The Constitution of India is based on secularism, which didn’t give a special right to any religion. People coming from any state, country, religion, caste, or ethnicity, all have equal rights according to the constitution of India. It didn’t even state any language as the national language.
But in article 343(1) it is mentioned that Hindi in Devanagari script and English is the official language of India. Whereas 22 languages are recognized by the constitution of India, which didn’t include English. Indian constitution has been very keen about not giving any special rights based on religion, language, caste, ethnicity, gender, and citizenship, that’s why it nowhere recognized any religion as the national religion and any language as the national language.
But on the next day of republic day, while addressing a public meeting in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath said “Sanatan dharma is the national religion of India which every citizen respect”
Why this statement is important?
While calling everyone to respect sanatan dharma and calling it the national religion of India, it is a violation of the Indian constitution, as it didn’t give any special right to any religion, neither stated any religion as the national religion..
Many people who can be seen supporting the statement of Dhirendra Shashtri to make India a Hindu nation are also supporting Yogi Adityanath’s statement. Many are also opposing this statement. Journalist Samar Raj wrote on his Twitter account, “CM Yogi has challenged the constitution of Babasaheb!” In a secular country, the national religion has been declared.
It was not very long ago when on 21st January 2023, Yogi Adityanath said that “no one can be benefitted by the politics of caste and religion”. And just after 6 days, he stated sanatan dharma is the national religion.
If it’s a declaration, what role constitution had, and why the court is still silent? If politicians go around and keep saying some religion is a national religion, what will be the point of having a constitution? Every country has a constitution that needs to be followed by every person living in that country. Don’t know whether Indians should or will respect sanatan dharma or not, but we all should be more concerned about respecting the Indian constitution and preserving this respect.
This is an opinion piece written on the incident that happened.
[…] Equality, brotherhood, charity, hard work, probity, and kindness, are just many values that buttress the world’s major persuasions. For denominations to prosper, the government should codify a list of these common values and launch them into academy classes. Keep out esoteric religious training. […]