Religious And Ethnic Minorities Rights And Freedoms Legal Confirmation In India

Abstract

The article is devoted to one of the contemporary problems, acute not only for Southern Asia, but for other regions and subregions of the world. Matters of defending the rights of religious and ethnic minorities are topical in many countries. Initially monoconfessional and monoethnic countries are in the most difficult position, due to the impact from representatives of religions and ethnos migrating from other continents. India, being a multi-religions country, has been developing means to prevent interconfessional and ethnic dissention for thousands of years. They are reflected in Indian philosophy, traditions, culture. Despite being positive, the philosophy contains destructive elements, one of them is Hindutva ideology (radical Hinduism). During different historical periods the representatives of Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, and other religions were the objects of aggression. Also, ethnic minorities in the North-East of India were under oppression. One more destructive element in Indian society is tough situation of the Dalits (untouchable, the representatives of the lowest caste), who are severely exploited, morally and physically oppressed. These destructive factors are overweighed by a peacemaking and preventive component of the Indian philosophy and traditions, grounded in legal rules of the country. Despite a huge number of contradictions, India has a great number of tools and technologies, which may be of interest for other countries of the world.