Rights of Religious Minorities in India — Human Rights Law Notes

Rights of Religious Minorities in India

India chose to be secular not by having no religion, but by protecting every religion equally. That promise lives in a compact block of Articles — 25 to 28 for freedom of faith, and 29 to 30 for the culture and schools of minorities — which together make the free practice of religion a fundamental right no legislature can casually override.

The rights of religious minorities are the freedom-of-religion cluster (Articles 25–28) read with the minority guarantees (Articles 29–30).

A. Freedom of religion (Articles 25–28)

• Article 25 — freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality and health.
• Article 26 — the right of every religious denomination to manage its own religious affairs and own and administer property.
• Article 27 — no person may be compelled to pay taxes for the promotion of any particular religion.
• Article 28 — no religious instruction in institutions wholly maintained out of State funds.

B. Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29–30)

Article 29 lets a minority conserve its language, script and culture; Article 30 lets a religious or linguistic minority establish and run its own educational institutions (as in Topic 3).

C. Secularism as basic structure

Because these guarantees embody secularism, and secularism is part of the Constitution’s basic structure (S.R. Bommai, 1994), they cannot be destroyed even by amendment.

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — compulsory prayers in a State school

Facts. A fully State-funded school makes attendance at the prayers of one religion compulsory for all pupils; a minority parent objects.

Rule. Article 28(1) forbids religious instruction in an institution wholly maintained out of State funds.

Apply. Compulsory single-faith worship in a fully State-funded school is exactly what Article 28 bars; the parent’s objection succeeds.

Conclusion. The compulsory prayer is unconstitutional; the school cannot impose it.

Constitution of India, Article 25(1): “all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion” (subject to public order, morality and health).

In Simple Terms: A religious minority in India may believe, practise and spread its faith (Article 25), run its own religious affairs (Article 26) and its own schools (Article 30), and cannot be taxed for another religion (Article 27) or forced into State-funded worship (Article 28).

flowchart TD
    A["RELIGIOUS MINORITIES"]:::root
    A --> B["Freedom of religion<br/>Art 25 profess/practise/propagate<br/>Art 26 manage affairs"]:::leaf
    A --> C["Art 27 no religious tax<br/>Art 28 no State-funded instruction"]:::leaf
    A --> D["Cultural/educational<br/>Art 29 conserve culture · Art 30 own schools"]:::leaf
    A --> E["Secularism = basic structure<br/>S.R. Bommai 1994"]:::leaf
    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

Case Laws

• S.R. Bommai v Union of India (1994) — secularism is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
• Bijoe Emmanuel v State of Kerala (1986) — children who refused to sing the national anthem on religious grounds were protected under Articles 19(1)(a) and 25.

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