Fact Check: Article 30 Related To Linguistic-Religious Minorities, No Such Article 30A Exists In The Constitution, Contrary To Claims Of Its Abolition

New Delhi (Vishvas News). The Constitution was a major issue during the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.  Even after the election results, claims related to it are being shared on social media. One such post claims that after the formation of the government for the third consecutive term at the Center, Article 30A of the Constitution could be abolished, according to which the Hindu community is not allowed to teach the religious text of Hindus in educational institutions, while it gives the Muslim community the right to teach their religious text in madrasas.

Vishvas News investigated this claim and found it to be fake. In fact, there is no such article in the Indian Constitution. Part III of the Indian Constitution describes the fundamental rights, in which Articles 25-28 focus on the rights of religious freedom, while Articles 29-31 covers rights related to culture and education. Article 30 of the Constitution clearly and unambiguously gives the right to all minorities, whether based on religion or language, to establish and run educational institutions of their choice.

What is viral?

Social media user ‘Neelu Jain’ has shared the viral post (archive link) with the caption, “*Modi’s second blow is coming*

*Act 30-A may end*

*Modi ji is fully prepared to rectify the betrayal done to Hindus.** Have you heard of ‘Law 30’ and Law ‘30A?’ *Do you know what *’30A’* means in Hindi? Do not delay to know more

*30-A* is a law contained in the Constitution. When Nehru tried to include this law in the Constitution, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel strongly opposed it. Sardar Patel said, *This law is a betrayal of Hindus.* So if this law is brought in the Constitution, I will resign from the cabinet and the Congress party.

Eventually Nehru had to bow down to Sardar Patel’s wish. But unfortunately, I don’t know.. After this incident, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel died suddenly in a few months..? *After the death of Sardar Patel, Nehru immediately included this law in the Constitution.*

*What is 30-A, let me tell you its features!…According to this law – Hindus are not allowed to teach/teach their Hindu religion. *Act 30-A* does not allow or authorize that…..So Hindus should not teach Hinduism in their private colleges.

Colleges should not be started to teach/practise Hindu religion. Hindu schools should not be started to teach Hindu religion. Under Act 30-A no one is allowed to teach Hindu religion/Sanskriti in public schools or colleges. This sounds strange, (30-A) Nehru made another law in his constitution *Law 30*. According to this Law 30 Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians can start Islamic, Sikh, Christian religious schools for their religious education.

Muslims, Sikhs and Christians can teach their religion. Law 30 gives full right and permission to Muslims to start their own ‘Madrasa’ and Article 30 of the constitution gives full right and permission to Christians to establish their own religious schools and colleges and to teach and propagate their religion freely… The other legal aspect of this is that all the money and property of Hindu temples can be left at the discretion of the government, all the money and other donations made by Hindu devotees in Hindu temples can be taken to the state treasury. At the same time, donations and alms from Muslim and Christian mosques are given only to the Christian-Muslim community. The features of this ‘Act 30’ are as follows.

Therefore, Act 30-A and Act 30 is a deliberate discrimination against Hindus and a very big systematic betrayal. Everyone should understand this thing very well that today Hinduism is limited to folk tales. Hindus do not have the knowledge of their scriptures. Know awareness towards others Let us all protect Sanatan Dharma. Read, learn and spread it further..

It is because of Article 30-A….that we cannot teach ‘Bhagavad Gita’ anywhere in our country. If you find it right after reading, please forward it. So that everyone knows why and for what reason Nehru did this? If you are a Hindu, please forward this to 5 people. Thanks I am a Hindu, that’s why I sent it!! Jai Shri Ram..”

Many other users have shared this post on different social media platforms with similar claims.

Investigation

Since the viral post claims to abolish Article ’30A’ of the Constitution, we checked the Indian Constitution, which is available on the central government’s website legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india in Hindi, English, and other Indian languages.

While Part III of the Constitution of India describes the fundamental rights, Part IV contains information on the directive principles of policy. The viral post makes a claim related to religious rights, which falls under Part III.

Part III of the Indian Constitution describes the right to religious freedom between Articles 25-28.

At the same time, Articles 29-31 of the constitution are about cultural and educational rights. Article 30 specifically gives the right to all religious or language-based minorities to establish and run educational institutions of their choice. Articles 30(1) and 30(1) (A) and Article 30(2) are about these rights, while Article 30 (2) ensures that the state will not discriminate against anyone based on religion or language when providing assistance to (such) educational institutions.

Our investigation clearly shows that there is no provision like Article 30 (A) in the Indian Constitution, which has been mentioned in the viral post.

Since Article 30 (1) of the Indian Constitution gives the right to linguistic and religious minorities to establish and run educational institutions of their choice, the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) was established by the Indian Parliament by making a law to protect these rights.

It is worth noting that the term ‘minority’ is not defined in the Indian Constitution, but the Constitution recognises religious and linguistic minorities, so the Central Government has notified six religious minorities in this category, which includes Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, and Jains.

In simple words, Article 30 gives the minorities the right to educate their children in their native language.

We contacted Supreme Court advocate Rudra Vikram Singh regarding the claim made in the viral post. He clarified, “In the Indian Constitution, the right to religious freedom and the rights related to culture and education are described between Articles 25-30 and Article 30 has two sub-sections but there is no article like Article 30A in the Indian Constitution.”

The user who shared the viral post has shared it in the ‘Pushpendra Kulshreshtha’ group, which has over one lakh members. Fact check reports on other misleading and fake claims related to elections can be accessed in the election section of Vishvas News.

Conclusion: There is no such article in the Indian Constitution. Part III of the Indian Constitution describes the fundamental rights, covering Articles 25-28, which pertain to religious freedom, while Articles 29-31 address cultural and educational rights. Article 30 of the Constitution specifically grants the right to all minority groups based on religion or language to establish and manage educational institutions of their preference. Article 30 has two sub-sections, but there is no provision like Article 30A in the Constitution.

Tags

• Art 30 A
• Election Fact Check
• Indian Constitution
• Loksabha Elections 2024