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Freedom of religion in India


Freedom of religion in India is a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 15 and Article 25 of the Constitution of India. Modern India came into existence in 1947 and the Indian constitution's preamble was amended in 1976 to state that India is a secular state. Every citizen of India has a right to practice and promote their religion peacefully. However, there have been a number of incidents of religious intolerance that resulted in riots and violence, notably, the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, 2002 Gujarat riots, the 2008 Anti-Christian riots and the Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus. The perpetrators of the violence are rarely brought to justice despite widespread condemnation.

India is one of the most diverse nations in terms of religion, it being the birthplace of four major world religions: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Even though Hindus form close to 80 percent of the population, India also has region-specific religious practices: for instance, Jammu and Kashmir has a Muslim majority, Punjab has a Sikh majority, Nagaland has a Christian majority and the Indian Himalayas such as Sikkim and Darjeeling, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh and the state of Maharashtra have large concentrations of Buddhist population. The country has significant Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Zoroastrian populations. Islam is the largest minority religion in India, and the Indian Muslims form the third largest Muslim population in the world, accounting for over 14 percent of the nation's population.


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