Contemporary Issues and the Response of Churches: Secularism, Minority Rights, Freedom of Religion and Conversion.
Introduction
India is a religious pluralistic and ‘sovereign
socialist secular democratic republic country,’ but the post independent India became a victim of anti-secular
and anti-democratic activities of the fundamentalists. There is an
unprecedented growth of religious problems and communal violence. This paper
will deal with these kinds of contemporary issues and the response
of churches pertaining to secularism, minority rights, freedom of religion and
conversion.
Secularism
India is secular country, meaning equality
of all religions. No religion has been given a status of official religion of
India. Whether the followers are more or lesser, found in India or not, neither
of them must be given privilege in order of faith and living. It is a
democratic state scoring towards the objectives of Justice, Liberty, Equality
and Fraternity among all citizens. This is what the Preamble of the
Constitution of India Means.[1]
Keeping these in mind, this sub-topic can be explained in two ways.
(i) Religious secularism: The architects of Indian Constitution had in
mind religious freedom as the chief principle while they used the term
‘secularism,’ and describe India as a secular state. Nowadays, this original
meaning of the term has been interpreted in a very different way by the Hindu
fundamentalists. They challenged that the spirit of secularism enshrined in the
constitution and maintain that it provides and added privilege to the
minorities to propagate and spread their religion among the Hindu majority.
They called the constitutional secularism as ‘pseudo-secularism’ meaning
‘minority appeasement for vote bank politics,’[2]
and to this opposite the right wing Hindutva activists proposed the term
‘Positive Secularism.’ For them, ‘Positive Secularism’ affirms the genuine secularism
which is more integral to Indian understanding as it explained as the equal
treatment to all religions. But, this proposal distorted the real meaning of
secularism and it surreptitiously concealed from the common masses. The
underlying intention is Hindutva and sharp ideology of Hindu Rashtra which will
eventually prove dangerous to Indian secularism.[3]
(ii) Social secularism: Here we mean ‘religion
in a state of being secularized,’ as the society move towards more and more intellectuality.
The term secularization itself was first used in Europe to describe the legal
procedures whereby ecclesiastically owned property was transferred to worldly
ownership or use. Gradually, it evolves into a description of a process whereby
religiously beliefs cease to be widely accepted and religious institutions
cease to have social, economic or political influence.’[4]
Secularism can also be considered to be a process of by which religion is
pushed of its control of various spheres of human activity.[5]
So, taking this concept into our context, what we’ve seen today is pressure on
the church from the state, organizations and individuals. This is very much
prevalent in the case of church administration, MLPC Act, etc. in which print
and electronic media are the outlet.
Minority Rights
The Indian Constitution ensures
“justice, social, economic and political” to all citizens. It has adopted
measures for the protection of the rights of the religious and ethnic
minorities and of the socially and economically disadvantaged classes such as
the SCs
and
STs. It enshrines various provisions for the protection of the rights and
interest of the minorities. No particular religion or the religion of the
overwhelming majority has been made the religion of the state. The Minority Rights provided in the
Indian Constitution which fall in the category of ‘Separate Domain’ are in
Article 16, 25, 29(1&2), 30(1&2), 374, 350(a&b). Besides, there are
some rights of citizens which are inclusive of all sections. These rights fall
under the category of ‘Common Domain’ such as; Fundamental Rights – Part III, Directive Principles of
State Policy – Part IV, Fundamental Duties – Part IV(a).[6]
In 1978, the Government of India,
through Presidential Order, constituted Minorities Commission to make
functioning of the Minorities Act more effective. In 1992, the parliament gave
it a statutory status with new name National Commission for Minorities (NCM).
Te Commission is required to monitor the working of the safeguards provided in
the Constitution and in laws enacted by Parliament and State Legislatures.[7]
Under Section 2(c) of NCM Acts 1992, six religious communities viz, Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains are notified as
minority communities.[8]
However, taking the context into consideration, there is time and place where
the minorities are majorities and vice-versa, e.g. Mizoram.
