Dear MEL Topic Readers,
In secular India, it's getting tougher to be
Muslim
The population of India has been growing at a
rate of over one percentage point, thanks to the healthy fertility rate. With
1.37 billion population, India is the world’s most populous democratic country.
Indeed, approximately 900 million people are eligible to vote and about two of every
three of them voted in the last national election in May.
When it comes to religion, about 80% of the
population practices Hinduism. Though there are about 200 million Muslims in
the country, the third-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia
and Pakistan, they represent less than 15% of the nation’s population, So, democracy
seems to work naturally in favor of Hindus even though the country has no state
religion under the constitution. Also, despite the secular national status, India’s
personal laws on issues such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance vary by
religion.
Naturally, religion plays significant roles in
elections and people’s lives in India where secular doesn’t mean freedom of
religion, equal citizenship to each citizen regardless of their religion, or separation
of religion and state but just freedom in religion.
Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, won 303 seats in
the parliamentary election this year, well over the majority and was the second
win in a row. The party’s policy reflects Hindu nationalist positions and advocates
social conservatism and a foreign policy centered on nationalist principles.
The leader, Narendra Modi, and the supporters seem to have little hesitation to
work on their religious interests.
Enjoy reading the article and think about what influences
more in today’s politics.
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