Making any Religious Place, Doing Any Ritual in Government Educational Premise is Violation of Indian Constitution

Article 28 of the Indian Constitution: Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational institutions

(1) No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds.

(2) Nothing in clause (1) shall apply to an educational institution which is administered by the State but has been established under any endowment or trust which requires that religious instruction shall be imparted in such institution.

(3) No person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be imparted in such institution or to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in such institution or in any premises attached thereto unless such person or, if such person is minor, his guardian has given his consent thereto.

Article begins this phrases: No "religious instruction" or "religious worship".

Clause 1 clearly says: "No religious instruction shall be provided". This means that not even a ritual can take place.

Law need to be understand by its context. Indian Constitution declares India as a Secular State. Now if the institutions of India become propagator or religion then can our institutions which have secular nature can be kept secular ? For example, there are five Muslims in an office of fifty employees or two Sikhs in an office of twenty employees. If such office makes a routine to conduct Hindu pujas, how the other minority employees would feel ? What about the extreme cases or riots or bomb blasts, as they are part of Indian life. When there are extremities human beings became brutal and religious thoughts are easy to make humans emotionally provocative. Now Article 28, Clause 1 clearly says: "(1) No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds." "Instruction" means instruction of any kind to anyone. It can be ritual in nature, active or passive. The article do not separate students and staff to this matter. The article do not say that it cannot be given to any student. It simply says that it can not be given. As our Constitution Framers were aware of the religious problems in India and they did not want this to be part of our future. Thus they made such Article and it has to be respected with pragmatic rational thinking.

Nikhil Sablania
Writer is author, filmmaker and student of Law at Delhi University