India is a pleasant combination of people belonging to a variety of faiths and religions, some having taken birth here and some having entered into our midst from afar. They have influenced each other and as a result, India has become a home for people belonging to different faiths. If Jains and Buddhists represent the teachings of ancient seers, Mahaveer and Gautam Buddha, Muslims and Christians follow the ideals preached by Prophet Muhammad and Jesus. While Sikhism represents the synthesis of Hinduism and Islam as venerable Baba Guru Nanak preached it, India remains the only home for Parsees who follow Zorastrianism, the ancient faith of Persia. To top them all, Hinduism provides the general flavour to the entire Indian culture in its myriad colour and diversity. The variety of languages that Indians speak and the ethnic cultures that exist, add diverse hues to the entire spectacle that constitutes India.

The Indian Constitution recognizes, protects and promotes rights of religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities, and emphasizes on social, economic and political justice. India opted for secularism as the national ideal, together with democracy and socialism after the Independence, which coincided with the partitioning of the country in 1947 along religious lines. Despite challenges, the nation has stood by its foundational values to see that we all live as citizens of India without suffering any disabilities owing to our association with any religion, caste, community, colour, race, language or other markers of identity.