Events And Issues
New Delhi, 20 August 2007
Amend The
Constitution
END
discrimination against Hindus
By J.G. Arora
Former Chief Commissioner
of Income Tax
‘Secularism’
is a sublime concept. It is all-embracing and non-discriminatory. Yet it has
been dragged to dismal depths in India. In a truly secular polity, there should be no majority and no
minority. There would be only humans, only citizens; one law; one nation; justice
to all; injustice to none. But in India, secularism has come to mean
“anti-Hinduism”.
After fighting
foreign invaders for centuries and losing Afghanistan
and Pakistan
over the years, truncated Bharat was
expected to re-assert itself after
1947. Instead, a fake secularism implying ‘anti-Hinduism’ has seized Bharat. No
other country has reduced its majority community to such a helpless entity as India.
One of the major issues
tormenting Hindu society is the outrageous Government control of all prominent
Hindu temples all over India.
Though India is a secular republic and though secularism
commands separation of state and religion, many State governments have taken
over all prominent Hindu temples, which is an anti-secular action. And, it is
discriminatory since only Hindu places of worship have been targeted for
government control whereas no Christian church or Muslim mosque has been
touched.
This is not to suggest that churches and mosques
should also be taken over by the Government. This is just to stress that since secularism implies separation of state
and religion, Hindu temples should also enjoy the same freedom from Government
control as enjoyed by churches and mosques.
It is also
shocking that the State governments are not using temple income for the cause
of Hindu religion. Rather, the Government takeover has resulted in diversion of
temple funds for non-religious purposes and, as in Karnataka, even for madrassas and churches. Takeover by the State has also
resulted in defalcation of temple funds, closure of many smaller temples,
encroachment, sale and alienation of temple lands and dismantling of temple
infrastructure, which is leading to gradual demolition of Hindu religion. Because
of Government takeover, persons with little devotion to Hinduism, and even
non-Hindus are governing Hindu temples.
The Government control of Hindu temples and their
estates amounts to suppression
of the Hindus’ fundamental right of religious freedom guaranteed
under Articles 25 and 26 of the Indian Constitution.
A truly secular state can neither penalise nor patronise any
religion. But the state control of well-known temples in India is demolishing
the self-supporting infrastructure of Hindu places of worship. In sharp
contrast, the Government of India subsidizes “Haj” pilgrimage when not even one
of 57 Muslim countries provides any such subsidy.
Apart from being the centre of Hindu religious, social and
cultural life, the temple is supposed to be the focal point for learning the
Vedas, Upnishads, Ramayan, Mahabharat and Tirukkural etc. from religious
scholars. Government control over important temples is thus effacing Vedic
learning and Sanskrit.
That is not all. Another disability is heaped on the Hindu
society by Articles 29 and 30 of the Indian Constitution. These confer special
rights only on the minorities to establish and administer educational
institutions of their choice. During deliberations in the Constituent Assembly, it was presumed that the Hindus who
constituted the majority would automatically be entitled to the rights given to
the minorities by Articles 29 and 30. However, in actual practice, these
rights are denied to the Hindus.
In no other country in the world, the majority community
has been deprived of basic rights whereas special privileges are bestowed on the minorities.
Articles
29 and 30 giving special privileges to the minorities are, indeed fragmenting
Hindu society since many Hindu sects proclaim that they are not Hindu to get the
benefits of these Articles. Clearly, being Hindu is a disability. As per the Supreme Court judgment
reported as Bramchari Sidheswar Shai versus State of West Bengal
(AIR 1995 Supreme Court 2089), even Ramakrishna Mission,
a leading Hindu organization, claimed a minority (non-Hindu) status to secure
the benefits under Article 30.
Ramakrishna
Mission was facing some problems in
its educational institutions and apprehended Government takeover. To save
itself from the looming danger, the well-known institution claimed a non-Hindu
(minority) religion status to secure the protection of Article 30. Though its
pioneers like Swami Vivekananda were glorious Hindus, the disabilities attached
to Hindu institutions in independent India made Ramakrishna Mission disown Hinduism and claim minority status. Though the High Court allowed its
petition, the Supreme Court reversed the High Court’s decision and held that
Ramakrishna Mission was a Hindu
institution, and could not get protection of Article 30.
Is there a way out? The answer lies in the decontrol and
restoration of the Hindu temples to the Hindu community and amendment of
Articles 29 and 30 to extend the rights stipulated therein to all the
communities, including the Hindus. That is the only way to give justice to the Hindus, India’s
majority community.
Since it is the Hindu society that has built and maintained its
temples, the same should be handed back to the Hindus. Like other religious
communities, the Hindus too have a constitutional and fundamental right to
manage their temples, shrines and institutions. And they should not be deprived
of this basic right.
It is baffling that the Hindus continue to suffer this
discrimination in silence. It betrays abject surrender by the Hindus before injustice; as also
incompetence of Hindu leadership. It is puzzling that no political party has
articulated these inequities, and demanded justice for the Hindus.
Moreover, Articles 29 and 30 have
to be amended to ensure equal rights to all Indian citizens. This is not to suggest that the minorities
should be deprived of any right conferred by Articles 29 and 30. This is only
to stress that the rights conferred
by these Articles on the minorities must be extended also to the Hindus since their
religious and educational institutions cannot surrive under Government.
India’s Constitution has been amended about
100 times. Surprisingly, however, no one has thought of amending Articles 29
and 30. It is imperative that a Constitution (Amendment) Bill to
amend Articles 29 and 30 to extend the rights stipulated therein to all the
communities, including Hindus, is introduced in Parliament at the earliest. Even staunch anti-Hindus would not
be able to object to the said amendment since it would merely extend the said
fundamental rights to the Hindus without depriving the minorities of the same.
Any one opposing this amendment would only expose his anti-Hindu bias.
With the proposed Constitutional
amendment, the State would be debarred from interfering with the social,
religious and educational institutions set up by the Hindus as is the case of
the minority institutions. Educational institutions run by the Hindus would the
also be free to propagate and preach Hinduism with the same constitutional
protection as given to the minorities. This amendment would end discrimination
against the Hindus without inviting any opposition from any quarter.
As per Eleanor Roosevelt, “No
one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Tolerance is said to
be the virtue of those without convictions. The Hindus have to demonstrate that
they will not tolerate any discrimination. Then and then alone they will not face
any discrimination.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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