CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF MINORITIES:

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Saika Sabir

Edited by
Dr Abdul Aziz
Chair Professor
Chair on Religious Minorities

Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy

National Law School of India University
(NLSIU)
Bengaluru

1
I. Introduction/Statement of Problem:

The features of postcolonial governance of India have long been held up

as a success story: “the world’s largest democracy, whose citizens enjoyed
freedom of speech and religious tolerance. It is seen to have escaped the military
dictatorships that had been the fate of so many former colonies and despite
several marks of sectarian conflicts; it continues to be the largest democracy of
the world.”1 Yet, much of the intellectual work of dissent argue that “the
promise of national emancipation was fulfilled, if not fraudulently, then
certainly by the forcible marginalization of many who were supposed to have
shared in the fruits of liberation”.2 As an index of the continuity of the
exclusionary politics one may turn to the distinct “cultural problem” of religious
minorities in India.3The founding members of the Constitution of India had
rejected the idea of “Clash of Civilizations”4underpinning the Partition of India
and proclaimed that every citizen of India, irrespective of religious belief is
absolutely equal before law. Despite such commitments to equality and
inclusive society, in the new-nation state, what we have come to see is the
hegemonic paternalism of the dominant religious groups which demarcated its
practices and tradition as distinct not only from the West but also from the vast
swathes of marginalized people whom it had sworn to democratize. Out of this
constellation has followed the rise of fundamentalist movements5 and strong

1
Shabnum Tejani, ‘Defining Secularism in the Particular: Caste and Citizenship in India
1909-1950’ [2013] Religion and Politics section of the American Political Science
Association, 705
2
Partha Chatterjee, Nation and its Fragments: Colonial and Postcolonial Histories
(Princeton University Press, 1993) p. 156
3
Partha Chatterjee, Nation and its Fragments: Colonial and Postcolonial Histories
(Princeton University Press, 1993), P.134
4
Ernest Barker, Principles of Social and Political Theory (1951, paper back) Preface: pp. vi,
ix
5
Fundamentalist movements are basically political movements which have religious and
ethnic roots. These movements can be of wide variety but their primary purpose is to

2
communitarian feelings within each group and sectarian identities who felt
alienated from each other. The recent political developments in India have
witnessed conflicts and tension between the majority communities and the
minority communities in many parts of the country. Thus rendering the
question of minority group rights and protection of their identity central to the
political discourse of India.

In this backdrop this paper will look into the constitutional rights of the
minorities in India. The constitution of India and more generally the
international documents on human rights provides for the necessity of providing
positive discrimination or ensuring affirmative action’s for upliftment and
welfare of the minorities. Simultaneously it imposes negative injunction on
every form of discrimination, nevertheless, these legal and constitutional
provisions have been abused by the political establishment for its own political
end. The same provisions meant for the better protection of the minorities has
been used by the fundamental forces as a counter argument that minorities are
also citizens of this country and hence they also should be treated equal like any
citizen of this country since they are also equal before law. 6 Therefore this will
move beyond the given constitutional framework as to explore how these rights
have been engaged with in resolving the difficult question of “minority
problems”7 in India.

The attempt to define “Minority”, particularly in a multi-ethnic and multi-

cultural polity like India faces an inherent challenge; on what basis can a group
or community be attributed minority status? Nevertheless, the most essential

bring the state and its instrumentalities under the strictures of their religious belief or
gospel.
6
Minorities and their backwardness in nation and minorities
7
I use the term minority problem as a phrase to bracket all cultural, religious and political
dilemmas faced by the minorities in India

3
requisite to be a minority group is the group must be non- dominant. In keeping
with this understanding the Constitution of India through its various provision
recognises; (i) religious minorities (ii) linguistic minorities (iii) cultural
minorities and (iv) minorities possessing a script of their own. However, this
broad classification of minorities may be over simplistic. It is important to note
that the understanding of minority in India is not just about capturing the non-
dominant groups in pure particularism of its numerical strength. It is primarily
about understanding the relationship between different groups present in varied
equation to each other in differing locations and how these groups stand in their
relationship with the state and institutions of Democracy. 8I proceed with a clear
understanding of this difficulty in defining minorities in India and for the
purpose of this paper limit its scope to religious minorities only9.

