MINORITIES RIGHTS

Asghar Ali Engineer on Minorities Rights

No society in the world now is unilingual, uni-religious or uni-cultural. Even the melting pot model on which the United State prided itself in no more valid. America (has) accepted the mosaic model.

In India, too, some people wanted to emphasise only the national identity, subsuming all other identities when the country became free. In other words, they wanted to develop a variant of the American melting pot model. But it did not succeed as the Indian historical experience had been quite different and also the democratic processes encouraged diversity

All of us have multiple identities - religious, linguistic, cultural, regional and caste or 'biradari'. No one can claim a single identity. Anyone who demands a single identity - i.e., national identity - does not recognise the reality. The functioning of our democracy is very much based on diverse identities and the very concept of vote-bank politics implies this diversity.

Along with diversity, the question of majority and minority becomes important for a functional democracy. Some do maintain that in a democracy there should only be a political majority and minority, not a religious or cultural one. They point out that religious or cultural majority varies from State to State.

But this could be a valid argument only if all discriminations and religious and cultural prejudices are wiped out. Such a liberal democracy does not exist anywhere in the world. India has the unique experience of Muslim minority - which was dominant medieval period - becoming a dominated minority with the advent of the British. When a dominant minority becomes a dominated minority all of a sudden, it results in complex problems.

Our country would not have been divided in 1947 but for this reason. The Muslims developed a fear psychosis and their elite, which was the ruler till yesterday, now had to live under the "Hindu rule." Some other developments accentuated this psychosis. Hence the Muslim elite demanded over-representation in the central legislature and as this could not be granted the country got divided.

Since the Indian leaders had burnt their fingers, they wanted to provide proper safeguards for the minorities in independent India. Even before freedom, the Congress leaders had given certain assurances to the minorities. These assurances had to be converted into constitutional guarantees. The framers of the Constitutional tried to redeem their pledge religious, linguistic and cultural minorities.

Articles 25 to 30 in Part III extend guarantees to all the categories of minorities - religious, cultural and linguistic. Article 25 relates to the freedom of conscience and religion.

First, it is the right guaranteed to all citizens. It is not merely an individual right but also corporate right. The individual as well as a religious community is free to avail itself of the right and it can have a collective manifestation. It also raises important questions. Will this right to profess, practise and propagate include the right to practise one's personal law and will it include the right to conversion?

There is no unanimity among the Supreme Court judges on this question. Some judges feel it includes the right to adhere to one's personal law whereas others assert it does not. The argument of "one country, one law" looks logical but as far as society is concerned mere logic does not help. Historical traditions and religious practices have their own force. Also, the historical context has its own significance. The minorities maintain that Article 25 includes the right to adhere to one's personal laws as these laws are an integral part of religion.

Similarly, Christians maintain that the right to conversion an integral part of their religion and the wording of the Article include "propagating" one's religion and that this implies the right to conversion. This too is controversial like the issue of personal law. The minorities themselves are divided on this question. But it is true the majority in the minority communities tend to be conservative.

(Under) Article 25(2)(a) the State retains its right to legislate in matters secular associated with religious practices. This should restrain the conservatives or vested interests in a religious community.

Article 29 and 30 relate to the cultural and linguistic minorities as much as the religious minorities According to Article 29, any section residing in any part having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same. The second part of the Article provides that no citizen, whatever her/his religion, race caste or language, be denied admission to any educational institution maintained by the State or with funds received from the state. Article 30 allows all the minorities, whether based on religion or language, to establish and administer educational institution of their choice.

Both the Articles are important for the promotion of religion, language and culture of the minorities. But Article 30 has led to a controversy as various smaller Hindu sects such as the Ramakrishna Order have claimed minority status for their educational institutions. Similarly, linguistic minorities such as the Gujaratis in Maharashtra have claimed privileges under this Article In some cases, the matter has assumed serious proportions and has been referred to the Supreme Court so that the concept of minority could be properly defined.

