78 Years of Freedom—A Celebration in Chains?
As India completes 78 years of independence in 2025, the national flag will once again fly high, official speeches will highlight progress and development, and leaders will speak of democracy with pride. But behind the razzmatazz and patriotic slogans lies the slow erosion of the values our Republic was built on, especially the promise of equality and dignity for all.

For many of India's religious minorities, the idea of freedom often feels distant, even threatening. What should have been a shared inheritance is, for some, turning into a struggle for basic rights and security. While the ceremonies may be grand, the everyday experience of many paints a very different picture.

India's founding promise was built on a secular and pluralistic vision, but today, that vision is under strain. The country seems to be drifting into a troubling form of ideological dependence on a narrow, majoritarian idea of identity that pushes aside the rich diversity that defines India. This growing reliance on majority sentiment may well be the most serious threat facing our democracy from within.

Our "democracy" is becoming increasingly dependent on an aggressive form of religious nationalism. Instead of drawing strength from diversity, India's political landscape is leaning heavily on a majoritarian ideology that frames national identity in exclusionary terms. This shift is not happening through sudden upheavals. It is unfolding quietly, through legal changes, social conditioning, administrative policies, and hate-fuelled narratives.

In this context, the words of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen from 1941 ring with new urgency: "The Declaration of Independence is also a Declaration of Dependence." Sheen warned of democracies losing their way when they drift from moral and spiritual foundations and become captive to populism and authoritarianism. What he saw as a threat to American freedom in the 20th century is what India faces in its 78th year of independence: the illusion of liberty under the shadow of religious majoritarianism.

In our context, India's freedom now seems dependent not on God-given dignity and law, but on the dictates of the dominant majority. This "in-dependence" is fast rendering minorities into second-class citizens.

From Independence to "In-Dependence"
The Constitution of India, adopted in 1950, affirms justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity to all. But today, a different India is emerging where the idea of "Indian" is being defined by one religion and one culture, reducing religious minorities and even regions to suspicious outsiders.

This shift didn't occur overnight. It is the result of a long ideological movement that has gained institutional dominance in recent years. Hindutva—distinct from Hinduism as a faith—is a political ideology that seeks to establish India as a Hindu Rashtra, where minorities must either assimilate or remain subordinate. It is no longer a fringe idea. This vision of India has now become a state project, implemented through laws, police actions, school textbooks, and social narratives.

The more the State aligns with Hindutva, the more dependent it becomes on exclusionary nationalism and majoritarian approval for its legitimacy. And that, in turn, leads to the systematic disenfranchisement of those who do not conform.

The Rise of Majoritarianism: A New Ideological Dependency
Over the last decade, a new kind of nationalism has taken root. It conflates being Indian with being Hindu. It paints Christians as Western agents and Muslims as invaders or internal threats. Under this lens, minorities are not fellow citizens but adversaries.

This toxic ideology draws from the idea that religious minorities must either assimilate into the Hindu mainstream or be pushed to the periphery of civic life. Vigilante groups enjoy impunity for lynchings in the name of "cow protection," pastors and churches are attacked under the accusation of "forced conversions," and Muslim vendors, students, and professionals face social and economic boycotts.

Our democracy, instead of acting as a neutral arbiter and guardian of constitutional values, is increasingly co-opted by this majoritarian machine. It no longer derives its legitimacy from the Constitution or from God, but from the mob, from electoral numbers, and from populist manipulations of faith.

A Declaration of Second-Class Citizenship
A closer look at the lived reality of minorities in India today shows an organised construction of second-class citizenship. The 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act, by excluding Muslims from a fast-track citizenship process, openly discriminated on religious grounds, in contradiction to Article 14 of the Constitution. Christians, while not directly affected by CAA, are often collateral victims of the same ideological engine that sees them as Western agents or threats to Hindu culture.

Muslims, who comprise over 200 million citizens, are disproportionately incarcerated, underrepresented in government services, and frequently targeted in communal riots or police encounters. Their religious practices—from Azaan to attire—are scrutinised, politicised, and vilified. Meanwhile, Christian communities—particularly in tribal areas like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Manipur—face coordinated violence, church desecrations, and restrictions on prayer meetings under so-called "freedom of religion" laws.

A new kind of apartheid has crept in—not legalised yet, but socially enforced. Muslim and Christian students face discrimination in schools and universities. Interfaith marriages are criminalised under "love jihad" laws. Dalit Christians are denied constitutional benefits granted to Hindu Dalits. Economic boycotts are normalised, and hate speech against minorities enjoys tacit state support. This is not the independence our freedom fighters envisioned. It is rather a dependency on fear, on identity politics, and on the manufactured supremacy of the majority.

Legal Instruments as Weapons: Constitutional Betrayal in Disguise
One of the most dangerous trends in present-day India is the use of legal tools to suppress and control minority communities under the guise of national security, public order, or cultural integrity. Laws are no longer neutral instruments of justice; they are increasingly crafted and implemented to serve a communal agenda.

The CAA, though not directly targeting Indian Muslims, the law, when coupled with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), poses an existential threat to India's largest minority. The burden of proving citizenship disproportionately affects the poor and illiterate, many of whom are Muslim or Dalit.

Numerous states have enacted "Freedom of Religion" laws. While these laws are supposed to protect religious freedom, in practice, they are used almost exclusively against Christians and Muslims. Prayer meetings, baptisms, and charitable acts by churches are now policed as potential crimes. In many tribal areas, Christian missionaries are threatened, schools are vandalised, and pastors are jailed on flimsy charges. The recent weaponisation of anti-conversion laws by extremist groups, as in the recent case of the baseless arrest of three persons, including two Catholic nuns, by the GRP in Durg, is not only unjust but also poses a serious threat to the constitutional rights of religious minorities in the country.

