Very rightly stated by a research organization board: “If you’re interested in studying the role of religion
in statecraft and building identity around the world, there’s no better place to do it than India,”
Hello everyone, I Ridhi, welcome you all in this –
My dear esteemed guests, today I am speaking about “Improving Religious representation in Indian
governance with special emphasis on minorities”
India has a diverse religious history. Begining with Indus valley civilization to Hinduism, to Budhism..
many more then Indian History talks about arrival of Muslims and prevalence of Christianity. India's fight
for independence was greatly impacted by its religious landscape. However, India became independent
and chose to be a secular constitution. The constitution of India wanted to give the same rights to all its
citizen. It was done irrespective of their religion. it's important to keep a balance between religious
freedom and social harmony.
Use of Religion is scaling higher and higher on terms of political wins and lose. It has been infused in
politics by political parties in various ways
o to appeal to voters
o consolidate power
o to advance their political agendas.
Mingling of Religion and Politics that is mobilisation of votes on grounds of primordial identities like
religion, caste and ethnicity, have put Indian secularism in danger.
Being the largest country in terms of population, India is a multitude of various religious communities
Hindus cover nearly 80% of India’s total population, with an estimated 172.2 million Muslims, 27.8
million Christians, 20.8 million Sikhs, 4.5 million Jains, etc. In recent years, religiously inspired nationalist
movements have gained prominence in several parts of the country. Having said this, I would like to
mention some of the recent laws and policies made in terms of taking care of religious minorities. For
sake of example- Triple Talaq, National Means Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS), Jiyo Parsi.
Articles 29, 30, 350A, and 350B of the Indian Constitution use the word “minority” and its plural forms,
but do not define it. Recently, there has been significant debate in India on the question of precisely
who constitutes a minority. The Supreme Court of India in TMA Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka has
held that for the purpose of Article 30 of the Indian Constitution, a minority—whether linguistic or
religious—is determinable with reference to a state and not by taking into consideration the population
of the country as a whole.
In past Under various governments, religious minority communities and Dalits, both have faced
discrimination and persecution due to a combination of overly broad or ill-defined laws, an inefficient
criminal justice system, and a lack of jurisprudential consistency. In particular, since 2014, hate crimes,
social boycotts, assaults, and forced conversion have escalated dramatically.
However, its need of the hour when we need to discuss the betterment of religious representation in
Indian governance by taking minorities hand in hand.
Education, Education has always been the solution. History is a proof where it laid exemplary efforts led
by educated politicians and how their efforts reformed the society in extra ordinary ways.
An educated citizen will understand the sentiments of not only his own religion but also counter
religions. As stated at the outset, India’s constitution encompasses provisions that emphasize complete
legal equality of its citizens regardless of their religion or creed, and prohibits any kind of religion-based
discrimination. It also provides safeguards—albeit limited ones—to religious minority communities.
In order to see measurable improvements for freedom of religion or belief in India the government of
India should:
- Increase training opportunities on human rights and religious freedom standards and practices
for the members of its legislature, police, and the judiciary
- Operationalize the term “minority” in its federal laws and comply with the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious, and Linguistic Minorities.
- Reform the anti-conversion laws and appreciate that both conversion and reconversion by use
of force, fraud, or allurement are equally bad and infringe upon a person’s freedom of conscience
- Implement the recommendations of the Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities
(2007)
- Not impose Hindu personal status laws on Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain communities, but instead
provide them with a provision of personal status laws as per their distinct religious beliefs and practices.
- Establish a test of reasonableness surrounding the Indian state prohibitions on cow slaughter. If
the Indian government is keen to maintain this legislation based on religious sentiments, then it should
also introduce legislation to recognize as hate crimes the desecration and mockery of sacred texts of any
religion, places of worship, or prophets of any religion
Thanks!