how do our fundamental rights uphold secularism?
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Secularism as adopted in India implied three meanings.
First being freedom of religion or no religion, for all.Secondly, state will honour all faiths equally and discriminate against none.Thirdly, state shall not be attached to one faith or religion.
In the West, secularism emerged as a reaction to the conflict between the Church and the State. In India, secularism was constitutionally adopted to retain the religious and cultural pluralism that dominated the history of India.
The Preamble of Indian Constitution describes India as a ‘Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic’. The words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were specifically added in the Preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in the year 1976, paradoxically, when socialism and secularism started weaning in India.
However, Constitution of India was and is secular irrespective of whether, it explicitly calls India a secular state or not. Its addition into the Preamble has guaranteed that secularism becomes both implicitly as well as explicitly visible. Secularism thus became an objective to be achieved by the constitution.
Let’s examine the compulsions of secularism in the Indian constitution (implicit version).The Preamble entails certain objectives to be achieved by India.
The first such objective is Equality. The constitution aspires to secure to all its citizens equality of status and opportunity. This is again purposely enshrined in the form of Fundamental Rights, as right to equality under articles 14-18.
Article 14: ‘the state shall not deny to any person equality before the law and equal protection of laws within the territory of India’.
Article 15: ‘the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth’.
So, if the constitution provides for right to equality to all the people of India and the right against discrimination to all the people, it soundly implies that all the people irrespective of their religions are treated equally by the state. And thus justifies that equality in its own right establishes the religious equality of the people, irrespective of the numbers adhering to those religions. That implies majority and minority status of any religion is not a matter of importance in the political rhetoric and all the religions are equal.
The second objective enshrined in the Indian constitution is that of Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Once again, the people of India are granted the liberty of faith and worship which imply liberty of religion or no religion. Not believing any belief system is a belief system in itself. Right to freedom and Right to Religion tend to foster this objective of the Indian Constitution.
Fraternity is another goal inscribed in the constitution of India, It has been incorporated in Indian constitution to ensure dignity of the individuals which in turn foster the unity and integrity of the Nation. This is essential as an ideal, for the people in India are divided horizontally and vertically along the religious, class and caste lines.
Dignity of an individual not only demands equal treatment of all the religions, but also, all the sects or elements within the religions. For example: all the castes within the purview of Hinduism. Unity and integrity of the nation cannot be achieved by giving undue importance to one religion over the other. Therefore, within the objectives of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity stated in the Indian preamble lies the spirit of secularism.
Therefore, it is not necessary to prove that India is a secular state justifying on the grounds of right to religion enshrined in the Fundamental Rights in the chapter III of the Indian Constitution. The right to equality and right to freedom which are the basic rights of a democratic system will automatically ensure equal respect to all the religions and thus foster the Indian version of secularism.
First being freedom of religion or no religion, for all.Secondly, state will honour all faiths equally and discriminate against none.Thirdly, state shall not be attached to one faith or religion.
In the West, secularism emerged as a reaction to the conflict between the Church and the State. In India, secularism was constitutionally adopted to retain the religious and cultural pluralism that dominated the history of India.
The Preamble of Indian Constitution describes India as a ‘Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic’. The words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were specifically added in the Preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in the year 1976, paradoxically, when socialism and secularism started weaning in India.
However, Constitution of India was and is secular irrespective of whether, it explicitly calls India a secular state or not. Its addition into the Preamble has guaranteed that secularism becomes both implicitly as well as explicitly visible. Secularism thus became an objective to be achieved by the constitution.
Let’s examine the compulsions of secularism in the Indian constitution (implicit version).The Preamble entails certain objectives to be achieved by India.
The first such objective is Equality. The constitution aspires to secure to all its citizens equality of status and opportunity. This is again purposely enshrined in the form of Fundamental Rights, as right to equality under articles 14-18.
Article 14: ‘the state shall not deny to any person equality before the law and equal protection of laws within the territory of India’.
Article 15: ‘the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth’.
So, if the constitution provides for right to equality to all the people of India and the right against discrimination to all the people, it soundly implies that all the people irrespective of their religions are treated equally by the state. And thus justifies that equality in its own right establishes the religious equality of the people, irrespective of the numbers adhering to those religions. That implies majority and minority status of any religion is not a matter of importance in the political rhetoric and all the religions are equal.
The second objective enshrined in the Indian constitution is that of Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Once again, the people of India are granted the liberty of faith and worship which imply liberty of religion or no religion. Not believing any belief system is a belief system in itself. Right to freedom and Right to Religion tend to foster this objective of the Indian Constitution.
Fraternity is another goal inscribed in the constitution of India, It has been incorporated in Indian constitution to ensure dignity of the individuals which in turn foster the unity and integrity of the Nation. This is essential as an ideal, for the people in India are divided horizontally and vertically along the religious, class and caste lines.
Dignity of an individual not only demands equal treatment of all the religions, but also, all the sects or elements within the religions. For example: all the castes within the purview of Hinduism. Unity and integrity of the nation cannot be achieved by giving undue importance to one religion over the other. Therefore, within the objectives of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity stated in the Indian preamble lies the spirit of secularism.
Therefore, it is not necessary to prove that India is a secular state justifying on the grounds of right to religion enshrined in the Fundamental Rights in the chapter III of the Indian Constitution. The right to equality and right to freedom which are the basic rights of a democratic system will automatically ensure equal respect to all the religions and thus foster the Indian version of secularism.
majidhussain51peexn2:
very long give answer in not more than 50 words
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The right to freedom of religion specifically gives every Indian citizen the freedom to follow the religion of his or her choice. And, as India is a secular country, the choice of religion does not effect a citizen's rights. The right to quality ensures that the government and the law treat the followers of all religions equally. The right to freedom allows the followers of all religions to hold gatherings and form associations for peaceful purposes. And, the followers of all religions have the same cultural and educational rights. Thus, our Fundamental Rights ensure that the ideal of secularism is upheld.
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