RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND CONVERSION

constitution, written after 1947, included article No. 18 in which every Indian citizen has been granted the freedom to practice and propagate his religion. It will not be out of place to give the following news clip from Times of India Nov 20, 2015: 83% of Indians bat for religious freedom: Pew survey NEW DELHI: India is among the countries that have highest support for religious freedom, with eight out of 10 Indians believing that it is very important to have the freedom to practice their faith compared to a global median of 74%, according to a survey by Pew Research Center. The Indian Tradition of Tolerance Tolerance is an integral part of India’s tradition and shapes its national identity. India has a long history of tolerance, and is a multi-religious society. Almost all the major religions thrive in India with total harmony. India has proved to be a peaceful haven for different religions and cultures. This composite nature of the Indian society is not by accident. It is directly due to the Indian way of thinking. India believes in plurality. and in the words of the great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, “the manyness of reality.” Hindus comprise the majority of the Indian population. The Hindu religion is based on Advait Vad, that is, monism. Monism means that divine reality is one, manifested in different ways. The Hindus believe that everything in the cosmos is an ansh, or part, of divinity. They believe in the concept of an indwelling god, that is, every human being has a content of divinity. Due to this concept, the Hindu mind accords equal position to every man and woman. This is the genesis of the culture of tolerance in India. Due to this mind set, the authorities of Hindu religion have given Islam a very honourable status. For example, Dr Bhagavan Das (1869-1958), a well-known Hindu scholar and author of several works on philosophy and religion, writes in his magnum opus, Essential Unity of All Religions: “The word Islam has a profound and noble meaning which is, indeed, by itself, the very essence of religion. Derived from salm, peace, shanti, it means ‘peaceful acceptance’ of God; calm resignation, submission, surrender.” Islam gives serious consideration to religious freedom and takes pains to avoid infractions.