious persecution in their native land in the 9th century. They flourished in India and in 18–19th centuries intervened on behalf of their co-religionists still in Greater Persia. They have produced India's pioneering industrialist house of Tata and one of the only two Indian Field Marshals in Sam Manekshaw.
- Tibetan Buddhists: Apart from sheltering Tibetan Buddhist refugees who fled their country after it was occupied by China in 1959, India is now home to the Dalai Lama, a high lama of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.
- Baháʼí:, India had world's largest Baháʼí population of 4,572 Baháʼís, who took refuge in India from religious persecution in Iran.
Conversion history
Religious conversion has sparked a lot of attention and has caused hostilities in Indian families. Though conversion resolved the pre-conversion crisis, it resulted in more troubles in the convert's life. Different kinds of hostilities were: being killed, threatened with death, fear of future troubles or being disowned by parents and friends.
BJP government
In 2019, Human Rights Watch stated that dozens of vigilante killings against religious minorities in India have gone unpunished due to inertia or collusion, mostly in BJP-run states.In 2020, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom stated the BJP government under Prime minister Narendra Modi "allowed violence against minorities and their houses of worship to continue with impunity and also engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence". The commission recommended India be labeled a "country of particular concern" which is the lowest of categories on the basis of religious freedom. In 2023, the USCIRF again recommended the US Department of State to designate India as a “country of particular concern” for the fourth year in a row. According to the commission, the Indian government “at the national, state and local levels promoted and enforced religiously discriminatory policies” that included “laws targeting religious conversion, interfaith relationships, the wearing of hijabs and cow slaughter, which negatively impact Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits and Adivasis ”.
On 21 June 2022, Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced a resolution to condemn human rights violations and violations of international religious freedom in India, including those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities. The resolution calls on the U.S. Secretary of State to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, which has been recommended by the independent, bipartisan USCIRF for the past three years.
In February 2023, Justice For All, a Chicago-based human rights organization released a report titled 'The Nazification of India' which draws one on one parallels between Nazi Germany and India under the BJP-RSS regime. The report alleges that BJP-RSS are establishing the ideology of Hindu supremacy called “Hindutva" which draws inspiration from Nazism and has led to the persecution of religious minorities including Muslims, Christians, Dalits and Sikhs. The report, however, focuses on Indian Muslims, who are the prime target.
Laws and Indian Constitution
The Preamble of the Indian Constitution has the word "secular", and articles 25 to 28 implying that the State will not discriminate, patronise or meddle in the profession of any religion. However, it shields individual religions or groups by adding religious rights as fundamental rights. Article 25 says "all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health". Further, Article 26 says that all denominations can manage their own affairs in matters of religion. All these rights are subject to be regulated by the State.Article 25 uses the term "Hindus" for all classes and sections of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs. Sikhs and Buddhists objected to this wording that makes many Hindu personal laws applicable to them. However, the same article also guarantees the right of members of the Sikh faith to bear a Kirpan. Religions require no registration. The government can ban a religious organisation if it disrupts communal harmony, has been involved in terrorism or sedition, or has violated the Foreign Contributions Act. The government limits the entry of any foreign religious institution or missionary and since the 1960s, no new foreign missionaries have been accepted though long term established ones may renew their visas. Many sections of the law prohibit hate speech and provide penalties for writings, illustrations, or speech that insult a particular community or religion.
Some major religious holidays like Diwali, Christmas, Eid and Guru Nanak's birth anniversary are considered national holidays. Private schools offering religious instruction are permitted while government schools are non-religious.
The government has set up the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Minorities to investigate religious discrimination and to make recommendations for redressal to the local authorities. Though they do not have any power, local and central authorities generally follow them. These organisations have investigated numerous instances of religious tension including the implementation of "anti-conversion" bills in numerous states, the 2002 Gujarat violence against Muslims and the 2008 attacks against Christians in Orissa.
For Shia Muslims, the Grand Ashura Procession In Kashmir where they mourn the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali has been banned by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir from the 1990s. People taking part in it are detained, and injured by Jammu and Kashmir Police every year. According to the government, this restriction was placed due to security reasons. Local religious authorities and separatist groups condemned this action and said it is a violation of their fundamental religious rights.