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In any country there is always a majority and a minority. These are usually two different communities with their own views and opinions. Here we will talk about religious communities in India.
India has always been a victim of religious fights. Whether it is the Partition 1947, or the Ayodhya Ram Mandir case — there has always been fights among citizens of a country itself. However, it depends on who wins the fight. The majority religion or the religion which dominates the country will always be stronger than the minority religions. In the case of India, the religious majority are the Hindus. Writers of the Constitution of India knew this. Therefore, they provide us with fundamental rights that protect us against State as well as against the tyranny of the majority. But along with this, India also adopted the concept of secularism to separate religion and the State.
In this article the word ‘State’ has been used extensively. This does not refer to state governments. The State refers to a political body that represents a sovereign people who occupy a definite territory.
A secular state is one in which the state does not officially promote any one religion as the state religion. Although the Preamble of the Constitution of India has secularism, the Government does affect religion. So, one may conclude that India is not a 100% secular country. Allow me to explain how.
The historical 42nd Amendment to the Constitution of India replaced “sovereign democratic republic” to a “sovereign, socialist secular democratic republic” and also changed the words “unity of the nation” to “unity and integrity of the nation” in the Preamble. The Preamble is the first page of the Indian Constitution and lays down the most basic principles the country follows. The amendment was enacted during emergency in 1976.
Consider a religion in which girl children are considered evil and therefore are killed. This belief leads to the eviction of Right to Life from the girl children and thus the Government can make laws on it. Note that we did not mention any religion and encouraged the reader to think on the topic. But wait, were we not talking about domination of one religion on the other? To prevent domination of one religion on others, the State implements several strategies. Some of them are mentioned below.
- The State is not ruled by a religious group and nor does it support any one religion. Different institutions like police, courts and offices are supposed not to support any religion.
- The State makes exceptions for particular religious communities. This ensures that the sentiments of any religion is not hurt. For example, Sikhs are exempt from the compulsory use of helmets while driving. This is because Sikhs wear turbans. This is also known as non-interference.
The Constitution allows religious communities to set up schools and colleges and give them financial aid on a non-preferential basis. Despite these techniques, Indian secularism differs a lot from other secular States. Indian secularism intervenes in religious affairs to a great extent. The Constitution itself intervened in practices by Hindus to abolish untouchability and casteism.
Published by The Neutral Team
Edited by Abhigyan Kumar on 14 December 2020
