Problems of Religious Minorites | Sociology Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

India is a multilingual and a multireligious country. Indian pluralistic in character from the religious and other point of view. Since a very long time people belonging to various religious ,communities have been living together in this nation. Though Majority of the people living in this land are Hindus [82.41%1 people belonging to other religious communities such as Muslims [11.67%], Christians: [2.32%], Sikhs [2%]', Buddhists [0.77%], Jains [0.41] and others [0.43%] are also living along with the Hindus by enjoying on par similar rights and opportunities. By virtue of their numerical strength the Hindus  constitute the majority while  the rest of the religious communities come under what is known as religious minorities.

Concept of Minority

• The dictionary meaning of the world minority is that it signifies a smaller number in opposition to the other party.
• A minority is a category of people singled out for unequal and inferior treatment simply because they are identified as belonging to that category.
• Minority group refers to any recognizable racial, religious, or ethnic group in a community that suffers from some disadvantage due to prejudice or discrimination.
• The most common general description of a minority group used, is of an agg regate of people who are distinct in religion, language, or nationality from other members of the society in which they live and who think of themselves, and are thought to by others, as being separate and distinct.

Speaking about the concept of minority in the Indian context, it can be said that the term has not been properly defined anywhere in the Indian Constitution. But minority status has been conferred on many groups.

• According to the Article 29 of the Constitution, any group living within the jurisdiction of India is entitled to preserve and promote its own language, script or literature, and culture.
• Article 30 states that a minority group whether based on religion or language shall have the right to establish and administer educational institution of their choice.
• The Preamble of the Indian Constitution guarantees for all of its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. There is no discrimination against the minorities on any ground whatsoever.

Minority groups of ethnic, religious, racial or linguistic character are found in several countries of the world:, The recent history of these, minority groups reveals that most of these groups are faced with two main types of problems , 

• the problem of prejudice and discrimination; and
• the problem of preserving the distinct social cultural life.

Problem of Prejudice and Discrimination

Prejudice and discrimination are found in any situation of hostility between racial and ethnic groups and divergent religious communities. The two terms are often used interchangeably in ordinary speech, but in fact, they refer to two different, but related phenomena:

• Prejudice refers to a prejudged attitude toward members of another group. These groups are regarded with hostility simply because they belong to a particular group and they are assumed to have the undesirable qualities that are supposed to be characteristic of the group as a whole.
• Discrimination, on the other hand, refers to action against other people on the grounds of their group membership. It involves the refusal to grant members of another group the opportunities that would be granted to similarly qualified members of one's own group.

The Preamble of the Constitution declares that all people irrespective of their caste, class, colour, creed, sex, region or religion will be provided with equal rights and opportunities. Article 15(1) and 15(2) prohibit discrimination on grounds of religion. Article 25 promises the right to profess, propagate and practice religion. It is clear that there is no legal bar for any religious community in India to make use of the opportunities [educational, economic, etc.] extended to the people. It is true that some religious communities [for example, Muslims] have not been able to avail themselves of the opportunities on par with other communities. This situation does not reflect any discrimination. It only reveals that such communities are lagging behind in the competitive race.
As far as prejudices are concerned, prejudices and stereotyped  thinking are common features of a complex society. India is not an exception to this. Commonly used statements such as Hindus are crowds; and Muslims are rowdies; Sikhs are dullards and Christians are converters etc reflect the prevalent religious prejudices. Common people who are gullible in nature never bother to find out the truth behind these statements, but are simply carried away by them. Such prejudices further widen the social distance among the religious communities. This problem still persist in India.

Problem of Preserving Distinct Social and Cultural Life

India is one among the very few nations which have given equal freedom to all the religious communities to pursue and practice their religion. Article 25 of the Constitution provides for such a right. Added to this, Article 3D (1) states all minorities whether based on religion or language shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. They are given the right to preserve their sociocultural characteristics. It has set up a Minorities Commission to help the minorities in seeking justice. No minority community can have a grievance against any government particularly in this matter.

