Topic Reading-Vol.2790-12/1/2019

MEL School 三鷹

0422-27-5366

メールでのお問い合わせ

〒180-0006 東京都武蔵野市中町2-3-5 IIHA武蔵野1階

電話受付/月〜金 9:00-18:00

lv1

Topic Reading-Vol.2790-12/1/2019

英語で世界を知ろう！Topic Reading

2019/12/01 Topic Reading-Vol.2790-12/1/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

In secular India, it’s getting tougher to be Muslim

The population of India has been growing at a rate of over one percentage point, thanks to the healthy fertility rate. With 1.37 billion population, India is the world’s most populous democratic country. Indeed, approximately 900 million people are eligible to vote and about two of every three of them voted in the last national election in May.

When it comes to religion, about 80% of the population practices Hinduism. Though there are about 200 million Muslims in the country, the third-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan, they represent less than 15% of the nation’s population, So, democracy seems to work naturally in favor of Hindus even though the country has no state religion under the constitution. Also, despite the secular national status, India’s personal laws on issues such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance vary by religion.

Naturally, religion plays significant roles in elections and people’s lives in India where secular doesn’t mean freedom of religion, equal citizenship to each citizen regardless of their religion, or separation of religion and state but just freedom in religion.

Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, won 303 seats in the parliamentary election this year, well over the majority and was the second win in a row. The party’s policy reflects Hindu nationalist positions and advocates social conservatism and a foreign policy centered on nationalist principles. The leader, Narendra Modi, and the supporters seem to have little hesitation to work on their religious interests.

Enjoy reading the article and think about what influences more in today’s politics.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/19/asia/india-muslim-modi-intl-hnk/index.html

MEL School 三鷹
電話：0422-27-5366
住所 〒181-0013 東京都三鷹市下連雀3-33-13 三鷹第二ビル101
営業時間：電話受付15時～17時 定休日：日曜日

TOP