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Freedom of religion in India is a fundamental right guaranteed by the country's constitution.[1] India is a secular state by law. Freedom of religion is established in tradition as Hinduism doesn't recognise labels of distinct religions[2][3] and has no concept of blasphemy.[4][5] Every citizen of India has a right to practice and promote their religion peacefully. However, there have been many incidents of religious intolerance which have resulted in riots and pogroms. These incidents have been condemned by the governmental administrations, private businesses, and judicial systems.
India is one of the most diverse nations in terms of religion. Even though Hindus form close to 80 percent of the population, the Indian Muslims form the third largest Muslim population in the world are also the world's largest minority account for over 12 percent of the population, and the country also has large Sikh, Christian and Zoroastrian populations. It is home to the holiest shrines of four world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
Modern India came into existence in 1947 as a secular nation and the Indian constitution's preamble states that India is a secular state.
India has a Hindu President (Pratibha Patil), Muslim Vice President (M. Hamid Ansari), a Sikh Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) and a Christian Defence Minister A. K. Antony. The leader of the largest party, the Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi is a Catholic Christian, while the leader of the opposition is Sushma Swaraj, a Brahman Hindu. India's ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam was a Muslim. Out of the 12 Presidents of India since Independence, three have been Muslims. India had a prominent former Defence Minister (George Fernandes), a Christian (though not practicing) and a Hindu minister controlling foreign affairs. India's Air Force Chief, Fali H. Major, is a Parsi.
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The plural nature of Indian society in the 3rd century BCE was encapsulated in an inscription of Ashoka:
King Kharvela (born in the family of Rajarshi Vasu) declares himself in his inscription (approximately 2nd century BCE):[6]
Translation: I am worshipper of all sects, restorer of all shrines.
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 (only true) 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 (1551-1552 CE):
India, with its traditional tolerance, has served as a refuge for groups that have encountered persecution elsewhere.
Notable incidents of religious intolerance, conflicts and riots have occurred at several points in time.
A US congressional body has put India on a list of countries which have failed to protect its religious minorities adequately. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says India was added to the list because of a "disturbing increase" in religious violence. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has been criticised by Christians in India about this list.[7] It mentioned the anti-Christian and anti-Muslim riots in Orissa and Gujarat in 2008 and 2002 respectively.[8]
The US State Department has claimed that the recent wave of anti-conversion laws in various Indian states passed by some states is seen as gradual and continuous institutionalization of Hindutva.[9] Christian missionaries are accused of using inducements such as schooling, money, and even motorcycles and bicycles to lure poor people to the faith. Apparently as a counter to conversion by supposed inducement, there was a definite instance of reconversion of 200 tribal Christians back to Hinduism in Jharsuguda in western Orissa in March 2004 reportedly as part of a plan by the VHP (World Hindu Council).[1]
Most of the anti-conversion laws are brief and leave a lot of ambiguity, which can be misused for inflicting persecution. Legal experts believe that wilful trespass by missionaries upon the sacred spaces of other faiths can be prosecuted under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, and as such there is no need for anti-conversion laws by individual states and they should be repealed. A consolidation of various Anti-conversion or "Freedom of Religion" Laws has been done by the All Indian Christian Council.[10]
In the past, several Indian states passed Freedom of Religion Bills primarily to prevent people from converting to Christianity. Arunachal Pradesh passed a bill in 1978. In 2003, Gujarat State, after religious riots in 2002 (see 2002 Gujarat violence), passed an anti-conversion bill in 2003.
In July, 2006, the Madhya Pradesh government passed legislation requiring people who desire to convert to a different religion to provide the government with one month's notice, or face fines and penalties.[11]
In August, 2006, the Chhattisgarh State Assembly passed similar legislation requiring anyone who desires to convert to another religion to give 30 days' notice to, and seek permission from, the district magistrate.[12]
In February, 2007, Himachal Pradesh became the first Congress Party-ruled state to adopt legislation banning illegal religious conversions.[13]
Historically, Hindus have been hostile to other religions, including Buddhism. During the Partition of India, Hindus in present day Pakistan were attacked by Muslims in response to attacks, killing, raping and violence against Muslims in India. Islamic militants have murdered and forcibly displaced more than 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus during the Kashmir insurgency.[14] After the Indian military murdered many innocent Muslim Kashmiris. This has been condemned and labeled as ethnic cleansing in a 2006 resolution passed by the United States Congress.[15] In Northeastern India, Christian extremist groups have harassed, murdered and forcibly converted Hindus, and attacked temples. In 2000, Tripura police discovered that The Baptist Church of Tripura supplied the NLFT with arms and financial support and to have encouraged forced conversion and murder of Hindus. NLFT has issued a ban on the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja, and declared it their mission to expand what they describe as the kingdom of God and Christ in Tripura.[16] In Assam, members of the primarily Christian Hmar ethnic group have placed bloodstained crosses in temples and forced Hindus to convert at gunpoint.[17] Many Hindu holy sites have been regularly attacked by Muslim terrorist groups, including Varanasi, Ayodhya, Akshardham temple.
There were widespread riots during the Partition of India in 1947, with attacks on Muslim minorities by Hindu and Sikh mobs in response to attacks, killing, raping and violence of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan.
In 1992, the Babri Mosque was demolished by Hindu mob on the basis of their assertion that this was built on the birthplace of God Raam (one of the most revered avatar of Vishnu) and a temple existed at the site before the erection of the Mosque.
The Sangh Parivar family of organisations, has allegedly been involved in encouraging negative stereotyping of Muslims. However most of these allegations were founded on historic facts where Muslim rulers had destroyed temples and places of religious importance to Hindus.[18][19] The 2002 Gujarat violence was result of the Godhra train burning, in which 58 Hindus, returning from pilgrimage and including 25 women and 15 children, were burnt alive, after the train had been stopped by a Muslim mob. However it was one such case where attacks were carried out against the indigenous Gujrati Muslim population. According to the official report, in total the riots led to the death of 1044 people in total (including those from the train fire), 754 Muslims and 290 Hindus.[20]One of the most serious instances of violence was the Best Bakery incident, which incident involved the gruesome killing of 14 people.[21] This act of extreme violence is not a one off incident. Since the independence, the Muslim population has had to deal with sense of insecurity arising from such mass scale riots. The Jamshedpur riots of 1964 and 1979, the Bhagalpur riots of 1989, 1992 Bombay riots, are just a few of the examples where Muslims were categorically targeted and persecuted.
Human Rights Watch puts the death toll at higher figures, with 2000 deaths, mostly Muslim, but with attacks against Hindus by Muslim mobs as well.[22] One Reuters article speaks of more than 2000 dead Muslims.[23]
Attacks against Christians in Orissa, have occurred in recent years in response to missionary activity by Christians.