On 26th November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, which came into effect from 26th January 1950 which is the foundation in the formation of modern India.

Constitution of India is a legal document that was drafted in the backdrop of various negotiations and commitments that were offered and accepted by various kingdoms, princely states and freedom fighters from various provinces that would go on to form India.

Therefore one needs to also look at the constitution of India as an agreement between various stake holders and the constitution that was accepted by all stake holders.

The framers of the constitution have had a number of discussions and debates before accepting various Articles in the Indian Constitution. Therefore the constitution is also a reflection of the vision that our freedom fighters, members of constituent assembly had for the new nation, it also reflects the framework on which the nation (INDIA) would evolve and also wanted to lay to rest / address the threats that they anticipated the young nation would face. Therefore, the constitution is not just a random document but a well thought, well-articulated and drafted document that would frame the fulcrum of all polity in this nation.

If we understand this basis of our constitution, we would be able to appreciate each of the Articles in the constitution; especially the Fundamental Rights.

It is with these ethos that we adopted the preamble:

"WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;"

The word secular is noteworthy; which means that the state does not have a national religion. It treats all religion as equal. We must also appreciate the fact that this stand was taken by the framers of our constitution in spite of the fact that Pakistan adopted Islam as the national religion and religion was also an epicentre of nationalism in various developed countries at the time of India drafting and adopting its constitution. Therefore; framers of our constitution deliberately adopted secularism in this true spirits and that is why it has so much of prominence in the preamble of our constitution.

The essence of this Article is also derived from the fact that the geographical region which is today called INDIA has traditionally been very tolerant and has served as a refuge for groups that have encountered persecution elsewhere. The kingdoms in the sub-continent had given refuge to

• Jews since 562 BC
• Christians since the 1st century
• Parsi since the 9th century

Article 25 reads:

"Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion"

Which means every person has the right to belief in his religion, profess it, practice it and also propagate it. Each of the words in this Article are carefully chosen and adopted with true understanding of its meaning.

Article 21 reads:

"No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law."

This Article also super embosses the fact that it is not enough that a person is given right to life but the life should also be enjoyed by the person with dignity.

Now; the above having been said; Religion is a fundamental right of any person. The constitution also gives the individual to follow any religion and also to start any new religion. He is also given the freedom to choose what religion to follow (which means, in a family each member of the family has been given the right to follow any religion of his / her choice). The constitution does not state that religion is hereditary or members of a family has to follow the religion of his / her parents.

This point is proved beyond any doubt when you look at the detailing that the framers of the constitution has given under Articles 5-11, which deals with the Citizenship of India. If the framers of the constitution believed that religion was hereditary, they would have specifically defined religion and who will fall under what religion like the way they have explicitly listed in case of citizenship. Now having understood these aspects of our constitution, which is indeed focused on true secularism.

Several Indian states passed Freedom of Religion Bills primarily to prevent people from converting to Christianity. Orissa was the first state to bring such law named as 'Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967'. It was followed by Madhya Pradesh in 1968, Arunachal Pradesh in 1978, Tamil nadu in 2002, Gujarat in 2003, Himachal Pradesh in 2006, Uttar Pradesh has passed an ordinance in 2020 and most recently Karnataka is in the process of passing a law in 2021.

While the intent would have been to prevent members of various castes in Hindu's being converted to Christianity or Islam, we need to understand the reasons that lead to a person from a specific community / religion to change his / her religious identity and adopt a new religious identity.

Some of the eminent reasons are:

Attraction towards a particular faith:

In a common scenario, it is observed that children born to parents of a particular faith, follow the faith of their parents. If the parents are from different faith, even in such cases, initially children follow the faith of one of the parent.

However; when they grow up based on their exposure to various faiths, knowledge about certain faiths that they come across they decide to follow certain faith. At this point in time, if the faith they have been following until then is different, then they willingly adopt another faith.

This change over could also be between different sects in the same religion or a different religion all together.

Change to get dignity

Within certain religions, there are different sects of faith. The society has from the past created certain hierarchy among various sects within the religion. Certain individuals who are born to parents of a certain sects which may be considered lower in the hierarchy of the religion may feel discriminated and may also feel neglected. Under these circumstances, they may look for a faith or religion that may offer them dignity or some kind of equality or superiority from the faith that they were born into. In such scenario, especially young people are found to change their faith.

These changes are due to social stigma or neglect of certain sect or faith. Therefore these change overs are not due to belief in a different faith, but they are changing their faith in order to get a social status or respect within the society. In such cases, the change is to be considered personal.

This thought process is purely personal to the individual.

