Removing constitutionally ordained
Hindu Dhimmitude is one of the core demands of Hindu Charter.
Overview
Unlike numerous indigenous
civilisations which bite dust due to Abrahamic invasions, Indian civilisation
survived vicious imperialism. Christians, mostly as refugees reached shores of
India from 4th century. While the encounters between Hindus and
Christians were rather localized they continued to aggressively attack ancient
Hindu culture and tradition. Arabs after the death of Prophet in 632 AD
determined to wipe out non-believers (idolaters) build a strong Muslim army and
plundered the Byzantine Empire, Persian region and Central Asia within a decade
of their conquests. They eventually set their eyes on India and launched
unprecedented attacks on India. Hindu rulers fought heroically and chased
Muslim invaders away from Indian borders number of times and resisted
relentless attacks for six centuries. Despite the nefarious attacks by
Abrahamic ideologies, Hindus with their unparalleled valour, sacrifices,
national consciousness resisted their attempts to wipe out Hindu Civilisation.
Muslims could establish a stable regime after 570 years. But our academic books
and curriculum glaringly deride and undermine exceptional struggles of Hindus.
The slanted narratives peddled by the Marxist, Islamist historians and
jealously propagated by the colonial regime continued to dominate the Indian
academia. Centuries of disdainful and insidious portrayal of Hindus eventually
laid foundation for polemical Hindu dhimmitude.
Post-Independence Counterfeit Secularism
Jolted by the devastating partition
along religious lines perhaps, fathers of Indian constitution spooked by the
undue apprehensions of leaders of religious minorities undermined the
foundation principle of democracy- Equality. Constitution of India under Article
14 guarantees equality before law to every citizen of the country. Acquiescing
recommendations of Harender Coomar Mookerjee, Christian leader of Bengal,
Vice-President of Constituent Assembly, Chairman of Minority rights, Jawaharlal
Nehru and Maulana Azad tweaked with the constitutional equality clause. To
facilitate the demand for preserving language, culture and freedom to run their
own educational institutions Articles 25(2)-30 were legislated.
The fundamental objective of
constitution makers has been to treat all religious communities equally. But
the laws made in the aftermath of partition as an assurance to minorities
gradually made way to interpretations where minorities are entitled with
special rights denied to the majority. The above-mentioned articles and certain
amendments in Constitution eventually shaped the anti-majoritarian slant to the
detriment of the Hindus.
Dhimmitude no:1
Hindus deprived of control over temples and religious affairs
Article 26: Freedom
to manage religious affairs “subject to public order, morality and
health, every religious denomination and every section thereof shall have the
right
a. to
establish maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes
b. to manage
its own affairs in matters of religion
c. to own and
acquire movable and immovable property
d. to
administer such property in accordance with law”.
Above article bestows all religious
denominations be it majority or minority to manage their religious,
educational, charitable institutions. But Supreme Court in Ratilal Panachand
Gandhi v State of Bombay held religious bodies are constitutionally
entitled to manage religious affairs. On the other hand, right to administer
its property should be in accordance to law imposed by the state. As per
article 25 (2) state can regulate or impose restrictions on establishment and
administration of Hindu religious institutions. Together, as per articles 25
and 26 Hindus are divested of the right to manage their own institutions.
Article 25 (2) says, “nothing in
this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent state
from making any law”
a. Regulation
or restricting any economic, financial, political or secular activity which may
be associated with religious practices
b. Providing
for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious institutions
of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus
Legally, this article overrides the
clause of constitutionally endowed religious freedom and entitles the minority
religions like Islam, Christianity and Judaism to acquire, own and administer
their religious and charitable institutions.
Intriguing !!!! but true that a
state which has no religion as per constitution controls institutes of a single
religious denomination
Proposed Constitutional Amendment
for Article 26: insertion of following clauses
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in
article 25, the state shall not control, administer or manage, whatsoever, any
institution, including its properties, established or maintained for religious
or charitable purposes by a religious denomination or any section thereof.
(3) All
laws in force in the territory of India in so far as they are inconsistent with
the provisions of this article shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be
void
(4) The State shall not make any law which enables it to control,
administer or manage, whatsoever, any institution, including its properties,
established or maintained for religious or charitable purposes by a religious
denomination or any section thereof, and, any law made in contravention of this
clause shall, to the extent of such contravention, be void
(5) In this article the expressions “law” and “laws in force” have smaee
meaning as respectively assigned to them in the clause (3) of article 13.
Overt Government interference in
Hindu temples led to crass commercialisation of temples, tweaking of religious
rituals, massive corruption in terms of misuse and misappropriation of temple
funds, lands. Awkwardly, non-Hindus are appointed to temple boards eroding the
sanctity and pride of Hindus while archakas and pujaris are
living in penury. In absence of special investment and towards preservation and
dissemination of Hindu ethos, culture and religious practices or Haindavam,
survival of Hindu dharma is now at stake.
