Articles
India’s Constitution and Governments Are Not Secular
Dt: 19/9/23
India’s Constitution and Governments Are Not Secular
Dr T H Chowdary*
The word “secular” was smuggled into our Constitution into the preamble during the Indira Gandhi promulgated Emergency in 1975 –‘77. Also the word “socialism” was smuggled into the Constitution. Even without this specific word secularism in the Preamble of our Constitution there are enough articles which guarantee certain privileges to two minorities “ based upon religion.
2. Article - 25 : Right to freedom of Religion : Says, “all citizens shall have the right to profess, practise and propagate religion”. Hinduism does not propagate and convert people from other religions to it. Using this article, Christian missionaries and their other organizations have been indulging in extensive proselytization and conversion of most vulnerable and ill-informed sections of Hindu society. When the word’ “propagate’ was used in this article some eminent members like Sri Loknath Misra of Constituent Assembly objected to this and said this is an invitation to enslave the Hindus and wipe out Hinduism. It was also observed that in no constitution of any country in the word “propagation” of a religion is a fundamental right. So this Article – 25 with the word militates against the secular nature of the Constitution and the Government of India .
3. Article-26: is about “freedom to manage religious affairs”. This freedom is allowed to be exercised by Muslims & Christians and not Hindus. The places of worship that is, temples of Hindus are managed and administered by governments’ Endowment Departments and Trust Boards constituted by the governments. Every time the party that forms the government in a State changes after elections, the Trust Boards are dissolved and the ruling party’s funders and persons unaccommodated as Ministers are put into the Trust Boards. Smugglers, those involved in criminal cases, those who funded the ruling party find a place in such Trust Boards. The assets of the temples are misused . For eg: the lands belonging to them are allotted to Christian missionaries for establishing educational institutions and even for construction of churches……… . Therefore this Article-26 is worked by the governments in favour of Islam and Christianity the proselytizing religions and against Hindus who don’t proselytize and convert. Therefore this is also anti-secularism .
4. Article -27: Says that “no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion of religious denomination .
The requirement of specificity of taxes to promote and support religions is overcome by the Union and state governments utilizing the general revenues raised through taxes on income etc., for supporting Islam and Christianity. Governments have created Minority Welfare Departments and State- owned Minority Finance Corporations . These are funded from the general tax revenues of the Union and State governments. These monies are utilized for subsidizing Muslims’ Haz pilgrimage and Christians’ pilgrimage to Jerusalem and holy land around it. These funds are utilized for construction of mosques , Urdu Ghars, Shadi Khanas and churches . When the courts were approached also they ruled that since no taxes denominated in terms of Christianity or Islam are levied, the state funding of Muslim & Christian pilgrimages and their places of worship etc., are not ultra vires of the Constitution.
5. Article-30: Religious minorities are given absolute right “to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice”. Such a right is not given to Hindus and therefore this Article in the Constitution detracts from the secular nature of the Indian state and hence its governments in the states.
Utilizing this article, Christians and Muslims formed societies and have been establishing engineering, medical, Business Administration and such colleges which have nothing to do with religion . Since they don’t have enough candidates of those religion for admission, seats are sold to Hindus. Thus this article is not only unsecular but helps the religious minorities to exploit the majority community .
6. Thus the often repeated word ”secularism” used by all parties excepting the BJP is practised by governments to favour Islam and Christianity and work against Hindus. The “left, liberal, secular, independent intellectuals and Marxists in different communist parties accuse BJP as communal while all of them protect communalism and discriminate against Hinduism, in the name of secularism.
Secularism as a concept and practice arose in Europe where to free the governments from the control of the Pope of Christianity intellectuals waged struggles to separate religions from the state and won the campaign to free the State organs from control and direction by the Christian church, from the Pope, Bishops and such administrators of religion. In Bharat kings endowed temples but did not administer them. There never was a state religion except during Ashoka’s rule when it was Buddhism, it was necessary to amend the Constitution to ensure the Union and state governments don’t directly or indirectly favour and fund some religions and lord over Hinduism, its places of worship and their assets and functions. (820 words)
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