BHOPAL (UCAN): Christian leaders in India welcomed the rejection by the country’s Supreme Court of a petition that sought to declare Hindus a religious minority in eight states on December 17. Filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhayay, a leader of India’s ruling pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, the petition sought to redefine religious minorities based on each state’s religious population instead of the national population.
The court dismissed it saying: “Languages may be restricted state-wise … but religions don’t have state borders. We have to take a pan-India approach.”
The petitioner, who is also a lawyer, told the court that the government listed five communities—Parsis, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists—as being minorities in India but in eight states people following one or more of those religions dominated, making Hindus a minority there.
The court dismissed the argument. “We cannot agree with you. What guidelines can we pass? Courts haven’t declared anyone a minority … it is the government which does it,” the three-judge bench said.
Church leaders welcomed the court decision.
“This is the right decision. We wholeheartedly support it,” said Father Babu Joseph, former spokesperson of the Catholic Bishop Conference of India.
The federal government’s attorney, General K. K. Venugopal, told the court that Hindus were a minority in eight states but the government did not support the petition.
Hindus make up 80 per cent of India’s 1. 2 billion people, Muslims make up 14 per cent while the other six per cent comprises Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Parsees and atheists.
Christians, the second-largest minority after Muslims, make up 2.3 per cent of the population.
However, Christians are a majority in the four northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram, while Sikhs dominate northwestern Punjab state, according the 2011 national census and Muslims dominate federally ruled Jammu-Kashmir and Lakshadweep regions.
Hindus also number less than half of those in northeastern Manipur state, where Christians (41 per cent), Muslims (nine per cent), and other religions (9 per cent) together form some 60 per cent.
“The petition appeared to be a tactical move to get a foothold into India’s northeastern states where the Hindus are a minority and influence local culture and traditions,” Father Joseph said.
“Most of the northeastern states where Hindu are a minority, the majority are indigenous people who do not follow Hindu religious practices, he explained.
“If the Hindus are declared a minority in some states, they will get privileges given to the minority communities and influence the local culture and customs. This will eventually help them achieve their goal of turning India into a Hindu nation,” Father Joseph said.
Indian laws allow religious and linguistic minorities to establish and manage educational institutions for the development of their communities. The government also allots grants and aid for the social welfare and education of minority communities.
“Defining minorities state-wise will create more complications and it will be chaotic,” said Father Maria Stephan, the public relations officer of the Archdiocese of Bhopal, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
“The very basis of the petition is doubtful. The court in its wisdom has done the right thing,” he said.
