Religious Crimes in Developed and Developing Countries

 

Author: Rudraksh Singh

 Amity Law School, Amity University, Noida

 [email protected]

“Religion does not consist in erecting temples, or buildings or churches, or attending public worship. It is not to be found in books, or in words, or in lectures, or in organizations. Religion consist in realization” - Swami Vivekananda

INTRODUCTION

Religion has played a very important role since precedent days in many countries. It forms the idea of human existence within which the followers need to abide by moral rules. It refers to the simplest way of life consisting of customs, traditions, and practices for the people to follow. Before the emergence of democracy, people were obliged to obey religious laws and claim religious rights. Therefore, it's evident that religion has played the role of law in primitive society which gave rise to the formation of religious laws.

 

RELIGIOUS CRIMES

Closely associated with religion are religious crimes which unfortunately is an everyday fact most people are unaware of. Religious crimes are defined as any action which offends religious sensibilities and arouses serious negative emotions in people with conviction. Instances of violence within the name of faith can take various forms like wars, hate crimes, physical assault, blasphemy, persecution, etc. Thus, crimes in religion have been a worldwide problem since mankind can recall.

RELIGIOUS CRIMES IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

There is an assumption that in developed countries there are fewer chances of religious crimes taking place. But, in reality, just like the developing countries they too faced religious crimes.

In the U.K. the prevalence of Islamophobia can be a threat to minority Muslim communities. There's unfounded hostility towards the Muslims and various hate crimes like mosque invasions, threatening letters, and throwing pork-related products within the mosque takes place. The Muslim women within the name of faith, are targeted and subjected to brutality. One such example might be a pregnant lady being beaten up to an extent, causing miscarriage. Another developed country namely the U.S.A has also seen an increase in hate crimes. The statistics on Religious hate crimes reported that one out of every five hate crimes targeted someone thanks to their religion. Out of the whole religious-based offenses, 60.3% were anti-Jewish and 13.3% were anti-Islamic.

The majority of the hate crimes go unreported and the data provided by the FBI is not clear.

Another incident that increases concern over the problem of Islamophobia is the terrorist attack on Christchurch, Australia which killed 49 people in New Zealand mosques. This created fear and tension among the minority Muslims. According to the study by the NSW police force, the majority of hate crimes were based on religion targeting the Muslim community. They were in the form of verbal abuse, vandalism, assault, discrimination, etc. In China, there has been exploitation and forced conversions of religions that were in minority like the Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, etc. Such kind of violence is also seen in other developed countries.

 RELIGIOUS CRIMES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The first example that comes to our mind is our Country India, known for its diversity. We come upon several incidents of spiritual violence in the newspapers daily. Most notably, it involves the Hindu-Muslim fights just like the famous Babri Masjid incident, and the Godhra Train Incident which increased tensions between the two groups. Additionally, at present, there have been atrocities committed by the Islamic terrorist groups on the Kashmiri Pandits involving the destruction of the holy shrines, extermination, brutal torture, and other sufferings. Similarly, in Saudi Arabia, there's a prevalence of Islam throughout the country. Restraints are laid down on the Non-Muslims and they face discrimination in society. The government has prohibited the public display of Non-Islamic religious articles and raided the church services that were being provided within the private homes.

In Syria and Iraq, there have been mass killings like- rape, physical and mental abuse, and extortion against the religious minority community. These crimes were committed by Daesh an Islamist militant group to eliminate the minorities. Religious crimes can occur in the form of discrimination and the rights are denied. In Pakistan, there is bias against the minority communities like the Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians, and are often falsely accused of derogatory remarks. There are attacks on worshippers, churches, and Ahmadi mosques. The Christians feel there is a requirement for their protection thanks to the increasing hate crimes that happen against them in Israel. The extremist groups, whether it's the Jews or the Muslims, preach hatred towards Christianity through education or political propaganda.

LAWS PERTAINING TO RELIGION

The Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Convention, 1948, the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), 1965, and the International Convention for the Civil and Political Rights, 1966 are the treaties and conventions that aim to prevent any kind of violence against any religion.

According to article 4 of the International Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, any religion that makes itself superior in such a way that it may cause enmity between all religions in society or against any religious group or individuals of other races shall be declared a penal offence (https://thelawcommunicants.com/religious-laws-and-religious-crimes-in-developing-and-developed-countries/ (visited on 5 June,2022 ),

 In 2005, all heads of state pledged to protect their citizens against crimes such as genocide, war crimes, religious hate crimes, and crimes against humanity. Indonesia prohibits blasphemy(the action or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things) by its Criminal Code. The Code's Article 156(a) targets those that deliberately, in public, express emotion of hostility, hatred, or contempt against faiths to prevent others from adhering to any religion, and targets those that disgrace a faith.The penalty for breaching Article 156(a)  could be a maximum of 5 years' imprisonment.

 INDIAN LAWS ON RELIGION

 

 The Indian Constitution’s preamble declared India to be a “sovereign socialist secular democratic republic.” The Forty-second Amendment Act of 1976 added the word “secular” to the Preamble. It states that all religions should be treated equally and that they are tolerated. India has no official state religion, although it does recognize the freedom to practice, preach, and spread any religion. Government-supported schools do not provide religious teaching. The Supreme Court of India declared in S. R. Bommai vs. Union of India that secularism was an important part of the Indian Constitution”(https://thelawcommunicants.com/religious-laws-and-religious-crimes-in-developing-and-developed-countries/(visited on 6 June, 2022)).

According to Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code1860, “any person who destroys, damages or defiles any worship place, or any object declared as a holy object by any class of persons with the intention of insulting the religious sentiments of any other class or with the knowledge that any of the class is likely to consider such destruction or defamation as an insult to their religion, shall be guilty and punishable with imprisonment of mentioned term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both”( https://blog.ipleaders.in/offences-relating-to-religion(visited on 7 June, 2022)).

Section 295A of the IPC deals with ‘Intentional and spiteful activities, intended to outrage religious beliefs of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. According to this Section, any person, with the spiteful intention of insulting the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India with words (spoken, written or by visible presentation or by other methods) insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious feelings of any class, shall be held liable and punished with imprisonment of either mentioned term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both(https://blog.ipleaders.in/offences-relating-to-religion)(visited on 8 June, 2022)).

Section 298 of the IPC deals with ‘Uttering, words, etc with deliberate intent to injure the religious beliefs of any person.’ According to this Section, any person (with the deliberate intention of insulting the religious feelings of any other person) who does the following activities shall be punished with imprisonment for a mentioned term in the description which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both(https://blog.ipleaders.in/offences-relating-to-religion(visited on 8 June, 2022)).

CONCLUSION                 

Religious crimes are such an issue that affects many people living in various developed and developing countries. If we act too late it will intensify and cause more harm to mankind. It will not only impact the minority groups but also hinder the growth and economy of various countries. Therefore it is very much essential to strengthen the justice system with better law enforcement agencies. Moreover, there should be a promotion of diversity and exchange of religious beliefs as that may instill tolerance and cooperation between the various religious groups. At the international level, these crimes should be reduced with stronger international organizations with better foreign policies. Hence, this subject has to be thoroughly discussed and therefore the countries should take proper steps to end these crimes.