II. Historicising the Constitutional Rights of Minorities:

The critics of the Indian nation-state and its relation to the pluralistic
society generally argue that; the concept of India as a nation-state had its roots
in European nationalism.10 Initially the European polities were committed to
homogeneity; to the building of strong homogenous national communities,
which have led them to be supremely impatient with any manifestations of
diversity. The postcolonial critics, argue, that India treaded on the similar path,
therefore, the idea of nation has always been compromised of the dreams of
homogenous communities and therefore leaving behind very little scope for

8
Nation and Minorities, p116 (Prakash Louis : Minorities and their Backwardness)
9
The Central Government through the National Minorities Commission Act, 1992 notified
the following five groups as minorities under section 2 (c ), namely: Muslims, Christians,
Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis. In January, 2014 Jains were included in the list of Minorities
under section 2 (c ) of the National inorities Act.
10
See, Menon, N., & Menon, N. (2010). Introduction. In Chatterjee P. (Author), Empire and
Nation: Selected Essays (pp. 1-20). Columbia University Press. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/chat15220.4

4
minority identity and aspirations to flourish.11 The political practice of Indian
polity was sectarian and divided and therefore it failed to achieve the
‘participatory parity’ promised for all individuals and groups constituting the
totality of the Indian population. The Hindu majoritarian identity came to be
represented as the national identity thereby blocking egalitarian distribution of
resources and denying due recognition for culturally variant social groups.
Under such circumstances these groups found themselves in a double bind-
excluded from nationalism but at the same time trapped within the nation-state.
Hence, this served as a breeding ground for several micro-identities.12 As an
obvious result of all these political vagaries there emerged a number of groups
and communities as “minorities, marginalized, plainly excluded/ subalternized,
these groups even though formed a part of the Indian nation-state but were
excluded or at best subordinately included in the modern Indian society.” 13

The freedom movement thus played a duel role in relation to the

emergence of such regional and community consciousness. On the other hand,
by invoking a greater loyalty to the Indian motherhood in a united struggle
against British rule, it apparently subjugated the urge of the people of the
various regions for developing into separate nationalities. In general, behind the
apparent struggle between the communities with their slogan of India- a United
Nation and the British rulers who highlighted the multiplicity of castes,
communities, tribes and linguistic groups, was the reality that India was
developing its national unity against the British but along with it the various

11
Nirja Gopal Jayal (1993), ‘Ethnic Diversity and the Nation-State’, Journal of Applied
Philosophy, vol.10, no.2, pp. 147-53, at p.147
12
G. Aloysius, Dalit-Subaltern Self-Identifications: Iyothee Thassar & Thamizhan (Critical
Quest, New Delhi, 2010)
13
ibid

5
linguistic, cultural groups were being consolidated into distinct ethnic and
communal groups.14

In recognition of this fact the members of the members of the constituent

assembly had emphasised the on making provisions for pluralism, however this
was subject to debate and disagreements. In the Constituent Assembly, Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar clearly stated15:

To diehards who have developed a kind of fanaticism against

minority protection I would like to say two things. One is that minorities
are an explosive force which, if it erupts, can blow up the whole fabric of
the state. The history of Europe bears ample of appalling testimony to this
fact. The other is that the minorities in India have placed their existence in
the hands of the majority. In the history of negotiations for preventing the
partition of Ireland, Redmond said to Carson “ask for any safeguard you
like for the Protestant minority but let us have a United Ireland”. Carson’s
reply was “Damn your safeguards, we don’t want to be ruled by you.” No
minority in India has taken this stand. They have loyally accepted the rule
of majority and not political majority. It is for majority to realise its duty
not to discriminate against minorities. Whether the minorities will continue
or vanish must depend upon this habit of the majority. The moment the
majority loses the habit of discriminating against the minority, the
minorities can have no ground to exist. They will vanish.