Temples and mutts are life and soul
of Hinduism. They have been seats of higher learning and repositories of
intangible cultural heritage. Hence the Abrahamic invaders attacked and
destroyed them. Hindu-rulers built temples extensively and generously donated
lands to ensure upkeep and maintenance of temples and its allied institutes.
With government appropriating temple wealth, Hindu society is deprived of
institutional capacity for self-correction, self-defence, religious leadership
and organic growth. Temples are indispensable for survival of Hindu dharma. By
denying Hindus their right to manage religious institutions, government has
significantly inflicted huge blow to promotion, preservation, and restoration
of sanatana dharma.
Consequently only
a. Hindu
places of worship are controlled by state
b. Government
manages finances of Hindu temples
c. Income of
Hindu temples are taxed
d. Government
manages the religious rituals, administration of Hindu temples
e. Government
can even dispose or sell the assets of temples
f.
Practitioners of faith have no say in temple affairs
g. Government
can use the incomes from Hindu temples for other purposes
h. Government
interferes with the management of educational institutes run by Hindu religious
bodies
i.
Government has the final say in recruitment of
personnel, admission of students run by Hindu religious bodies.
j.
Government can even bring more Hindu temples under its
control
Dhimmitude No:2 Unabated religious appeasement by government
Similarly, article 27 Freedom as
to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion “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 or religious denomination”.
Based on criteria of minorityism,
some religious denominations are exempt from paying taxes. In addition, State
through National Minorities Development and Financial Corporation, extends
lucrative loans to minorities and under Multi Sectoral Development Programme
districts with more than 20% population are given special grants. To cater to
minorities separate ministries, departments, finance corporations, educational
institutes have sprung up across different states. Special scholarships and
pilgrimage subsidies are awarded to them. To this end, former Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh openly declared that minorities have first right over country’s
resources. Political parties for long have unabashedly indulged in outright
minority appeasement to have an edge over opponents. Brazen minority pandering
is an indubitable reality of Indian politics.
Finances for these sectarian
schemes are drawn from Consolidated Fund of India. Suitable constitutional amendments must be in
place to end minortyism in government schemes. Besides, the ambiguity pertaining to this
article made the State biggest proselytizer by encouraging conversion of Hindus
by misuse of public funds.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment
for Article 27: Insertion of clause (2)
(2) No moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of
India, the Consolidated Fund of a State, the Contingency Fund of India or the
Contingency Fund of a State or out of the fund of any public body shall be
appropriated for advancement or promotion of a section of citizens solely or
primarily on the basis of their religious affiliation or belonging to one or
more religious or linguistic denomination
When the State patronises
minorities so much and encourages, incentivises conversion of Hindus how is it
different from missionaries or mullahs?
Dhimmitude No:3 Deracination of Hindus to self-loath and
disown their religion, culture and history
Grievously lacking a strategic
vision for the country, Indians frittered away the opportunity of shaping the
hard-earned independence to resuscitate the Indian identity trampled by years
of Abrahamic imperialism. Instead of discarding the vestiges of the Colonial
machinery and its educational system, independent India uncannily embraced
extraneous ideology. Soon the Indian mind space was bombarded with distorted
history. Despicable Muslim invaders were exonerated of all atrocities.
Formidable efforts were made to white-wash contemptuous Muslim rule. Public
spaces were named after these foreign invaders and every attempt was made to
exterminate the role of indigenous fighters, rulers, scientists, philosophers.
Achievements and contributions of pro-Hindu nationalists, academicians,
scholars were deliberately forsaken. Instead the pro-left or pro-minority
academicians were patronised. Formal education devoid of Indic connections was
promoted. Since majority couldn’t afford formal educations during the early
independence years, people (mostly middle class and poor) were still rooted to Haindavam.
In the first three decades of independence, left leaning educational ministers strived hard to deracinate Hindus.
Asian games of 1982 gave much
needed reprieve from what appeared as an uninterruptable agenda of
deracination. Obligated to portray the Indian identity during games and driven
by compulsive domestic politics, 1980s witnessed an inadvertent phase of Re-Hinduisation.
Barring this brief respite since 1990s a well-oiled machinery has been carrying
out industrial scale deracination of Hindus. Interestingly, public instruction,
mass media/entertainment, public discourse is deployed for de-Hinduisation and
Abrahamization.
Article 28 Freedom as to
attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational
institutions
(1)
No religious instruction shall be provided in any
educational institution wholly maintained out of state funds.
(2) Nothing the
clause (1) shall apply to an educational institution which is administered by
the state but has been established under any endowment or trust which requires
that religious instruction shall be imparted in such condition.
(3) No person
attending any educational institution recognised by the state or receiving aid
out of state funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction
that may be imparted in such institution or to attend any religious worship
that may be conducted in such institution or in any premises attached thereto
unless such person or if such person is minor, his guardian has given his
consent thereto.
