Does the Indian Government force its citizens to be religious? A few right-to-information questions.

What is secularism?

It is separation of state machinery from religion.

Indian state is secular. However, does it unwittingly encourage religions when it is not supposed to be (atleast when it is supposed to be neutral)? Does it give adequate space to those citizens who would like to identify with no religion or those who would like to give up their association with religions they are 'born into'.

How do you find all these answers?
Why does the Government ask for your religion every other second?

I wanted to find out.
So I thought I'd file a few right-to-info questions to start with. The Govt of India havent yet answered these questions. Ill upload the answers as they come in.

But do take a look at the questions...

1.What are the government documents which require an applicant or a citizen to reveal his religion and caste?

2.Is it obligatory on part of the applicant to fill details of his religion and caste in government documents, applications and forms?

3.If the applicant chooses to leave these areas blank, will that invalidate his application?

4.Are citizens of India free NOT to choose a relgion and disown his caste eventhough by birth or by birth certificate belongs to one?

5.Is it obligatory on the individual to mention religion and caste in birth certificate of one's children?

6.Is it against the law if a private organisation rejects an application solely because the fields of religion or caste were left blank? If it is against the law, are there any exceptions? Which are these organisations and what are these applications? What course of law can be used against such a rejection?

7.Are there separate lists of religions and castes recognised by the Government of India? Please provide me those lists.

8.Is it valid to enter descriptions of 'atheist' or 'agnostic' or 'not applicable' in the fields of religion and 'not applicable' in the field of caste in any government application, form or document?

9.Is it valid to enter descriptions of 'atheist' or 'agnostic' or 'not applicable' in the fields of religion and 'not applicable' in the field of caste in any application, form or document of non-governmental organisations based in India?

10.If India is a secular country, does that give its citizens the right NOT to believe in any god eventhough by birth he/she may belong to one religion?

11.If one's birth certificate , matriculation certificate and other certificates indicate one's religion and caste, are there any legal means to exclude or delete them from these certificates to indicate one's absence of belief in a personal god, religion and caste?

12.If my child's (minor's) birth certificate and other certificates indicate religion and caste, are there any legal means to exclude or delete them from these certificates to indicate that my child is not brought up with a belief in a personal god, religion and caste?

13.Does Indian government ask for details such as religion and caste even if they are not relevant for the pupose of caste and religion based reservation? What purpose is acheived by such enquiries? Are any efforts made to exclude questions asking for such details if they are not relevant?

14.Does the Indian government encourage the practice of religion over non- practice of one? Or is the government neutral to either the practice or non-practice of religion?

15.Does the Government of India encourage identification and classification of its citizens by religion and caste? If not, what steps are being taken to reduce the divisive effects of religion and caste in society in general and government institutes in particular?

16.Does any wing of the government require an individual to swear in the name of god? What are these occasions when a person is required to swear in the name of god? Are there any alternatives if the person does not believe in god?

17.Does the Government of India have any official views on the existance or non-existance of God? Is it funding any scientific or philosophical investigation into the question of existance of God? If so, what are the results of theses investigations?

18.Does secular Indian government encourage the use of religious symbolism in official buildings? Does it forbid the use of explicit religious symbolism in government funded architechture when it is not related to a place of worship?

19.Does the Government encourage teaching of religion in Government schools or government aided schools? Does it include religious teaching in textbooks? If so, which religions are taught? What is the basis of choosing which religions are to be taught? When and which government bodies formulated these stipulations. Who were the experts invoved in formulating such guidelines, if any?

20.Is it Govenment's policy to encourage teaching of the belief in god in school children? If so which God of what religion are school children encouraged to believe in through textbooks?

21.Does the Government believe that teaching of moral values in school children is desirable? If yes,is it inextricably linked to belief in god or is it taught independant of the need to believe in God?

22.What is the yearly Government expenditure on religious activities? What are the type of these activities and please inform me the break up of the expenditure.

23.What is the result of the latest census with regard to the percentages of Indian citizens who belong to various religions? What percentage of indian citizens do not believe in any god according to that census or any other census? Was there ever a government mediated census in which it was specifically asked for non-belief in any god or non-identification with any religion?

24.When is the next country wide census planned? Is there a question enquiring about a person's religion or caste in the planned census? Is there a question specifically asking for non-belief in god and non-identification with any religion inorder to accommodate and account for atheists and agnostics? If such a question is not planned, how does an atheist or agnostic express his non-belief in god and non-identification with any religion? Will that not result in misrepresentation of such groups under various religions eventhough such individuals have made a conscious decision not to belong to any religion? Can he/she write 'atheist', 'agnostic' or simply leave the field blank?