Even though Hindus form 80 percent of the population, India also has religious adherents concentrated in certain places: Jammu and Kashmir has a Muslim majority, Punjab has a Sikh majority; Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram have Christian majorities; states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka have significant minorities of Jains; the Himalayan states and territories such as Sikkim, Ladakh and Arunachal, the state of Maharashtra, and the Darjeeling District of West Bengal have significant minorities of Buddhist populations.
Other than Hindus and Muslims, India is a diverse country that is home to Sikh, Christian, Buddhists, Jain, Zoroastrian, Indigenous and Irreligious populations.
Rajni Kothari, founder of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies has written, "India is a country built on the foundations of a civilisation that is fundamentally tolerant.
But the King, dear to the Gods, attributes less importance to this charity and these honours than to the vow of seeing the reign of virtues, which constitutes the essential part of them.
...People should not be molested, if they wished to build churches and prayer rooms, or idol temples, or fire temples.The Sikh Gurus built freedom of religion in their faith to such an extent that while being a persecuted minority themselves under many Mughal rulers like Aurangzeb, Sikhs felt obliged to fight for the religious freedom of others.
It is reported that when Vasco Da Gama visited Calicut in 1498 AD, he found over 2 lakh[clarification needed] Christians in the Kerala area.
[15] In 2020, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) stated the BJP government under Prime minister Narendra Modi "allowed violence against minorities and their houses of worship to continue with impunity and also engaged in and tolerated hate speech and incitement to violence".
[17] According to the commission, the Indian government “at the national, state and local levels promoted and enforced religiously discriminatory policies” that included “laws targeting religious conversion, interfaith relationships, the wearing of hijabs and cow slaughter, which negatively impact Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits and Adivasis (indigenous peoples and scheduled tribes)”.
The resolution calls on the U.S. Secretary of State to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act, which has been recommended by the independent, bipartisan USCIRF for the past three years.
[19] The report alleges that BJP-RSS are establishing the ideology of Hindu supremacy called “Hindutva" which draws inspiration from Nazism and has led to the persecution of religious minorities including Muslims, Christians, Dalits and Sikhs.
The Preamble of the Indian Constitution has the word "secular", and articles 25 to 28 implying that the State will not discriminate, patronise or meddle in the profession of any religion.
Article 25 says "all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health".
The government can ban a religious organisation if it disrupts communal harmony, has been involved in terrorism or sedition, or has violated the Foreign Contributions Act.
[32][33] Several Indian states passed Freedom of Religion Bills primarily to prevent people from converting to Christianity.
[38] In August 2006, the Chhattisgarh State Assembly passed similar legislation requiring anyone who desires to convert to another religion to give 30 days' notice to, and seek permission from, the district magistrate.
[39] In February 2007, Himachal Pradesh became the first Congress Party-ruled state to adopt legislation banning illegal religious conversions.
Also according to this law, anyone who writes or speaks or sings of 'divine displeasure' (with an intention to induce forced conversion by means of threat) can be imprisoned for a period of up to two years and fined up to five thousand rupees.
In the case of a minor, a woman, or a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste or Tribe, the punishment was up to two years of imprisonment and the limit of the fine raised to Rs.
The Orissa High Court, however, struck down the Act as ultra vires of the Constitution on the ground that the state legislature did not have the right to legislate matters of religion.
Any person contravening the provisions contained in Section 2, shall without prejudice to any civil liability, be punishable with imprisonment to the extent of two (2) years and fine up to ten thousand (10, 000) rupees.
However, soon after the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition in the 2004 elections, the Tamil Nadu Government led by Jayalalitha repealed the law in June.
Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of the State, called the Act as one of the main achievements of his government's one year in office.
Conversions created resentment among several sections of the society and also inflame religious passions leading to communal clashes," he said.
On 20 February 2007, Governor Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje gave his assent to the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill 2006.