Relevance: GS-1: Social Empowerment, Communalism, Regionalism & Secularism.

Key phrases: Lynching, Sacrilege, SGPC

Why in news?

A youth lynched dead in Golden Temple on allegations of sacrilege.

Analysis:

Religious freedom and tolerance in India

• Article 26-30 of constitution grant freedom of religion as fundamental right
• As per Pew Research Survey, Indians of all these religious backgrounds overwhelmingly say they are very free to practice their faiths
• Even though Hindus form close to 80 percent of the population, India also has region-specific religious practices: for instance, Jammu and Kashmir has a Muslim majority, Punjab has a Sikh majority, Nagaland,

Meghalaya and Mizoram have Christian majorities

• Same research says that not only do a majority of Hindus in India (77%) believe in karma, but an identical percentage of Muslims do, too.
• A third of Christians in India (32%) – together with 81% of Hindus – say they believe in the purifying power of the Ganges River.

Instances which show it is being threatened

• On religious freedom USCRIF downgraded India’s ranking in latest report, commented-"India took a sharp downward turn in 2019"-love jihad up ordinance making conversion solely for marriage as void
• U.P. government has frequently used the National Security Act (NSA) for ‘cow slaughter’: out of 139 people jailed under the NSA in 2020, 76 were charged with cow slaughter
• Encouraging bills like Citizenship Amendment bill which conspicuously omit a community
• A recent news where passport holders of Bangladesh if they visit India and overstay the penalty for majority and minority communities differ by 200 times - Bangladesh protested
• As per pew research On the question of inter-religious marriage, most Hindus (67%), Muslims (80%), Sikhs (59%), and Jains (66%) felt it was ‘very important’ to stop the women in their community from marrying outside their religion

Why are we losing this tolerance?

• Political parties are adopting shameless acts and methods to polarise naïve voters in the name of religion
• Various cultural organisations are misinterpreting and propagating half-cooked truths to affirm revivalist predispositions
• Struggle for Identity: In order to ensure their relevance in a system that appears to be highly biased, various classes of people, like the Dalits, the tribals and other minorities tend to project a collective front.
• Conflict of Interests: Communal conflicts are a means for communities to assert their communal identities and to demand their share in economic, educational and job opportunities. Especially in the present times of economic down turn
• Irresponsible Reporting by Media: Many a times media broadcasts unconfirmed, sensitive and often biased reports on national television, just to sensationalise the issue and improve their TRP- Tablighi Jamaat case during first Covid lockdown
• Resource Crunch: As the availability of natural resources like land, water, minerals, etc. is reducing due to an exponentially growing population, the clamour for ownership of the available resources, which are there at the disposal of various communities is also increasing.
• State’s support: India has many hostile neighbors, who wish to make it weak through a communal divide. Pakistan is causing an unconventional war, which is more damaging to the national stability in the long term.

Impact of this intolerance

• Threat to minority: Rise in intolerance and communal disharmony lead to majoritarianism and thus, suppress minorities and hinder their rights.
• Mob-violence: Rise in disharmony has led to targeting of religious minorities and led to a rise in mob-violence, which has impacted the psyche of minorities and led to an atmosphere of threat to life.
• Threat to Rule of law: With rise in incidence of mob justice, lynchings, there is a threat to rule of law - Lynching on cow smuggling, lynching of youth in golden temple
• Freedom of speech: It has also impacted freedom of speech-shows of comedians being banned by vigilante groups
• Regionalism: The anti-national elements get adequate opportunity to fan regional feelings and work on creating an atmosphere to break the cohesiveness of our society.
• Damage social fabric: The social fabric of the society gets irreparably damaged and the conditions of mistrust serve as a catalyst for future conflicts on flimsy grounds.
• Degrading International image where countries are losing faith in India’s diverse credentials

Judiciary in safeguarding religion

• SC in Hadiya case said that freedom to choose one’s religion or life partner is central to Indian pluralism.
• SC in Indian Young Lawyer’s association allowed women of age between 10 and 50 in Sabari Mala temple
• SC upheld right to convert only on the basis of individual freedom to give consent in Stanislaus vs State of MP case

Way ahead

• Efficient administration: Quick and appropriate decisions by the administration is needed. After identifying the type, stage and gravity of the disturbance, must take immediate actions to mitigate the losses
• Training: Police forces especially trained for the purpose must be promptly deployed in adequate numbers with requisite equipment and proper gear to handle situations at the physical, as well as emotional level.
• Delegation: Proper delegation of responsibility and authority must be defined so that no one looks over the shoulder at the time of crises. It is also very important to hold a person in charge accountable
• Media guidelines: During the outbreak of a riot, the local people must be regularly kept updated regarding the prevailing situation through various forms of media, which must be provided with guidelines to ensure it does not aggravate the situation further.
• Fair probe: Prompt and fair probe into all incidents that may take place during the riot be conducted and locals appraised of the action taken by the administration
• Cyber-security: Cyber police should be watchful of posts made in the social media and websites carrying any provocative content with the aim of spreading communal tension and bring to book such people

Source: Indian Express