be unimpressive. P. L. Punia, a former chairman of the NCSC, said that the number of pending cases was high because most of the extant Special Courts were in fact not exclusive but rather being used to process some non-POA cases, and because "The special prosecutors are not bothered and the cases filed under this Act are as neglected as the victims". While Dalit rights organisations were cautiously optimistic that the amended Act would improve the situation, legal experts were pessimistic. Religion Discrimination is illegal under Indian law by the Removal of Civil Disabilities Act (Act 21 of 1938), the Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act 1939 (Act XXII of 1939) and Article 17 of the Constitution which outlawed Untouchability. After India's independence in 1947, secular nationalism based on a "composite culture" made all people equal citizens, but Hindutva forces have worked to change India's secular tradition and promote Hindu nationalism. In Pakistan there are tensions between forces that want a modern secular state or an Islamic one. The constitution of Bangladesh proclaims Islam is the state religion but upholds secularism. Hinduism Most Dalits in India are Hindu. There have been incidents which showed that Dalits were restricted from entering temples by high-caste Hindus, and participation in religious processions. In the 19th century, the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj and the Ramakrishna Mission actively participated in the rights of Dalits. While Dalits had places to worship, the first upper-caste temple to openly welcome Dalits was the Laxminarayan Temple in Wardha in 1928. It was followed by the Temple Entry Proclamation issued by the last King of Travancore in the Indian state of Kerala in 1936. In the 1930s, Gandhi and Ambedkar disagreed regarding retention of the caste system. Whilst Ambedkar wanted to see it destroyed, Gandhi thought that it could be modified by reinterpreting Hindu texts so that the untouchables were absorbed into the Shudra varna. It was this disagreement that led to the Poona Pact. Gandhi began the Harijan Yatra to help the Dalits, but ran into some opposition from Dalits that wanted a complete break from Hinduism. The declaration by princely states of Kerala between 1936 and 1947 that temples were open to all Hindus went a long way towards ending untouchability there. However, educational opportunities to Dalits in Kerala remain limited. Other Hindu groups attempted to reconcile with the Dalit community. Hindu temples are increasingly receptive to Dalit