Review of the Constitutional and Legal Challenges Facing Religious Minorities in India

Abstract

This paper reviews the constitutional as well as legal challenges facing religious minorities in India. The Indian constitution provides certain rights to all citizens, including religious minorities, but these rights are often not upheld in practice. This has resulted in ongoing discrimination and marginalization of religious minorities.The two objectives of the study of to examine the constitutional as well as legal provisions and their effectiveness in protecting the rights of religious minorities in India. To analyze the challenges as well as obstacles faced by religious minorities in accessing their rights & seeking justice through the legal system in India.The paper assesses the implementation of constitutional provisions and relevant laws aimed at protecting the rights of religious minorities, & the effectiveness of existing policies and programs aimed at addressing these challenges. The role of the judiciary and other state institutions in addressing the challenges faced by religious minorities is also analyzed. The paper concludes with recommendations for addressing the constitutional & legal challenges facing religious minorities in India, with the goal of promoting equality, freedom, and justice for all citizens, regardless of religion

Introduction

Summary:

India is a diverse, multifaith democracy that prides itself on religious harmony and constitutional protections for freedom of religion under Articles 25 to 28. The Indian Constitution guarantees secularism as a core principle, ensuring the right to practice and propagate any religion. Major religions include Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Christianity. However, despite legal safeguards, religious minorities (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains) face significant challenges including discrimination, marginalization, and communal violence.

Certain constitutional provisions controversially group Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism under Hinduism, leading to legal and social complications. The government’s protection of minority rights has been criticized, with reports highlighting failures to prevent violence and enforce court directives. Secularism in India has evolved through political and legal interpretations, often contested in the public and judicial arena.

Recent reports indicate declining minority populations and increasing persecution amid rising Hindu nationalism. Various scholars and activists emphasize the need for stronger legal reforms, better enforcement of minority rights, and a reassessment of secularism and social cohesion to ensure equality and justice for all religious communities in India.

Conclusion

\"India has a rich history and serves as an example of religious harmony, with people of many faiths coexisting peacefully.\" Religion is a matter of belief or faith. Because they recognizeReligion\'s significance in Indian society, Articles 25 to 28 of the Indian Constitution protect the right to freedom of religion. The Indian Constitution, which aspires to a secular society, guarantees every person the freedom and right to choose and practice his or her faith. In several cases—the most notable of which was the Kesavananda Bharati case—the Apex Court has held that secularism is the core tenet of the Constitution. The most prevalent faiths in India are Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, as well as Christianity. There are laws in India that are particular to different religions, but the Goa Civil Code is the only one that is consistent. Indians admire and respect the country\'s diverse religions because the Constitution promotes religious harmony.

References

[1] Sabir, S. (n.d.). Constitutional Rights of Minorities:A Critical Analysis. 1–22. [2] Gonzalez De La Vega, G. (2008). Two different approaches in constitutional interpretation with special focus in religious freedom. A comparative study between Germany and the United States. Boletín Mexicano de Derecho Comparado, XLI (122), 795–833. [3] Zhuo, X. (2009). Religion and Rule of Law in China Today. Brigham Young University Law Review, 2009(3), 519–527. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=45652014&site=ehost-live%5Cnpapers2://publication/doi/Article [4] Krook, M. L., & O’Brien, D. Z. (2010). The politics of group representation quotas for women and minorities worldwide. Comparative Politics, 42(3), 253–272. https://doi.org/10.5129/001041510X12911363509639 [5] Mahmood, S., & Danchin, P. G. (2014). Immunity or regulation? Antinomies of religious freedom. South Atlantic Quarterly, 113(1), 129–159. https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-2390455 [6] Sezgin, Y., & Künkler, M. (2014). Regulation of religion and the religious: The politics of judicialization and bureaucratization in India and Indonesia. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 56(2), 448–478. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417514000103 [7] Ginsburg, T., & Melton, J. (2015). Does the constitutional amendment rule matter at all? Amendment cultures and the challenges of measuring amendment difficulty. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 13(3), 686–713. https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/mov041 [8] Majid, A. (2015). Indian Secularism and Religious Minorities in India. South Asian Studies, 30(2), 107. [9] Zhussupova, G. B., Zhailyaubayev, R. T., Ukin, S. K., Shunayeva, S. M., & Nurmagambetov, R. G. (2016). Theoretical issues of the constitutional regulation mechanism. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 11(11), 4146–4153. [10] Cheema, I. K. (2017). Constitutional and Legal Challenges Faced by Religious Minorities in India. https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Constitutional and Legal Challenges Faced by Religious Minorities in India.pdf [11] Maheshwari, S., Nautiyal, S., Sindhu, J., Constitution, T., Constitution, T., Constitution, T., State, T., & Case, S. (2019). Shubhangi Maheshwari and Shrey Nautiyal * I. 25(d), 1–26. [12] Fadel, M. H. (2020). The Challenges of Islamic Law Adjudication in Public Reason. Public Reason and Courts, 115–142. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108766579.006 [13] Kapur, R. (2020). Gender and the “faith” in Law: Equality, Secularism, and the Rise of the Hindu Nation. Journal of Law and Religion, 35(3), 407–431. https://doi.org/10.1017/jlr.2020.42 [14] Fobih, N. (2021). Constitutional and Legal Issues in Ghana’s Public Administration: Governance and Public Policy Challenges. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(9), 486–499. https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.89.10913 [15] Samat Musa, A. (2021). Constitutional Law: An Overview of the Islamic Approach and Its Contemporary Relevance. SCIREA Journal of Sociology, 192(Icils), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.54647/sociology84578 [16] Choudhary, V. K. (2021). The idea of religious minorities and social cohesion in india’s constitution: Reflections on the indian experience. Religions, 12(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12110910 [17] Jaiswal, A. (2021). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LAW MANAGEMENT & HUMANITIES The Draconian AFSPA, 1958. International Journal of Law Management & Humanities, 4(June), 920–928. https://www.vidhiaagaz.com [18] Curtis, B. J., & Walker, N. (2022). Persecution of Christians and religious minorities in India Demographics and overview of religious rights. 0042. [19] Ahmed, S., & Gondal, I. A. (n.d.). Problems Faced by Muslim Minorities in India and Role of Mass Media Introduction: The Emergence of Islam in Sub-continent: 17–28.

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Harsha Gadekar. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.