{"id":102968,"date":"2021-04-23T10:15:36","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T04:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=102968"},"modified":"2021-04-23T19:17:49","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T13:47:49","slug":"demands-for-delinking-of-state-and-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/demands-for-delinking-of-state-and-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Demands for Delinking of State and Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some religious groups in Tamil Nadu are demanding delinking of state from religious affairs. However, minimal state intervention to promote justice and equality is permitted by the constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Background<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amidst the electoral process, some Religious groups are demanding delinking of state and religion in Tamil Nadu.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are opposing laws like <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&amp;CE) Act 1959<\/span>. The law <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">allows the state to intervene<\/span> in the affairs of Hindu public endowments.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under this, the government can <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">appoint a State Commissioner<\/span> for general superintendence over all Hindu religious endowments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The commissioner will further <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">appoint executive officers to temples<\/span>. They will ensure that the funds are being properly applied.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Arguments by protestors in favour of delinking<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Firstly<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, intervention by the state is against the secular and democratic credentials of India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Secondly<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, intervention undermines their freedom of religion which is guaranteed by the constitution under Articles 25 and 26.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Article 25 gives the freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Article 26 protects group rights. It grants to every \u201creligious denomination\u201d the right:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to establish institutions;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to manage its own affairs in matters of religion;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">also, to own and acquire property; and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">administer that property in accordance with law<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Thirdly<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, there is an unequal degree of control amongst religions. They argue that the states show a lenient attitude towards other religions like Islam and Christianity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Arguments against Delinking:<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Firstly, No credible successor<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Apart from the state, no institution or group can curtail the evil practices surrounding a religion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Secondly, Strengthening Evil practices: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Delinking might uphold the interest of dominant communities and strengthen the evil hierarchical division in society.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, the government of Madras formulated a law in 1927 to intervene in the management of religious establishments. As powerful castes and communities within the Hindu fold appropriated control over them.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Thirdly, Indian Concept of Secularism<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The constituent assembly adopted a model based on the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">notion of principled distance<\/span> and not complete isolation like the western model. It allows intervention for establishing a free and egalitarian society.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Fourthly, Constitutional Provisions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Articles 25 and 26 are subject to public order, health, and morality. This gives ample scope to the state to frame a law regulating any economic, financial, or other secular activity associated with religion.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using this, the government of Madras enacted a Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act in 1951. The 1959 Act later replaced it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Fifthly, Judicial Backing:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The supreme court in Shirur Mutt Case (1954) case upheld the 1951 Act. The court said the act was in consonance with the state&#8217;s power under Articles 25 and 26.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Sixthly, Laws for other religions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: There are laws for other religions as well. The amount of intervention depends on the gravity of the situation.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>For instance<\/strong>, the Waqf Act 1995 gives the government substantial supervisory control over the management of properties dedicated for religious purposes under Muslim law.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Way Forward:<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Complete state isolation is not possible as per the constitutional directives. Although the deficiencies in HR&amp;CE law must be re-examined on its merits.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People should constantly demand transparency and hold the state responsible to the administrative standards prescribed under the law.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/Home\/ShareArticle?OrgId=G1M8GOQAO.1&amp;imageview=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hindu<\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Synopsis: Some religious groups in Tamil Nadu are demanding delinking of state from religious affairs. However, minimal state intervention to promote justice and equality is permitted by the constitution. Background: Amidst the electoral process, some Religious groups are demanding delinking of state and religion in Tamil Nadu. They are opposing laws like Tamil Nadu Hindu&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/demands-for-delinking-of-state-and-religion\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Demands for Delinking of State and Religion<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[1294],"class_list":["post-102968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-soty_2","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102968\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}