evidence: Earlier this year, the BJP-ruled state of Maharashtra banned the slaughter of cows, as well as the sale and possession of beef. Such laws have been passed before, but never has the basis for them been articulated as an overarching philosophy until now. The union minister of state for home affairs, Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, offered this explanation shortly after: "If Maharashtra is Hindu majority, or if Gujarat is Hindu majority, Madhya Pradesh is Hindu majority, if they are to make laws conducive to the Hindu faith, let them be. But in our place, in our state where we are majority, where we feel whatever steps we take, you know, laws which are conducive to our beliefs, it should be." [...] The practical implications of Article 29(1) are yet to be fully worked out in a court of law, as there have been very few direct challenges to the powers of the government that depend solely on it. But there is no mistaking that by intent it is a direct refutation of what the BJP stands for. The faction that dominates the BJP government has adversely affected the freedoms of a large number of Indian citizens. We should not hesitate in stating that the views that Rijiju represents within the BJP, and the even more extreme ones that are basic to the RSS, are simply unconstitutional.