Dr. Ambedkar’s speech quoted herein reiterates the importance of

achieving the nationalist project of forming a ‘nation-state’ through
constitutional consensus, particularly when there is no pre-existing cultural
unity within the population. 16

14
Narang, A.S., Ethno- Nationalism and Minorities in Akhtar Majeed (eds.), India in Nation
and Minoritoes: India’s Plural Society and Its Constituents (Centre for Federal Studies,
Hamdard University, New Delhi, 2002) pp.68
15
ibid
16
See, Dilip Simeon, Book Review. Shabnum Tejani, Indian Secularism: A Social and
Intellectual History, 1890-1950. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

6
III. The Constitutional Consensus for the Resolution of the Minority
Question:
Keeping in view the importance of providing rights and protection to the
minorities in India the Constituent Assembly had setup an Advisory Committee
under the chairmanship of Sardar Patel on the subject of Fundamental Rights
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including rights of minorities. The Advisory Committee thus appointed five
sub-committees on fundamental rights, and of the sub-committees was
particularly on minorities headed by H.C. Mukherjee.

The sub-committee made various recommendations regarding the

safeguards for minorities in India. One such recommendation was about
separate electorates for minorities; however, this recommendation was rejected
referring to the past experience of sharpened communal differences. Thus it was
decided that all elections to Central and Provincial legislatures were to be held
on the basis of joint electorates with reservation of seats for certain specified
minority groups according to their population ratio. It was also proposed that the
reservation of seats was to be done on experimental basis for only ten years, and
final position with respect to reservation to be considered at the end of ten
years.18 The Advisory committee finally decided that seats for recognised
minority groups (namely; Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Anglo-Indians, Parsis and
tribals living in the plains of Assam) should be reserved in the legislatures in
accordance to their population.

These recommendations of the Advisory Committee were incorporated in

the draft constitution as of October, 1947. However, later in the wake of
partition of the country, it was felt that given the situation of the country it
would no longer be possible to reserve seats for the minority groups on the basis

17
Narang (n15)
18
ibid

7
of their religion.19 Thus in a subsequent meeting the Advisory Committee made
few new set of recommendations to the Constituent Assembly with respect to
the minorities, which include the following20:

(i) The minorities in every part of the country shall be given protection with
respect to their language, culture and religious scripts and no law to the
contrary shall be enacted.
(ii) There shall be no discrimination against the minority group (be it
religious, linguistic or ethnic) with respect to admission to educational
institution maintained out of public funds, nor shall specific religious
instruction be imposed against them.
(iii) All minorities (based on religion, language or community identity) in any
part of the country shall be free to establish and administer education
institutions.
(iv) The state while providing funds should not discriminate against the
educational institutions established and administered by the minority
groups.

These recommendations were revised by the Constituent Assembly and took

shape of articles 29 and 30 in the final draft of the Constitution of India. On
overall the constitutional rights of minorities can be broadly placed under
common domain’ and ‘separate domain’. The rights which fall in the category
of ‘common domain’ are enjoyed by all the citizens of our country. ‘Separate
domain’ includes those rights which are applicable to the minorities only and
these rights under this domain are meant to protect the identity of the minorities.
To this end the Constitution of India provides three sets of rights to the
minorities: (i) right to preserve their culture and language (ii) administer and

19
ibid
20
Massey J., Minorities and Religious Freedom in a Democracy, Centre for Dalit Subalter
Studies (Manohar, 2003)pp. 24

8
manage minority institutions and (iii) provide religious education in an
institution which is managed and aided by the minority communities.

However, the ‘common domain’ of the constitutional rights comes under

both-the Fundamental Rights (Part III of the Indian Constitution) and the
Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) (Part IV of the Indian Constitution).
The DPSP, is a set of non-justifiable rights which are connected with the social
and economic rights of the people. These rights are legally not binding upon the
State, but are ‘fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the
duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws’ (Article 37 of the
Indian Constitution). The DPSP includes the following provisions which have
significant implications for the minorities of our country:

i) Obligation of the State ‘to endeavor to eliminate inequalities in status,

facilities and opportunities’ amongst individuals and groups of people
residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations’ [Article
38 (2)];
ii) Obligation of State ‘to promote with special care’ the educational and
economic interests of ‘the weaker sections of the people’ (besides
Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes [Article 46];

Part IV A of the Indian Constitution, which deals with the Fundamental

Duties applies to all citizens, including those belonging to Minorities. Article
51A, which is of special relevance for the Minorities, has the following
provisions for them:

i) Citizens’ duty to promote harmony and the spirit of common

brotherhood amongst all the people of India ‘transcending religious,
linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; and

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 ii) Citizens’ duty to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite
culture.