What
we’ve seen today is that, the Hindu fundamentalist who called themselves
nationalists forwarded the allegation that the Constitution of India has in effect
given fever rights and virtually no privilege to the majority community Hindus
while showing ample privilege on the minorities.[9]
Even among the young intellectual circle, the Creamy Layer of Reservation
Policy has been much criticized.[10]
Particularly, Article 15(4) and 16(4) that favored the SCs, STs and OBCs in the
form of reservation of seat in educational institution and in public employment
antagonized the bulk of upper caste opinion and evolve into a shocking protest
incidents.[11]
The Rights of Minorities continued to be controversial both in the Central and
State politics as we’ve seen daily in the media.
Freedom of Religion and Conversion[12]
In India, Freedom of Religion is a fundamental
right guaranteed by Article 15 & 25 of the Constitution of India. These articles grants
to citizens of India of all religious persuasions freedom to profess, practice
and propagate their faith in a way that does not disrupt public order and does
not affect public health and morality adversely. However,
Freedom of Religion laws or Anti-conversion laws are controversial
because they run the risk of being abused by communal forces that may have the
tacit approval of the dominant political party in the state or country.
After independence, the Parliament took up the issue of
conversion through a legislation named Indian Conversion (Regulation and
Registration) Bill in 1954 and Backward Communities (Religious Protection) Bill
in 1960. But, both the bills were dropped due to lack of enough support.
Freedom of Religion Act, known colloquially as ‘anti-conversion law,’ is
increasingly becoming a hallmark of Hindu nationalist. Starting from the late
1960s, anti-conversion laws have been introduced, in one way or another, in
eight states such as; Orissa (1967), Madhya Pradesh (1968), Chhattisgarh (which
inherited the Madhya Pradesh law when it was created out of the former state in
2000), Arunachal Pradesh (1978), Tamil Nadu (2002), Gujarat (2003), Rajasthan
(2006), and Himachal Pradesh (2007).
In every law passed by different state
governments, the aims and objectives of the law are very similar, more or less
the same. All these laws made conversion a cognizable offence under section
295A and 298 of the IPC inviting punishment to imprisonment and fines of
variable natures. Conversion is defined in all the ‘Freedom of Religion Act’ as
renouncing one’s religious faith and adopting another religious faith. It is
purely an act of personal converted. The object and reasons of the law was to
check conversion by means of force, fraud, material inducement and exploitation
of one’s poverty, simplicity and ignorance. The Bill seeks to prohibit such
conversion by use of force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means and for
matter incidental thereto. The anti-conversion laws prohibit conversion of
people from their indigenous faith to other faith, mostly Christianity.
Considering the history of India, freedom of religion is very
controversial, both before and after independence. Of late, religion has been
politicized, searching for vote bank. In 2013, to the interest of the majority Hindus,
one of the BJP leaders Venkaiah Naidu declared that his party would bring
anti-conversion laws nationwide if the party is elected to power in 2014.[13]
So, we can assume it’s not very surprising that the activities and ideology of
Hindu fanaticism come into the forefront of Indian politics.
Response of the church
As seen, the constitutional foundation
of secularism, minority rights and religious freedom appears to have been
shaken. The constitutional and rights of the citizen cannot be ignored. It
needs to be revitalized in theory and practice. The ideological principle of
India should be threatened by neither the fundamentalists nor communalists.[14]
Back in 1979, a private member’s
bill on Freedom of Religions Bill could not see the light of the day because of
widespread resistance from secular and Christian bodies.
The NCCI, representing the churches in India, responds to religious
fundamentalism and communal violence in the form of inter-faith dialogue, press
release/statement, resolution and petition. Various forms of responses are
made, from media up to the level of Supreme Court and Central government.[15]
How Christians should response
communalism: James Massey, considering the Indian context, made three
suggestions.[16]
(i)
Christian engagement in politics: The approaches
of some of the political parties are communal in nature; Christians cannot be
partners in any such approach. Therefore, Christian involvement in politics has
to be on a different footing or a paradigm which should be holistic in nature.
The larger life based issues demand Christian engagement in every area of human
life including politics.
(ii)
Support democratic system: Democratic system comes close to the Christian
understanding of human being, the world and political order. It is the duty of
Christians to support the constitutional law and equality of all, to uphold the
love as was revealed by Jesus Christ.
(iii)
Systematic political education: The Churches need to undertake a program of
political education about constitutional/fundamental rights and duties, so that
Christians can play a meaningful role by participating in the total life of the
country as full citizens.
