The Constitution of India guarantees every citizen a Right to Freedom of Religion. However, Independent India has seen many communal disturbances and violence indirectly questioning the freedom given to its citizens, for a secular and secure place. Khushwant Singh, in his book “The End of India” explains the two
schools of thought about secularism – The Gandhi’s and The Nehru’s. I express my agreement with our first prime minister’s definition of a secular state as separating the state from religion in administrative matters. For me, religion should always be a personal belief and should not be seen in groups.

Reasons & Analysis:

Political System. Firstly, we cannot rule out the way the 1947 partition happened. Had not been the leaders of the then Muslim League and Congress agreed for separate states for two religions which led to the rise of a higher intolerance later, there could be a better history of persistent peace and happy living.

I firmly believe that those initial actions and events followed has fueled political parties in India to run governments and stay in power. The desire to rule had made political parties and system unethical and exploited the people on their religious beliefs. The darkest communal acts of our history, 1947 partition to 1984 anti-Sikh riots to 1992 Bombay riots to 2002 Godhra killing and Gujarat riots, have happened
because of politicizing the religion and a greedy desire to hold power by oppressing the opposition communities.

I also feel the Religious Extremism as a reason for the persistence of the problem. Organizations like VHP, Bajrang Dal, SIMI, PFI, have acted as a catalyst to sustain the differences in religious faith. We can also infer the same by the formation of international militant organizations like ISIL. There, we see even a more
significant threat to people who belong to the same religion.

Slow Poison. Next, considering the way we educate or nurture young children. We were taught through textbooks or shown through movies to instill a view of hatred towards communities (or to an extent even nations) for claiming the righteousness in one’s own belief or of a majority’s opinion. Like the saying “Bend the tree while it is young”, irreparable damage is done at a very young age so that a student is not allowed to think and understand by self to differentiate good and evil. This narrow thinking is considerably affecting the prospects of a connected world. In addition to the above internal reasons, the prevailing deep-rooted caste system has also triggered sectarian violence at times.

Solutions & Alternate Strategies:

Laws. The 2005 and 2011 NAC Communal Violence Bill are proposed incorporating details like duties of state and central governments, punishments, establishment of special courts for fair and impartial judgments, relief and rehabilitation measures to be taken to prevent future events. However, these laws failed to make enforcing authorities accountable for their actions and questioned the authority of NAC
itself. Despite amendments, proposed bills failed to pass the test of houses and attracted opposition.

Rehabilitation. Fasttrack decisions to isolate people who are likely to create violence and controlling the spread of violence is essential. Dialogues with religious head as an important action plan to curb violence and to mitigate spread of hate and promote brotherhood. For example, the 2019 Ram Mandir verdict. People showed composure and avoided unnecessary tensions over the dispute land.

Fair and unbiased judiciary. Recent supreme court verdicts on Sabarimala or Triple-Talak constituted a bench of judges from different religions and delivered fair judgements. Likewise, legal proceedings after an unforeseen event should probe all stakeholders and prosecute accordingly.

Note: This original essay was written as part of selection process for YLAC Policy in Action Fellowship Program.