Freedom of religion in India

Tradition of religious freedom

The plural nature of Indian society in the 3rd century BC was encapsulated in an inscription of Ashoka:

"King Piyadasi (Ashoka) dear to the Gods, honours all sects, the ascetics (hermits) 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 (born in the family of Rajarshi Vasu) declares himself in his inscription (approximately 2nd century BCE):

sava pasa-nd-a-puujako, sava devaayatan-sanskaarako ।
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):

"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 S. F. Manekshaw.

Tibetan Buddhists: India is now home to the Dalai Lama, a high lama of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Baha'i: India now has world's largest Baha'i population of 4572 Baha'is, who took refuge in India from religious persecution in Iran.

Religious disturbances and conflicts before 1947

Notable incidents of religious intolerance, conflicts and riots have occurred at several points in time.

There was persecution of Buddhists and Jains by Brahmanical Hindu monarchs under the influence of religious fundamentalists. Examples include the violent persecution of Buddhists by Pushyamitra Shunga in the 2nd century BC, the mass slaughter of Buddhists in Kashmir under the reign of Mihirakula, the 5th century Hun invader who converted to Shaivism, the persecution of Vaishnavas by Pallava monarchs in South India, and the brutal persecution of Jains by Pandyan monarchs under the tutelage of Shaiva saints in Tamil country.

Some Islamic travellers such as Mahmud of Ghazni committed iconoclasm and genocide of Hindus.

Various rulers of the Mughal era (such as Aurangzeb) are regarded as perpetrators of religious intolerance towards Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs through violent acts, oppression, iconoclasm and imposition of jizya.

The Goa Inquisition was carried out against the Hindu, Muslim and Jewish populations of Goa by Portuguese Rule.

Communal violence during the Partition in 1947

There were widespread riots during the Partition of India in 1947 - There was communal violence directed against Hindu & Sikh minorities in areas that became Pakistan while violence was directed against Muslim minorities in Hindu/Sikh majority areas.

Conversion history

After the advent of Islam, when religious bias against the non-Islamic sects began to get severe, Hinduism began to take on a distinctive identity. During the 14th century, Sikhism also arose and drew into its fold a number of people in Punjab. Christianity has a history that traces back to the advent of Saint Thomas the Apostle in India around A.D.48. He is said to have been followed by Bartholomew around A.D. 55. It is reported that when Vasco Da Gama visited Calicut in 1498 AD, he found over 2 lakh Christians in the Kerala area. The British Government in the beginning discouraged any missionary work; however, in 1837, it permitted entry of white missionaries in its territory because of the pressure from the evangelical lobby in the British parliament.

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.

Laws and Indian Constitution

The Preamble of the Indian Constitution has the word "secular", thereby 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 (2b) 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 Christmas (Christian), Eid (Muslim), Guru Nanak's birth anniversary (Sikh) and Holi (Hindu) 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 (NHRC) and the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) 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 and the 2008 attacks against Christians in Orissa.

For Shia Muslims, the Grand Ashura Procession In Kashmir where they mourn the death 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.

Against conversions

The Article 25 of the Indian Constitution is a basic human right guarantee that cannot be subverted or misinterpreted in any manner. It is in this context that the anti-conversion laws in India must be viewed. Anti-conversion laws are promulgated on the premise that forced or induced conversions happen and need to be prevented. Such laws are controversial because they run the risk of being abused by communal forces who may have the tacit approval of the dominant political party in the state or country.

A consolidation of various anti-conversion or so-called "Freedom of Religion" Laws has been done by the All Indian Christian Council. Several Indian states passed Freedom of Religion Bills primarily to prevent people from converting to Christianity. Orissa was the first state to bring such law named as 'Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967'. It was followed by Madhya Pradesh in 1968 and Arunachal Pradesh in 1978. Catholics protested against this saying that propagation of their faith was an important part of Christianity. Both laws enacted by the Orissa and Madhya Pradesh high courts were challenged stating Article 25 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court supported the laws saying, "What is freedom for one is freedom for the other in equal measure and there can, therefore, be no such thing as a fundamental right to convert any person to one’s own religion". This move was criticised because it ignored Article 25 and it did not differentiate between forced conversion and conversion by persuasion.

Chhattisgarh in 2000 and Gujarat State in 2003 passed anti-conversion laws that prohibit forced or money induced conversions. 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. 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. In February 2007, Himachal Pradesh became the first Congress Party-ruled state to adopt legislation banning illegal religious conversions. It was followed by Rajasthan in 2008.

In 2013, the Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Venkaiah Naidu has declared that his party would bring anti-conversion laws nationwide if his party is elected to power in 2014. However, as of April 2015, the party does not yet have a majority in the Upper House of the Parliament. The president of party Amit Shah has challenged the opposition parties to support it in enacting such a law. The US State Department has said that the recent wave of anti-conversion laws in various Indian states passed by some states is seen as gradual increase in ideological Hindu nationalism (Hindutva).