The state is right in keeping the
religious instruction out of public educational system in the country. But in
consonance with article 28 of constitution, state obviated Hindus from reading
and learning the traditional knowledge systems, civilizational heritage and
great texts like the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata
leading to deracination of Indians from their civilizational and cultural
moorings. Every ancient Indian text and civilizational treasures has been
classified as religious instruction under article 28. Government schools,
government aided schools and those receiving state grants are prevented from
teaching India’s traditional texts disparaging it as saffronisation. On the
contrary, minority schools continue to teach their religious texts even though
they receive state grants due to the special provisions under article 30. The
article entitles them to establish and administer educational institutions of
their choice.
Hindu children denied access to
Hindu texts and their civilizational knowledge but Hindu students in the
minority (read as Muslim and Christian) schools get to know more about Islam or
Christianity but very little about Hinduism and Hindu civilisation. These
deracinated Hindus are brain washed to disown their culture making them soft
targets for conversion.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment
for Article 28: after clause (3) following clause shall be inserted
(4) Nothing in this constitution shall be
deemed to forbid the teaching of traditional Indian knowledge or ancient texts
of India in any educational institution, wholly or partly maintained out of
State Funds.
Article 30: Right of minorities
to establish and administer educational institutions
(1) All
minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to
establish
and administer
educational institutions of their choice.
(2) The state
shall not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against
any educational institution on the
ground that it is under the management of a minority whether based on religion
or language.
State prescribes fee, admission
procedure, syllabi and regulates every aspect of functioning including salaries
of the staff of only majority Hindu educational institutions but not of
minorities. To escape the tyranny of various sections of Hindu society are
demanding separate religion status. Ramakrishna mission approached Supreme
Court seeking minority status. For all the imminent benefits and special
provisions Lingayats demanded minority status. Congress party which is no mood
to fritter away this golden opportunity of minting votes months before the
assembly polls pledged to grant minority status to Lingayats. This kind of
selective and disincentivising approach is causing fragmentation of the Hindu
society.
Proposed Constitutional Amendments
for Article 30:
(a) In the
marginal heading for the word, “minorities”, the words, “all sections of
citizens, whether based on religion or language”, shall be substituted.
(b) In clause
(1), for the word “minorities”, the words “sections of citizens” shall be
substituted.
(c) In clause
(1A) for the words “a minority” the words “a section of citizens” shall be
substituted.
(d) In clause
(2), for the words “a minority”, the words “a section of citizens” shall be
substituted.
Article 29: Protection of
interests of minorities
(1) Any section
of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a
distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to
conserve the same
(2) No citizen
shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the
state or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, language or any of them.
State’s special interest in
protecting the cultural and educational of minorities as stated in marginal
heading of article 29 is incongruent with constitutionally bestowed equality to
all religious denominations.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment
for Article 29: substituting the marginal heading, “cultural and
educational rights” with “interests of minorities” with words.
Besides, the aforementioned
proposed amendments in Article 26-30, to effectively dispense discrimination on
various grounds,
Article 15: Prohibition of
discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth
(1) This state
shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, sex, place of birth or any of them
(5) Nothing
in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent
the State from making any special provision, by law, for the advancement of any
socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled
Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to
their admission to educational institutions including private educational
institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority
educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article.
Satyapal Singh bill proposes omission of
clause (5) of article 15.
Inclusion of special provisions to
foster the betterment of religious minorities in India raises serious doubts
about the secular credentials of the country. It is inconceivable as how a
secular country, controls religious institutions of only one community. To
retain and uphold the attributes of secularism, government must either take
over the places of worship of all religions or constitutionally entitle Hindus
to manage their own institutions. This inherently anti-secular and
discriminatory stance of the Indian government inadvertently fostered the Hindu
dhimmitude.
To redress the constitutional
disabilities Dr Satyapal Singh, introduced a private members bill in Lok Sabha
seeking amendments of articles 26-30 to grant equal rights to Hindus. The bill
was introduced on March 10th, 2017. The bill must be adopted in this
Parliamentary session and passed in Lok Sabha else it will lapse by April 2019.
Earlier Parliamentarian Late Syed Shahabuddin, a hard-line Islamist, cognizant
of constitutional lacunae, called for widening the scope of article 30 and
sought amendments. Indeed in 1995 he introduced a Private Members Bill in Lok
Sabha. But the bill elapsed without any discussion on the floor of house.
To restore equality irrespective of
the religious denominations and abolish the discriminatory legislations,
constitutional amendments are inevitable. The Satyapal Singh’s private member
bill aims to bring about constitutional and legal parity. The bill is not
anti-minority even remotely and perfectly aligns the foundational principles of
democracy-equality before law and secularism- religious neutrality. The bill
doesn’t intend to take away any privileges of minorities but seeks to extend
same rights and privileges to all. Until unless recommended amendments find
their way into constitution, constitutional and legal equality continue to evade
Hindus who subjected to selective discrimination.
Acknowledgements: This article is
based on the inputs from the https://hinducharter.org/# on the
Hindu Charter website.
@ Copyrights reserved.
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