Part III of the Indian Constitution, which deals with the Fundamental
Rights, is divided into two parts: a) rights which come under the common
domain and b) rights which fall under the ‘separate domain’. In the ‘common
domain’, the following fundamental rights and freedoms are guaranteed for the
minorities in India:

i) People’s right to ‘equality before the law’ and ‘equal protection of the
laws’ (Article 14);
ii) Prohibition of discrimination against citizens on grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex or place of birth [Article 15 (1) & (2)];
iii) Authority of State to make ‘any special provision for the advancement
of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens’
(besides the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) [Article 15(4)];
iv) Citizens’ right to ‘equality of opportunity’ in matters relating to
employment or appointment to any office under the State –and
prohibition in this regard of discrimination on grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex or place of birth [Article 16(1) & (2)];
v) Authority of State to make ‘any provision for the reservation of
appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens
which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the
services under the State [Article 16(4)];
vi) People’s freedom of conscience and right to freely profess, practice
and propagate religion-subject to public order, morality and other
Fundamental Rights [Article 25 (1)];
vii) Right of every religious denomination or any section thereof-subject to
public order, morality and health-to establish and maintain institutions

10
 for religious and charitable purposes, ‘manage its own affairs in
matters of religion’, and own and acquire movable and immovable
property and administer it ‘in accordance with law’ [Article 26];
viii) Prohibition against compelling any person to pay taxes for promotion
of any particular religion [Article 27];
ix) People’s ‘freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious
worship in educational institutions’ wholly maintained, recognized, or
aided by the State [Article 28].

The Constitution guarantees the following minority rights which fall

under the ‘separate domain’:

i) Right of ‘any section of the citizens’ to ‘conserve’ its ‘distinct

language, script or culture’ [Article 29(1)];
ii) Restriction on denial of admission to any citizen, to any educational
institution maintained or aided by the State, ‘on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, language or any of them’ [Article 29(2)];
iii) Right of all religious and linguistic minorities to establish and
administer educational institutions of their choice [Article 30(1)];
iv) Freedom of minority-managed educational institutions from
discrimination in the matter of receiving aid from the State [Article
30(2)];
v) Special provision relating to the language spoken by a section of the
population of any State [Article 347];
vi) Provision for facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary
stage [Article 350 A];
vii) Provision for a Special Officer for linguistic minorities and his duties
[Article 350 B]; and
viii) Sikh community’s right of ‘wearing and carrying kirpans [Article 25].

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 With the gradually growing realization among the Indian policy makers
that the minorities in the country are confronted with diverse and unique
challenges from time to time, there developed a necessity to look into the
special needs of the minority communities separately and accordingly provide
provisions for their welfare and development in the various national Five Year
Plans. Some of these efforts have been discussed herein

Minority Commission:

The “Minorities Commission”, aimed to safeguard and protect the

interests of the minorities, was set up by the Government of India in January,
1978. This Commission became a statutory body and was renamed as the
“National Commission for Minorities” with the enactment of the National
Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Under Section 2(C) of this Act, the
Government of India, vide notification dated 23rd October, 1993, notified five
religious communities, namely, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and
Zorastrians (Parsis) as minority communities in India. Similarly, in the Sixth
Plan (1980-85) it was acknowledged that the minorities were a separate socio-
economic group and hence special provisions were made for them through the
Minimum Needs Programme21.

The Sachar Committee:

A Prime Minister’s High Level Committee was formed in 2005 to assess

the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India. This is because
there was a lack of reliable information on this issue. This Committee, popularly
known as the Sachar Committee, in its detailed report published in the end of
2006, highlighted the poor socio-economic status of the Indian Muslims in
comparison to the general population. Being alarmed by the findings of this
21
Massey J., Minorities and Religious Freedom in a Democracy, Centre for Dalit Subalter
Studies (Manohar, 2003)

12
report, the Union government stepped up its commitment to address the
problems of inequality, deprivation and exclusion among the Muslims in the
Eleventh Five Year Plan. This was undertaken through educational and
economic empowerment, better access to public services, strengthening of
minority institutions and area development programmes. The PMO listed the
terms of reference of the committee, which included obtaining relevant
information from departments/agencies of the Central and state governments
besides conducting an intensive literature survey for identify published data,
articles and research on the relative, social, economic and educational status of
Muslims in India at the state, regional and district levels.