Here, in the light of the
retrospection, let’s try to suggest the realistic prospect of the church.[17]
-
Activities of the church must go beyond usual.
-
Re-definition of the concept of spirituality by doing away with sacred-secular
dichotomy.
-
Political action of the church is a necessary ecclesiastical-missiological
paradigm.
-
Participatory action is needed for cultivating transformative system.
-
Reframing theological education as praxis oriented that will response towards
positive change.
-
Christian masses advocating the role of the church in these action plan.
Conclusion
The rapid growth of religious
fundamentalism and communalism in secularist India has now becomes a matter of serious
concern, because it affects the everyday life of the country. The sensitive
issue in this matter, religious feeling of all people must be respected with
empathy and mutual trust, and true friendship should be developed in all
possible ways. The challenges and obstacles must be faced together under one
umbrella of being Indian. All citizens of India, irrespective of religions, are
obliged to keep alive the spirit of nationalism free form domination and
suppression. We must strive ahead with the spirit of common brother/sisterhood,
and make India a global model of socio-political equality, justice and harmony.
[1] K.K.
Ghai, Indian Polity, 6th
Edition (Ludhiana: Kalyani Publishers, 2003), 52-54.
[2] R.
Sahayadhas, “Religion-Politics Synthesis: The Future of Secularism,” in Religion and Society, Vol. 60, No. 1-2 (March-June,
2015): 111.
[3] M.T.
Cherian, Hindutva Agenda and Minority
Rights: A Christian Response (Bangalore: CFCC, 2007), 233-240.
[4] Vinod
Ramachandra, Faiths in Conflict:
Christian Integrity in a Multicultural World (Illinois: IVP, 1999), 141.
[5]
Rodinmawia Ralte, Hindus and Hindutva
(Kolkatta: SCEPTRE, 2014), 79.
[6] Vijay
Jaiswal, “Indian Consitution,” in http://www.importantindia.com/2182/rights-of-minorities-in-indian-constitution/
and “National Commission for Minorities” in http://ncm.nic.in/constitutional_provisions.html
(15.7.2015).
[7] Ebe
Sundar Raj, SD Jayakumar and Varghese Jacob, “Religious Rights and Democratic
Institutions of India with Special Reference to Christian,” in From Truth to Truth: A Journey Through
Faith, edited by James Massey (New Delhi CDSS & Noida: Academy Press,
2007), 207.
[8]
Wikipedia (29 Jan 2016).
[9] Abbah
Chatterjee, The Concept of Hindu Nation
(New Delhi: Voice of India, 1995), 33.
[10] Civil Service Chronicle, 2008 Issues.
[11] Paul R.
Brass, The politics of India since
Independence, reprint (Cambridge: CUP, 2008), 251-254.
[12] The following
sources are consult for this portion,
Ebe Sunder Raj, Conversion-
A National Debate (Mussoorie: Nivedit Good Book Distributors Pvt. Ltd.,
2004), .
M. Stephen. A New Mission
Agenda: Dialogue, Diakonia and Discipling (Delhi: ISPCK, 2000), .
William Lourdayyan. Conversion
and the Holocaust (Madurai: William Lourdayyan, 1999), .
[13]
Wikipedia (29 Jan 2016).
[14] Ninan
Koshy, “The Crisis of Secularism in India,” in Fundamentalism and Secularism in India: The Indian Predicament,
edited by Andrew Nehring (Madras: Gurukul Summer Institute, 1994), 86.
[15] See
Chandran Paul Martin, ed., The Prophetic
Engagement of the Church (Delhi: ISPCK/NCCI, 2003).
[16] James
Massey, “Inter-Play of Religion, Politics and Communalism in India,” in Samson
Prabhakar, ed., Inter-Play of Religion:
Politics and Communalism (Bangalore: BTESSC/SATHRI, 2004), 9-11.
[17] Binarsing Ingti, Dolanstar Kharshiing & Seleyzia
Sahkhar, Political Action: Policy making
and Systemic Change. A paper presented in the 53rd NITSC @ ABS,
Allahabad on the theme “Contribution of the church to the Indian Society: A
Re-Introspection” during 4th-7th October 2015.
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