Right to freedom of religion

Also called: Articles 25-28 · Topic: Framing the Indian Constitution · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Framing the Constitution"

Meaning

The Right to freedom of religion (Articles 25–28) is a set of Fundamental Rights that lets every person follow the faith they choose. These articles let each religious group run its own religious affairs. They stop the State from taxing people to promote any one religion. They also stop anyone from being forced into religious instruction or worship in certain educational institutions. [3]

It matters because these four articles carry Indian secularism. The original Constitution did not use the word "secular" as a slogan. Instead, these rules spell out what the State may and may not do about religion.

Explanation

Background: why the Assembly chose this route

• The Constituent Assembly framed the Constitution between 9 December 1946 (first sitting) and 26 November 1949 (adoption). It came into force on 26 January 1950. [2]
• The Constitution was built by give-and-take. On most questions, members held opposed positions and settled on a middle ground. One such clash was individual rights vs group rights.
• Religion was one of the hardest questions. The debates took place during and after Partition and its riots. Members changed their views over three years. Some were persuaded by argument in the House. Others changed because of these events outside it.
• The choice made: the original Preamble did not carry the word "secular". Secularism was written operationally, meaning as concrete rules in the Fundamental Rights. It was not a grand declaration.

The four articles, one by one

• Article 25: freedom of conscience and of religion [3]
• Every person has freedom of conscience (the right to believe what one's own mind accepts).
• Every person may freely profess (openly declare), practise (carry out rituals) and propagate (spread) their religion.

• This freedom is not absolute. It is subject to public order, morality and health. The State may also make laws for social welfare and reform.

• Article 26: freedom to manage religious affairs [3]

• Each religious denomination (a group or sect within a religion) may manage its own affairs in matters of religion.

• It may set up and run institutions for religious and charitable purposes.

• Article 27: no tax for promoting a religion [3]

• No person can be forced to pay a tax whose money goes to promote or maintain any particular religion.

• So public money raised by compulsion cannot be used to favour one faith.

• Article 28: freedom about religious instruction in educational institutions [3]

• No religious instruction may be given in an institution wholly maintained out of State funds.
• In institutions that the State recognises or aids, no one can be compelled to attend religious instruction or worship.

How it works: the "judicious distance"

• Equal treatment, not favouritism. All religions get the same treatment from the State. Each may keep and run its own charitable bodies.
• The State steps back:
• It gives no compulsory religious instruction in State-run schools (Article 28).

• It does not use compulsory taxes to promote any faith (Article 27). [3]

• But the State does not step fully away. It keeps a legal space to reform society from inside the communities.

• Article 25 itself allows laws for social reform.
• This space was used to abolish untouchability (Article 17). [3]

• It was also used to change personal and family laws on marriage, divorce and inheritance.

• NCERT's phrase: Indian secularism keeps a "judicious distance". The State stays close enough to reform and far enough not to favour any religion.

Results and later change

• India has no absolute separation of State and religion. This sets it apart from the US model of a "wall" between church and State.
• Articles 25–28 work together with:
• Articles 29–30 (cultural and educational rights of minorities) [3]

• Articles 14, 16 and 17 (equality before law, equal chance in public jobs, end of untouchability) [3]

• The word "secular" was added to the Preamble later, by the 42nd Amendment (1976). This came after the framing period and is not part of the original text.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: the framing of the Constitution, 1946–1950, in the Constituent Assembly in New Delhi.
• Key dates:
• First sitting: 9 December 1946
• Adoption: 26 November 1949

• In force: 26 January 1950 [2]

• Key people:

• Dr B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee.

• Dr Rajendra Prasad was President of the Assembly.

• How we know about it:

• The Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD) are the word-for-word record of what members said. They run to eleven volumes, held and published by the Parliament of India. The final adoption debate is in Volume XI (14–26 November 1949). [2]

• The Constitution of India, published by the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, gives the text of Articles 25–28. [3]

• Caution in reading the CAD: members re-worked ideals to fit each context. Many also changed their positions over three years. Read the debates as a process, not as a list of fixed opinions.

Don't confuse with

• Articles 29–30 (Cultural and Educational Rights): these protect minorities' language, script and culture, and their right to set up and run educational institutions. Articles 25–28 cover religious freedom for every person and denomination. [3]
• Article 28 vs Article 30: Article 28 is about religious instruction in schools run or aided by the State. Article 30 is the minorities' right to found and run their own schools.
• Article 17 (abolition of untouchability): this sits under the Right to Equality, not under freedom of religion. It is an example of the State reforming society from inside religious communities. [3]
• "Secular" in the Preamble: the word was not in the original Preamble. It was added in 1976. In 1950, secularism lived in Articles 25–28 and the related rights, not in the Preamble.

Prelims Hooks

• Articles 25–28 = Right to Freedom of Religion. Articles 29–30 = Cultural and Educational Rights. [3]
• Article 27: no one can be forced to pay a tax whose money goes to promote a particular religion. [3]
• Article 26: freedom to manage religious affairs, including setting up and running charitable institutions. [3]
• Article 28: no religious instruction in institutions wholly maintained out of State funds. The note's phrase is "no compulsory religious instruction" in State-run schools.
• Trap: "secular" was not in the original Preamble. Secularism was expressed through Fundamental Rights.
• Article 16 bars religious discrimination in public employment. Article 17 abolishes untouchability. Neither falls under Articles 25–28. [3]

Mains Points

• Indian secularism is a "judicious distance", not a wall. All faiths are treated equally (Arts. 25–26). The State withdraws from religious taxation and instruction (Arts. 27–28). Yet it keeps the power to reform from within, as with Art. 17 and changes to personal law. Use this contrast with the US model for questions on "secularism in the Indian context". [3]
• Rights born of compromise. Freedom of religion balanced individual liberty (Art. 25) against group autonomy (Art. 26) and State-led social reform. It shows the Constitution was a negotiated middle ground, not one group's victory.
• The CAD as a source. The eleven volumes show members reshaping the ideal of religious freedom under the pressure of Partition and riots. A good answer treats the final articles as the result of a changing debate, not a fixed opinion held from the start. [2]

Related concepts

• Universal adult franchise
• Indian secularism
• Cultural and educational rights
• Right to equality
• Hindu Code Bill
• Constituent Assembly Debates
• Constitution of India
• Adoption of the Constitution 1949
• Calligraphed Constitution
• National anthem and national song adoption

Read more

• Points of agreement and the Constitution's character