For Indian Christian leader, religious freedom is a human right that must be defended, not just proclaimed
Mumbai (AsiaNews) - "Freedom of religion does not mean excluding a religion or a creed from our communities, nor the promotion of a particular faith. It means creating an environment that favours the development of democratic, peaceful and pluralistic societies in which individuals can think, search, doubt and believe in a free manner. It is where everyone can express their deepest convictions alone or together with others," said Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), as he spoke to AsiaNews about the new guidelines on religious freedom issued by the European Union (EU) on Tuesday.
The guidelines' release is an opportunity, even for countries in other continents, to reflect on the state of freedom of religion in their own setting. India, the Christian leader noted, "as the largest pluralistic democracy in the world, should focus on its religious minorities." However, in terms of freedom of worship, the country lives a dual condition.
On the one hand, it is the birthplace of four major religions: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Today, the majority of the population is Hindu (80 per cent). Islam is the largest minority in the country (the third largest Muslim community in the world) and Christians are more than 25 million. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion as a fundamental right of every citizen.
On the other hand, India has seen even in the recent past large-scale religiously motivated violence. This was the case in 1992-1993, with clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Mumbai; in 2002, with the massacres during Hindu-Muslims clashes in Gujarat; and in 2008, with anti-Christian pogroms perpetrated by Hindu fundamentalists in Orissa.
Although the latest large-scale episode of violence occurred in 2008, "incidents of intimidation, harassment and acts of violence against individuals and small communities continue," Sajan George said. "This happens especially against the Christian minority in those states that have adopted anti-conversion laws."
On paper, these laws prohibit conversions "through force, coercion or fraud," and enable the government to investigate. In reality, they are applied only in cases of Hindus who change to another religion. Since their adoption, there have been fewer conversions.
The seven states that have anti-conversion laws on the books are Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Himanachal Pradesh.
This "is due to the authorities' weakness", George said. "Whilst the Union government respects religious freedom in law and deed, the same is not true at the state level, partly because there are no common rules in the areas of marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance."
In addition, the states led by Hindu ultra-nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) must be taken into consideration because of the strong presence of organisations that are part of the Sangh Parivar, a Hindu ultra-nationalist umbrella movement, such as the Rashtriya Sawayamsevak Sangh (RSS) .
"In public, the BJP and these groups claim to respect and tolerate other religious groups," the GCIC president said. "In reality, the RSS opposes conversions from Hinduism to faiths and argues that all Indians, regardless of their beliefs, should follow the cultural values of Hinduism, since they coincide with those of the country."
Faced with such a complex situation, "the Union government and individual Indian states ought to follow the spirit promoted by the European Union guidelines," the Christian leader said. "This would enable all sections of society to enjoy the fruits of freedom enshrined in our constitution."
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