NPP Minister faces flak for calling Meghalaya a ‘Christian State’

Sub: Polity

Sec: Constitution

Context:

A Meghalaya-based NGO, Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR), has criticized the State’s Education Minister, Rakkam A. Sangma, for planning to consecrate a university with a Christian prayer service.
The NGO also condemned the Minister, for claiming that Meghalaya was a Christian State.

Violation of constitution:

TUR stated that while Meghalaya has a majority Christian population, this does not make it a “Christian State.” The Christian population in Meghalaya is estimated at 21 million which forms 74.59% of the state population (2011 census). (Note Three northeastern states have majority Christian populations: Nagaland (90 percent), Mizoram (87 percent), and Meghalaya (70 percent).)
TUR condemned the minister’s statement as “fundamentalist” and claimed it violates the constitutional principle of secularism.
The Indian Constitution enshrines the idea of a secular state, ensuring that government institutions are not aligned with any particular religion.

Secularism in India:

Indian philosophy of secularism is related to “Sarva Dharma Sambhava”, which means equal respect to all religions.
India does partially separate religion and state. For example, it does not have an official state religion and state-owned educational institutions cannot impart religious instructions.

Constituional provisions:

Preamble: The Preamble to the Constitution of India declares that India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. The term “secular” in the Preamble signifies that the government of India does not favour any religion and treats all religions equally.
Article 25: guarantees freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
Article 26: every religious denomination has the freedom to manage its religious affairs.
Article 27: Freedom from payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion.
Article 28: Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions.

Judicial Interpretations:

Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973): The Supreme Court held that secularism is a basic feature of the Indian Constitution and cannot be altered or amended by any government.
R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994): The Supreme Court reaffirmed that secularism is part of the basic structure of the Constitution, and the state cannot adopt any religion as its own.