E/CN.4/1995/91 page 44 "1. I write with reference to your letter No.G/S0 214 (56-8) dated 5 September 1994. In this communication you made some general observations and pointed out some specific cases of alleged religious intolerance and discrimination against religious minorities in India. wish to clarify that the allegations contained in the above-mentioned communication do not conform to the facts. I 2. The Indian people are heirs to an ancient tradition of tolerance and respect for different religions and faiths. It is for this reason that India is home to so many differing linguistic and religious groups. India is the birthplace of four major religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism. Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism and Judaism came to India and made it their home. We are proud to count among our nationals nearly every major religious denomination, including their sects and sub-sects. Even non-believers enjoy equal rights with all others in India. Over 90 million Muslims have been born since 1947. Likewise other religious minorities exist in tens of millions. 3. The very Preamble to the Indian Constitution declares India to be a ’Secular, Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens ... liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship’. To underscore the right to freedom of religion, this and associated rights are deliberately placed in the Chapter on Fundamental Rights. These rights enshrined in the Constitution are justiciable before an independent judiciary. This has been further reinforced by the establishment of a Minorities Commission in 1978 to safeguard the interest of other minorities. These Commissions monitor the safeguards available under the Constitution and the legal framework for the protection of minorities, make recommendations to improve implementation of these safeguards, keep under constant review policy pursued by the Union of the State Governments with respect to minorities to look into specific complaints regarding deprivation of rights and safeguards of minorities such as where appropriate additional legal and welfare measures for minorities, make periodical reports to the Government etc. 4. Despite the efforts of the Government, explicit provisions of the Constitution and the fact that our people, by and large, have a secular outlook, incidents of communal violence have occurred occasionally. In considering such developments, however, we should not fail to make a distinction between cases where incidents have occurred for reasons beyond the control of Governments and those instigated and abetted by the Governments themselves. States should be judged not by acts of extremism committed by individuals, groups and segments of society, but by their philosophy and practice of religious tolerance and their treatment of minorities. The speed and effectiveness with which Governments take remedial action to correct any such wrongs is a measure of the religious tolerance of and the position of minorities in that society and polity. 5. The observations that the relations between Hindus and Muslims continue to be strained as a result of the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on 6 December 1992 is a misrepresentation of the facts. It would be appropriate to mention that since January 1993 there have been no incidents of communal tension and the Muslims and Hindus have