Neglect by the community

Within a religion there could be various sects or faiths. These sects and faiths are generally arranged in a social hierarchy within a society. It is also observed that such sects may be due to social force or due to personal preferences may end up living in a certain pockets of a geographical area.

There may be neglect from the state authorities / higher class of society in providing basic infrastructure required for the said community or sect, which puts the said sect in a disadvantageous position. E.g. there are no schools, hospitals, public distribution system etc. in that given locality.

In such a scenario, there would be certain communities and / or followers of certain religion who as part of their social commitment set up school, hospitals and may also provide basic infrastructure like drinking water, electricity, food supplies etc.

The kindness shown by these communities win hearts of certain individuals who live in that territory. They may decide on their own that the faith they are currently in, does not own them or take care of them, therefore the loyalty of the individual towards their existing faith changes and they end up adopting the other faith. The thought could also be that if the other faith is taking care of them even in spite of them being of a different faith, it will more beneficial if they change their faith and align with the faith who is taking care of them.

These changes in faith are basically changes in loyalty due to the care and protection they are availing, enjoying or experiencing. This change is also an individual's choice.

Marriage into another community

This concept generally happens among the youth. The youth in this country starts to feel equal among all faiths and believes especially when they are in the age bracket of 15 to 30 years of age. During this time, they fall in love with the other gender and they do not consider the faith and religion to be a significant influencer in their decision or expression of love. In such cases they proceed with their love for the other person irrespective of the faith and sect that they belong to. However; when the matter reaches a point of decision making with regards their marriage, then they are influenced by external forces convincing them to adopt a particular faith so as to solemnise their wedding as per the custom of a particular faith or sect.

This decision may be on account of a custom or practice that is to be adopted for the purpose of wedding, or this could also be for the purpose of unifying the faith among the couple. In this situation too, the individual who is deciding to get married are as per legal definition major and they would qualify to solemnise a legal marriage i.e. person of sound mind, majority in age etc.

Therefore in such a scenario too, we need to look at it from a point of view that the couple have obtained opinion or input from various parties and they with their intelligence and cautious mind have opted for one of the many solutions that are available to them. In this case too; the decision is to be considered to be that of the individuals and not influenced.

Authors View:

After analysing various documents and records, the author is of the view that the Constitution of India is the supreme document of the foundation of the state India. The Indian constitution is also a contract between the persons living in the territory of India and the state (INDIA). Under these circumstances the Fundamental rights are unalienable rights provided to the citizens by the state and "Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion" is one such right that rests with the citizen. It is also understood that the Constitution not only provides right to life but also right to a dignified life. Reading the constitution also clarifies that the state does not have any right to take away the fundamental rights of a person unless it is in the event of an extraordinary situation, which is also in the rarest of rare cases.

Under the said understanding, the author feels that various acts passed by various state governments in the union of India are legally untenable or void.

Even if we take the argument of taking away of rights through a prescribed process and with legislation being the supreme authority to formulate laws for the state, these law seems to be enacted under the pretext that individuals are incapable of deciding for themselves as to what is good for them and the state has to take extraordinary steps to protect the interest of such individuals, however; this theory becomes absurd when we take into account that the same individual who are major and of sound mind elect the members of the legislation who formulate these laws, thus, leading to a contradiction in the approach.

There are physiological, social, economic and other reasons why a person converts from one faith to another and it is difficult to scientifically quantify the reason. Also, it is very difficult to scientifically qualify if the conversion is done through undue influence.

The Author feels that India being a secular state should absolve itself from interfering in the faith of an individual and rather consider it as personal to the individual. In order to uplift certain sections of the society especially those that were placed lower in the religious hierarchy and those from minority faith were given certain special benefits for a certain period of time so as to allow them to elevate themselves and reach the stature of equality. However; this time bound provision that are adopted consciously has now been made the fulcrum of the politics in the state.

It is therefore recommended that the state should forbid to ask about the faith of any individual and withdraw the special benefits given to various sects and faiths considering them to be minority or belonging to the lower strata. The state should now ensure that any reservations or special benefits are only given based on the economic status and not on the basis of faith and sect.

Implementation of any benefit on the basis of economic strata of an individual will be scientific and easier to implement as Aadhar cards are linked to PAN and it is also easier to group the Aadhar numbers based on the immediate family members (i.e. parents and spouse) which will materialize a more reliable data and this can be used to qualify for any subsidy or benefit that are to be passed on to the economically down trodden.

Adoption of such a practice would also immediately have a direct impact on the reduction of faith and sect based violence and provide a positive energy to the modern Nation and state that is celebrating 75th year of its formation.