India is the seven largest country in the world and second largest in Asia. It is the world’s second most populated country after China. Apart from area and population India is home to many famous religions in the world, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. India is a secular country where all religions and faiths are respected. India has been declared secular state by Indian Constitution. The Preamble of Indian Constitution describes India as a ‘sovereign socialist secular democratic republic’, and the words ‘secular’ was added by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment in 1976. Even Hindu scriptures namely Upanishads also describe the philosophy of oneness of religion. The Upanishads preach "Sarva Dharma Samabhava" which means respect for all belief systems.
According to Census of India, 2001 80.5% population of India practice Hinduism. Islam is the second most dominant religion in India with 13.4 % muslim population. Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism (1.9%), Buddhism (0.8%) and Jainism (0.4%) are the other religions followed by the Indian people. Hinduism has always been a tolerant religion and it has always cuddled other religions so it is all the more difficult to digest its new-found militant avatar.
“Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred thing which unite in to one single moral community.”