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Does Constitution permit declaring Lingayat as a separate religion?

  • A different dispute about the Constitutional feasibility is gaining momentum among the experts.
  • Provisions in the Constitution only to declare an existing religions as minority.
  • According to the Constitution Secularism should only be practiced.
  • There is no legal provision for a State Government to recommend declaring a religion.
Does Constitution permit declaring Lingayata as a separate religion

Even as the debate about declaring Lingayat as a separate religion is creating waves in the political and social sections of the society, a different dispute about the Constitutional feasibility is gaining momentum among the experts.  

One group of experts opine that there are no provisions in the Constitution to declare a new religion but only to reclassify the existing religions as minority or otherwise.  Under the 1992 and the 2004 Acts formed by the Minorities Commission, there are provision to declare minority status. Hence there is a provision to declare Lingayata as a minority religion, say another group, reported Kannada Prabha.

According to former State Advocate General Prof Ravivarma Kumar, Constitution does provide a provision to create a new religion.  “To be precise, there is no provision to create a new religion in  the Constitution but under the 2 Acts of the Government of India, formed under the Constitution, there is a provision to declare a new religion.  Under the 1992 National Minorities Commission Section 2 (3), the Central Government can declare a community as minority.  

Secondly, under the 2004 National Minorities Education Institutions Act Section 2 (F) any community can be declared as minority. “According to Section 25 of the Constitution anybody can practice any religion. IT is the Right of the individual. A born Christian can renounce his religion at will.  IN 1955 DR B R Ambedkar renounced Hinduism and converted to Buddhism along with 6 lakh followers.

Similarly, it is the right of the individual to practice any religious doctrines and establishment of religion. The Lingayats constructed a people’s religion alternative to Vedic religion. There are ample provision in the law to declare a separate Lingayata  religion. Hence the State Government can recommend and the Central Government can declare a new religion” Prof Ravivarma Kumar said.

However retired Supreme Court Justice Shivaraj Patil says there is no special section under the Constitution to declare a new religion. “ There is no clarity in case of any demand from any community in this regard, because ours is a secular Constitution. All religions have equal opportunity for practice. Only when the governments make up rules and regulations such questions arise. In the independent India, such a debate has not occurred and hence there is no specific system created for it” he says.

According to retired Supreme Court justice and former Solicitor General Justice Santosh Hegde, there is no provision in the Constitution to divide and to establish a new religion. According to the Constitution Secularism should only be practiced. There is no definition of religion or creation of religion in the Constitution.”

Former Advocate General and senior law expert B V Acharya says “this is an unwanted debate. There is no provision to establish a new religion in the Constitution. There is no mention of it. No religion can be established over night like forming an organisation. This is a baseless argument. In my experience of law studies there is no right to establish or identify new religion. Any historical internal disputes can be settled. There is no legal provision for a State Government to recommend declaring a religion. This is a political gimmick”  he said.

 

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