The Sachar committee report provides details of the socio-economic and

cultural status of Muslims in India. It includes the following:

 25% Muslim children in the 6-14 group have either never attended school
or have dropped out;
 Only one out of every 25 undergraduate and 50 postgraduate students in
premier colleges is a Muslim;
 Workforce participation rate among Muslim women is only 25%. In rural
areas, 29% of Muslim women participate in the workforce as compared to
70% of Hindu women;
 61% of the total Muslim workers are self-employed as against 55% of
Hindu workers. 73% of Muslim women are self-employed as compared to
60% for Hindus;
 Only about 27% of the Muslim workers in urban areas are engaged in
regular work as compared to 40% SC/ST, 36% OBC and 49% Hindu
upper caste workers;

13
  Less than 24% of Muslim regular workers are employed in the public
sector or in government jobs as compared to 39% regular SC/ST workers,
37% Hindu upper caste and 30% OBC workers;
 The share of Muslim male workers engaged in street vending (especially
without any fixed location) is 12% as against the national average of less
than 8%; and
 The share of Muslims among defence personnel is only 4%. Compared to
other regular workers, a much larger proportion of Muslim regular
workers have no written contract (73%, against 52% for Hindu upper
caste and 63% each for Hindu-OBCs and SCs/STs) and no social security
benefit (71% against the national average of 55%).

The Sachar Committee report made several recommendations to the

government to improve the poor socio-economic status of Muslims. Based on
the recommendations, various programmes and schemes were formulated and
areas of intervention were figured out for implementation by the Government.

Rangnath Mishra commission on minorities:

The Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission was appointed by the Centre for
Religious and Linguistic Minorities, Government of India in October 2004 to
study various aspects of religious and linguistic minorities. The Commission has
made many recommendations to provide reservations for the Muslims,
Scheduled Cates and Other Backward Classes in government jobs The Rangnath
Mishra Commission report was tabled in Lok Sabha by Minority Affairs
Minister Salman Khurshid. The Commission submitted its report to the
government in May 2007. Its main recommendations include:

 The Commission for Minority Educational Institutions set up under the

National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004

14
 should be amended to make it broad-based in its composition, powers,
functions and responsibilities. Further it recommended that it should
work as the watchdog for enforcement of all aspects of minorities’
educational rights;
 Establishment of a national level Coordination Committee consisting of
representatives of all the nationalized banks and other financial
institutions to work under the Reserve Bank India for monitoring credit
flow to the minorities;
 To delink the Scheduled Caste (SC) status from religion and abrogation
of the 1950 Scheduled Caste Order, which “still excludes Muslims,
Christians, from the SC net;
 Ten per cent of the Central Government jobs should be reserved for
Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in all cadre and grades;
 Fifteen per cent of posts in all cadres and grades under the Central
governments should be earmarked for minorities;
 Ten per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other
minorities in all government welfare schemes like the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (Scheme), the PM RozgarYojana and the
GrameenRozgarYojana; and
 Appointment of Minority Welfare Committees consisting of official and
local experts in all districts of the country to act as the nodal agencies of
NCM, State Minorities Commission and all other Central and State-level
bodies working for the minorities.

The Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme:

In June 2006, one of the important programmes adopted for the welfare of
the minorities under this Ministry is the Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme.

15
This provides programme specific interventions, having definite goals which are
to be achieved within a specific time frame.

A very important aim of this programme is to ensure that the benefits of

various government schemes for the underprivileged reach the disadvantaged
sections of the minority communities. In order to ensure that the benefits of
these schemes flow equitably to the minorities, this programme envisages
location of a certain proportion of development projects in minority
concentration areas. It also provides that, wherever possible, 15 per cent of
targets and outlays under various schemes should be earmarked for the
minorities.

The schemes included under the 15 Point Programme, which are

amenable to earmarking, are:

 the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme by providing

services through the Anganwadi Centres (Ministry of Women & Child
Development);
 Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA);
 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme (KGBV) (Ministry of Human
Resources Development);
 Aajeevika(Ministry of Rural Development);
 Swarnajayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY) (Ministry of Housing &
Urban Poverty Alleviation);
 Upgradation of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) (Ministry of Labour &
Employment); and
 Bank credit under priority sector lending (Department of Financial
Services).