 Problems of Minorities in India

• Problem of Providing Protection: Need for security and protection is very often felt by the Minorities. Especially in times of communal violence, caste conflicts, observance of festivals and religious functions on a mass scale, minority groups often seek police protection. Government in power also finds it difficult to provide such a protection to all the members of the minorities. It is highly expensive also. State governments which fail to provide such protection are always criticised. For example, 
  1. The Rajiv Gandhi Government was severely criticised for its failure to give protection to the Sikh community in the Union Territory of Delhi on the eve of the communal violence that broke out there soon after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984.
  2. The Gujarat government was criticised for its inability to provide protection to the Muslim minorities in the [Feb: Mar. 2002] communal violence that burst out.
  3. Similarly, the Government of Kashmir's inefficiency in providing adequate security to the Hindu and Sikh minorities in that state against the atrocities of Muslim extremists is also widely condemned.
• Problem of Communal Tensions and Riots: Communal tensions and riots have been incessantly taking place since independence. However, there are ups and downs in the incidents of communal riots. Whenever the communal tensions and riots take place for whatever reason, minority interests get threatened; fears and anxieties became wide spread. It becomes a tough task for the government in power to restore the confidence in them. The Delhi [1984] and the Gujarat [2002] episode of communal riots as stated above clearly reveal the situation.
• Problem of Lack of Representation in Civil Service and Politics: Though the Constitution provides for equality and  equal opportunities to all its citizens including the religious minorities, the biggest minority community, that is, Muslims in particular,: have not availed themselves of these facilities. There is a feeling among them that they are neglected. However, such a feeling does not seem to exist among the other religious communities such as the Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, for these are economically and educationally bette r than the majority community.
• Problem of Separatism: Some of the demands put forward by some the religious communities in some areas are not acceptable to others. This has widened the gap between them and others. Example: The separatist tendency present among some Muslim extremists in Kashmir and their demand for the establishment of Independent Kashmir is not acceptable to others. Such a demand is regarded as antinational. Similarly, some of the Christian extremists in Nagaland and Mizoram are demanding separate statehood for their provinces. Both these demands are supportive of separatism and hence cannot be accepted. Supporters of such demands, have been causing lot of disturbances and creating law and order problems in the respective states.
• Failure to Stick on Strictly to Secularism: India has declared itself as a secular country. The very spirit of our Constitution is secular. Almost all political parties including the Muslim league claim themselves to be secular. But in actual practice, no party is honest in its commitment to secularism. Purely religious issues are often politicized by these parties. Similarly, secular issues and purely laws and order problems are given religious colours. These parties are always waiting for an opportunity to politicise communal issues and take political advantage out of it. Hence the credibility of these parties in their commitment to secularism is lost. This has created suspicion and felling of insecurity in the minds of minorities.
• Problem Relating to the Introduction of Common Civil Code: Another major hurdle that we find in between the majority and minority relations is relating to the failure of Governments which have assumed power so far, in the introduction of a common civil code. It is argued that social equality is possible only when a common civil code is enforced throughout the nation. Some communities, particularly the Muslims oppose it. Even though some progressive.

Muslims are in favour of the Common Civil Code, the orthodox Muslims have been opposing it very strongly. Pressure is mounting on the Government to introduce such a uniform code, The Supreme Court itself had issued directives, to the Government to take necessary steps to introduce such a Uniform Civil Code. Some intellectuals have, for example, cautioned  that the Government must be very careful in introducing it. Prof. M. Mujeeb has stated: A uniform Civil Code is a good idea, but the necessary integration of different communities should be achieved first through judicial decisions and practical government measures.
The traditional Muslims who are not in favour of this proposal argue that the imposition of common civil code will take away their religious freedom for it is opposed to the Shariat. The Governments which ruled over the country so far have not dared to take the risk of introducing it for fear of losing Muslim votes. Intellectuals like Justice Krishna Iyer too have cautioned the Government to be very careful in taking steps in this direction. Sri Iyer had stated in one context: Hurried remedies, enthusiasts and Chauvinists, will aggravate the malady; for in the socio-political field one wrong step forward is two regrettable steps backward and a  policy of  principle compromise,  not of  doctrinaire as sectarian rigidity, moving up in zigzags, may be, is the right approach. The very issue of Common Civil Code has become controversial today. It has further widened the gap between the religious communities.