Several BJP-ruled states have passed laws regulating interfaith marriages, particularly those between Muslim men and Hindu women. These laws presume malicious intent in personal relationships and violate the right to privacy and equality before the law. They reinforce communal stereotypes and foster mistrust between communities.

Under the pretext of curbing terrorism or dissent, several activists, journalists, and faith leaders—many of them Muslim—have been arrested and detained without trial under the UAPA. Christian institutions, too, have been raided under suspicion of foreign funding violations. These draconian laws are selectively applied to instil fear and silence criticism.

The False Religion of Nationalism
Any democracy that becomes independent of God risks becoming dependent on dictators. The moral vacuum left by the marginalisation of religious truth and justice is now filled by an idolatrous nationalism. It turns religion into a political tool and the State into a deity. Religion, in its true form, elevates human dignity and defends the rights of every person as made in the image of God. But today in India, the dominant religion is not Hinduism in its spiritual depth, but Hindutva, a politicised, weaponised distortion. It seeks not salvation or fraternity but supremacy and fear.

The prophetic role of religious leaders and institutions has been compromised. Many spiritual leaders, especially from the dominant religion, have remained silent or complicit, failing to challenge injustice for fear of political reprisal or loss of popularity. On the other hand, voices from the Christian and Muslim communities are drowned out, demonised, or dismissed as "anti-national." It is imperative that true religion reclaims its voice and not merge with the State, but hold it accountable to divine justice. Democracy is best preserved not by secular silence but by spiritual conscience.

Cultural and Social Engineering: Making Minorities Invisible
Beyond legal persecution, there is a parallel strategy at work—cultural engineering. History textbooks have been rewritten to glorify Hindu kings and marginalise the contributions of Muslims and Christians. Social media is flooded with hate speech, conspiracy theories, and fake news that demonise minority communities. Terms like "Urban Naxals," "anti-nationals," and "missionary mafia" have entered common parlance.
This atmosphere of suspicion is reinforced by the mainstream media, which increasingly functions as an amplifier for state propaganda. Debates are stage-managed, narratives are polarised, and minority voices are drowned out.

In schools and colleges, students from Muslim or Christian backgrounds often face subtle biases. Their religious practices are mocked; their dietary habits questioned. In workplaces and housing societies, Muslims are routinely denied accommodation. For Dalit Christians, exclusion is twofold: first as Dalits and then as non-Hindus.

The Christian and Muslim Experience: Targeted, Yet Resilient
Both Christians and Muslims, though distinct in culture and theology, face a common fate in India's new political order. Their institutions are under surveillance, their worship is policed, and their patriotism is always questioned.

In 2023–25 alone, over 1946 incidents of violence against Christians were reported in India, ranging from church burnings and mob attacks to arrests during prayer gatherings. In Manipur, the ethnic and religious targeting of Christians left hundreds displaced and dozens of churches razed to the ground.

For Muslims, the situation is even more dire. Lynchings over beef, denial of housing, educational discrimination, and the continuous portrayal of Muslims as "invaders" or "terror sympathisers" have created an atmosphere of dehumanisation. Even the use of Islamic greetings or attire is sometimes considered provocative.

Despite this, both communities continue to serve the nation with dignity through schools, hospitals, social work, and dialogue initiatives. Their resilience is a testimony to their faith, but also a challenge to a regime that seeks to erase their contributions.

The Gospel of Justice: A Christian Response
For Christians in India, this crisis is not just political but deeply theological. The message of Christ (proclaiming liberty to captives, justice to the oppressed, and peace to the broken-hearted) is fundamentally incompatible with silence in the face of injustice. The Church in India must therefore speak with prophetic courage, guided by Scripture and social teaching. Pope Francis, in Fratelli Tutti, calls on all believers to build a "culture of encounter" and a "better kind of politics." He warns against the politics of populism, exclusion, and polarisation. The Indian Church must embrace this call, not just in ecclesial documents but in lived solidarity with the persecuted.

Christian institutions must protect and uplift those communities—Muslim or Dalit, tribal or Christian—who face the brunt of majoritarian violence. Our schools, hospitals, and parishes must be sanctuaries of justice, education, and interfaith harmony. The Church cannot afford to be neutral when neutrality is complicity.

Theological and Moral Response: Dependence on God, Not Power
In his 1941 address, Fulton Sheen warned against the dangers of a democracy detached from divine foundations. "If the State or dictator is the creator of rights," he said, "then the State or dictator can dispossess men of their rights." That is precisely what India risks today. Fulton Sheen's timeless insight that freedom is rooted in dependence on God—not the State—is acutely relevant in India today.

Our Constitution, too, begins with a moral claim: "We, the People of India…"—not we, the majority, nor we, the Hindus. Our rights are not granted by Parliament or the courts, but acknowledged as inherent to our human dignity. When the State becomes the giver (and taker) of rights, liberty becomes a tool of control. When the mob dictates citizenship, democracy dies. It is in this context that we must rediscover our Declaration of Dependence—on God, on justice, on the moral foundations that make true freedom possible.

As Christians, our dependence must not be on political favour, but on God, who endows every person with dignity. The Church must therefore not be silent. Pope Francis, in Fratelli Tutti, reminds us that religion must serve fraternity and peace, not power. The Church in India must be a prophetic voice, defending the rights of others even more than our own. Muslims, too, must reclaim their spiritual legacy of justice (adl) and compassion (rahmah) and build alliances across communities. Interfaith dialogue must move beyond niceties to shared resistance against hate and injustice.

India must remember the wisdom of her spiritual traditions—from the Upanishads to the Gospels—that teach respect for all, compassion for the weak, and reverence for the divine image in every person. Our political freedom, gained in 1947, must now be defended by spiritual courage and ethical clarity.