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Multi-sectoral Development Programme:

In addition to the existing educational schemes for minorities, a special

scheme called the Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP), was
launched in the rural and semi-rural areas of 90 minorities concentrated districts,
during the year 2008-09. These are Pre-matric scholarship scheme, Post-matric
scholarship scheme, Merit-Cum -Means scholarship scheme, Maulana Azad
National Fellowship, Free Coaching and Allied Scheme etc.

The larger aim of this programme is to improve the socio-economic and

basic amenity facilities for improving the quality of life of the people and reduce
imbalances in the Minority Concentration Districts (MCDs).

Leadership Development of Minority Women Scheme

The Ministry of Minority Affairs launched this scheme in the area of

gender empowerment, and has started implementation of this scheme from the
year 2012-13. The objective is to empower and instil confidence in women, by
providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with government
systems, banks, and intermediaries at all levels so that they are emboldened to
move out of the confines of home and community and assume leadership roles
and assert their rights, collectively and individually, in accessing services,
facilities, skills and opportunities besides claiming their due share of
development benefits for improving their lives and living conditions.

National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC)

The National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation

(NMDFC) provides for concessional loans for self-employment and income
generating activities to persons of minority communities, having a family
income below double the poverty line. NMDFC provides loans through (i) State

17
Channelising Agencies (SCAs) nominated by the respective State /UT
Governments and (ii) through Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The
micro financing scheme of NMDFC mainly focuses on poor minority women
aiming their empowerment by way of meeting their credit needs in an informal
manner through Non-Governmental Organizations and Self Help Groups

One can conclude that minority rights are essentially the recognition of
one’s separate cultural identity by the state. Through these provisions the state is
obligated to ensure that the minorities have the freedom to live in accordance
with the practices of their community and have the opportunity to develop to
fullness.

III. Problems of Religious Minorities in Contemporary Political Discourse

of India:

The issue of religion continues to remain a remarkable salient feature for

any adequate understanding of the social reality of Independent India. The
founding myth of “centrist ideology” constructed out of the experience of the
nationalist and the trauma of partition has sustained even after almost sixty nine
years of independence. The contradiction in India’s concept of secularism was
its simultaneous commitment to communities and to equal citizenship.22 This
contradiction became more manifest when these commitments were challenged
owing to the political episode that took place in the post- independence phase,
mounting distrust amongst the Sikhs, Hindus and the Muslims. The rapid rise of
Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) in the late 1980s is an example of such
fundamentalist surge. In 1989, Bhartiya Janta Party (the electoral wing of Hindu
right) won the general elections. This party’s advent to power was followed by
many violent and destructive riots between Hindus and the Muslim minorities.

22
Lloyd I. and Susan H. Rudolph, In Pursuits of Lakshmi (Chicago, 1987)pp. 38-39

18
The anatomization between these two communities deepened with the Babri
Masjid controversy in 1992. Babri Masjid, a mosque built in 1528 in Ayodha (a
Hindu dominated district of Uttar Pradesh, India) was also claimed by the Hindu
right to be the birthplace of god Ram. Later, on 6 th December 1992, thousands
of Hindutva volunteers had demolished the mosque, which led to resurgence of
the rivalries between these two communities.23 As Tejani notes, “[t]he violence
of 1992 appeared to many in the Western media as evidence that the Indians had
fallen short in the task of over-writing their “traditional” identities of religion
and sect with the “modern” identities of nation, class and occupation.” 24 This
event, thus marks the birth of the communal politics of the state, which had left
every Indian citizen with a dual identity-one identifying him/her with the
national community and the other to the particular religious community he/she
belonged to.

In contemporary India communalism has emerged as a discourse for

articulating differences. In run-up to the Parliamentary election of 2014 the
differences between the Hindus and the Muslims of India was articulated
through communal riots originating in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh.
The event which initially began with an altercation in a locality of
Muzaffarnagar, later led to a nationwide rage and claimed many innocent lives.
Inflammatory speeches by right –wing Hindu leaders and allied groups led to
three days of mass violence and riot in most of the districts of Uttar Pradesh.
The violence ceased after a curfew was imposed and Indian army was deployed
to restore peace and order. The incidents had massive repercussion on the lives
of the local Muslims. Nearly hundreds were killed and Muslim citizens from
23
Anupama Roy, Gendered Citizenship: Historical and Conceptual Explorations (Orient
Black Swan Press, 2005
24
Shabnum Tejani, ‘Defining Secularism in the Particular: Caste and Citizenship in India
1909-1950’ [2013] Religion and Politics section of the American Political Science
Association, 705

19
almost 150 villages had to flee from their homes. The local groups working with
victim has reported that even today approximately 27000 Muslims from
Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring district remain displaced.25 Despite, their being
a proper framework of rights and safeguards for minority protection under the
constitution, the failure of the state to surmount this has resulted in failure of
consensus.

