A/52/498 English Page 11 educational institutions of their choice. Furthermore, the educational institution of a minority might not be discriminated against when the State granted aid to educational institutions. Under article 29 of the Constitution, citizens had the right to conserve their own language and script (para. 8). 42. According to the Special Rapporteur, the Indian National Commission for Minorities Act of 1992 recognized the Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian minority communities. With reference to the Muslim community, which constituted India's largest minority, the Special Rapporteur had not been informed of any action on the part of the authorities designed to restrict religious activities, including freedom of religious practice and freedom to organize Muslim services, religious teachings and customs. In addition, the Muslim community had its own educational establishments, including the madrasa religious schools responsible for disseminating the teachings of Islam, and it possessed a large number of places of worship. 43. According to the information he received, the Special Rapporteur mentioned that the Christians who constituted the second largest minority in India were not subjected to any interference of the State in their internal religious activities. Christian minorities could establish their own schools and places of worship, and could freely produce and disseminate religious publications. 44. With reference to the Sikh minority, the Special Rapporteur received differing information. On the one hand, he was informed that the Sikh minority was the victim of a policy of intolerance and discrimination based on religion pursued by the authorities, especially in the Punjab, where the Sikhs were a majority; on the other hand, the Special Rapporteur was informed that the conflictual situation in the Punjab had no religious basis and was purely political. 45. In his conclusions and recommendations, the Special Rapporteur noted India's political commitment to "unity in diversity" which reflected a mode of democratic organization of society based on respect for and viability of diversity, particularly in the field of religion. He recommended that measures be taken to neutralize and eradicate extremism, which through its influence on the masses could well destroy community and religious harmony in India. Special Rapporteur on the question of the human rights of all persons subjected to any form of detention or imprisonment, in particular torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 46. The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Mr. Nigel Rodley, referred in his report (E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1) to allegations concerning persons belonging to minorities who had been tortured. However, it was difficult to establish whether those persons had been tortured or subjected to ill-treatment because they belonged to a minority. He transmitted allegations to the following Governments regarding persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, on behalf of, among others: Chakmas in Bangladesh; the Roma in Bulgaria; Tibetans in China; Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus; the Oromo in Ethiopia; Romanians in Hungary; East Timorese and Irian Jayans in Indonesia; Arabs in Israel; members of the Cossack community in Kazakhstan; members of the Mohajir Qaumi movement in Pakistan; the Chechen and the Ingush in the Russian Federation; persons of /...