Religious Tolerance

Policy Writer: Naya Yug |

The right to freedom of religion is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution of India. Article 25(1) reads as follows:- Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.

• Section 16.1 - Our mandate is to promote religious tolerance and freedom.
• Section 16.2 - Extend religious freedom to people of all religious traditions. Having tolerance toward another religion does not require to endorse that faith group’s beliefs; it simply indicates our respect for its right to exist and for its member to hold different beliefs without being oppressed.
• Section 16.3 - We should permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and should not persecute believers in other faiths.
• Section 16.4 - Everyone should have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his/her religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his/her religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.
• Section 16.5 - We need to reform our governmental institutes and exercise moral principles to create a just and humane society.
• Section 16.6 - No government should have the right to tell the people how to worship and certainly not the right to discriminate against them or persecute them for the way they chose to express their faith in God.
• Section 16.7 - We should implement laws that would forbid the states and the head of states from engaging in the acts of religious intolerance or preference within its own borders.
• Section 16.8 - We should enforce the right to security of the person, which consists of rights to privacy of the body and the right to protect the "psychological integrity" of an individual.
• Section 16.9 - We should support interfaith dialogue and other programs to help the religions of the sub-continent India to become a force for peace, particularly in regions experiencing religious conflict.
• Section 16.10 - The Government, including educational institutions, schools, should be required to remain neutral on religious matters. They should not be allowed to - promote one religion over another, promote a religious lifestyle over a secular one or promote a secular lifestyle over a religious one.
• Section 16.11 - Mandate the separation of government and religion - the government should refrain from interfering with religion, avoid supporting religion, and also the religion should refrain from interfering with government.
• Section 16.12 - No elected official should be "limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation."
• Section 16.13 - Religious genocides should not be tolerated - whether it is by killing the members of
  religious group, or by causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, or by forcibly transferring children of the group to another group or when individuals are chosen as victims purely, simply and exclusively because they are members of the target group, and not because of anything an individual has done.
• Section 16.14 - Indian Judiciary system should be proactive in tackling religious discrimination. The commission should be setup to issue guidance and codes of practice.

Your Voice - For Open Discussion about Religious Tolerance