The distribution of the government jobs and access to economic resources

in the modern India is a reflection upon dramatic inequities. Tracing from the
colonial ear, the data shows that the Muslims who had 35% jobs in the
government offices now have only 3.5 % job in free India, likewise Christians
had 15% their figure has dropped to 1%. But the most striking contrast is in
employment of the Brahmins. Under the colonial administration the Brahmins
had 3% employment in government offices, fractionally less than the proportion
of their 3.5% population. In independent India the figures raised to 70% of
government jobs. They do equally well in electoral post, of the 503 Lok Sabha
members 190 are Brahmins and of the 244 members of Rajhya Sabha 89 are
Brahmins. These figures clearly indicate that 3.5% of the Brahmin community
in India holds 36% to 63% of the plump jobs of the country. 26 Apart from
discrimination in access to resources, minorities in India have also been the
victim of hate politics. In a recent incident in October 2015 four Muslim men
were killed by Hind vigilante groups in separate incidents across the country,
based on suspicion that they had killed or stolen cows for beef. The violence
was perpetrated by aggressive Right wing Hindu groups who of their own

25
See, The Plight of Religious Minorities in India, Tom Laqntos Human Rights Commission
Testimony by Human Rights Watch.
26
Dominic George, “Mandal commission and the Failure of Dalits,” Journal of Dharma, Vol.
XVI, No.1, Jan-March 1991, 67

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accord undertook the task of protecting cows and put a ban on beef
consumption, because they are considered scared by Hindus.27

Similar incidents of attack were reported against the Christian minorities

in India. In 2015, churches were attacked in several states of India, promoting
fear of growing Hindu militancy under the BJP government. Reportedly there
were almost eighty five such incidents across twenty states of India. These
incidents were violent enough to claim life of nearly eight thousand Christians.28

Invariably the Muslim and the Christian minorities have been the targets
of hate politics in India. The violence against these communities have existed
ever since the formation of the Indian nation-state, however, the trajectories of
these recent incidents reveal that India’s commitment to communities versus
India’s commitment to equal citizenship, the political balancing act which
worked well in the first decades of the independence is proving impossible to
sustain over the long haul. In these recent cases violence against minorities are
perpetuated and sustained by the State.

The present situation needs to be evaluated critically to give the minorities

in multicultural societies their perspective and place in democratic polity.
Democracy is significant not simply in terms of free speech and other things, it
is significant because its overall purpose is to bring different point of views, and
different sensibilities into constant creative interaction, as truth can only come
out of intercultural dialogue. Modern societies in the west have adhered to
federalism, sub-national constitutions, regionalism and affirmative action to
protect the rights of minorities. But in the case of India where the modernity of
society is in quite early stage (remaining more as an illiberal society), both the

27
Ibid, 25
28
See Reports from Times of India, available at
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/85-major-anti-Christian-incidents-in-2015-
claims-NGO/articleshow/50618719.cms

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federal package and affirmative action politics are not designed to protect the
rights of minorities from majoritarianism. Many West European countries which
are not multicultural as India have been thinking seriously to be considerate to
the rights of the non-majority groups. Nicole Topperwien says that participation
of rights can render states able to respond to the multicultural
challenge.29Participation rights are here understood as guaranteed and
institutionalised special influence on the decision making process in state
institutions- this could be proportional, over-proportional, or equal
representation of the groups. The adoption of rights and safeguards for
minorities, the spirit of secularism and equality in the constitution already fulfils
this requirement. However, what we lack is the political will of reinforcing these
of these constitutional values by strengthening and fortifying them. Secularism
and equality may not be able to stand as a foundational concept by itself; hence
there is a need for stronger political will in order to meet the challenges faced by
these concepts.

*****

29
Chandhokle. N., Beyond Secularism: The Rights of Religious Minorities (Oxford
University Press,1999)p.49

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