Controversies are bound to be there but what is important is the provision of these Articles for promoting minority religions, languages and cultures. These rights are fundamental to a democracy so that all could flower and prosper in a democratic set-up. It is also true that notionally the Indian state has been secular but functionally it has faltered. While the state should take all possible steps to implement the Constitutional guarantees, the minorities should also understand that the state is run by human beings with all their weakness. The majority-minority problems exist even in advanced democracies. A section of the majority in every country develops chauvinistic tendencies and puts pressure on the government to be guided only by the majority religion, race or culture. But this gives rise to a serious conflict in society and can also result in bloodshed as, in Sri Lanka: The stability of the country can be guaranteed only when both the majority and the minority adopt a reasonable and balanced stand.

(Source: The Hindu, 9 September, 1997)

State Minority Welfare Departments and Central Cell

Minority Welfare Departments; are now functional in the following States, each headed by a secretary:

Linguistic Minorities Commissioner Addresses:

i)               Commissioner, 40, A.M. Jha Marg, Allahabad -211002.

ii)             Assistant Commissioner (East), 67, Bentinck Street, Calcutta-700069

iii)           Assistant Commissioner (West), 23, Fort, Belgaum-590016

iv)            Assistant Commissioner (South), 108, Gengu Reddy Road, Egmore, Chennai-600008.

Some Educational Schemes for Minorities:

1.              The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched the following educational schemes:

i)                Area Intensive Programme for Educationally Backward Minorities.

ii)              Financial Assistance for Modernization of Madrasa Education.

iii)        Financial Assistance to Voluntary Organizations Working in the Field of Classical Languages including Arabic and Persian.

Address: Department of Education,

HRD Ministry, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001.

2.              The University Grants Commission has a Scheme of Financial Support for Coaching Classes for Minorities at Colleges/Universities for Competitive Examinations, Admission to Professional Courses and Vocational Proficiency.

Address: Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002.

3. The Central Wakf Council gives student scholarships and financial assistance for technical institutions/centres of vocational courses, etc.

Address: 14/173, Jamnagar House, Shah Jahan Road, New Delhi-110001.

Maulana Azad Education Foundation: The Foundation, set up in 1989, gives grants for residential schools, technical/professional institutions, hostel accommodation and remedial coaching for educationally backward sections.

Executive Vice-Chairman:Janab Saiyid Hamid, Talimabad, Sangam Vihar, Delhi-110092

Minorities Commission, 1978-1993

Chairmen

M.R. Masani (February-May 1978) M.R.A. Ansari (1978-81)

Mohd. Hameedullah Beg (1981-88) S.M.H. Burney (1988-92)

Members

V.V. John (1978-80)                                                    Arjan Singh (1978-81)

Aloo J. Dastur (1978-80)                                            Kushok G. Bakula (1978-89)

K.T. Satarwala (1981-83)                                           Sujan Singh (1981-85)

S.A. Durai Sebastian (1981-82)                                  N.F: Suntook (1983-85)

Annie Thayil (1983-85)                                              S.S. Uban (1986-90)

Homi J. Taleyarkhan (1985-90)                                  T. Stephen (1986-90)

B. Pertin (1990-93)                                                     Manathero Dhammaviriyo (1990-93)

M. Varadarajan (1991-93)

B.S. Ramoowalia (1990-93)

National Commission for Minorities, 1993-1995

Chairman                   Justice Mohammad Sardar Ali Khan (1993-96)

Vice Chairman          B.S. Ramoowalia (from 18.10.95)

Members

M.S. Agwani                                       B.S. Ramoowalia

Manathero Dhammaviriyo                 M. Vardarajan

John Joseph                                         R.K.S. Gandhi

Second National Commission, 1996

Chairman       Dr. Tahir Mahmood (26.11.1996 -)

State-Level Commissions

State-level Minority Commissions having statutory status have been established in Bihar, UP. Karnataka. West Bengal and M.P.

The composition of State Minorities Commission under these laws is not uniform.

Non-statutory state-level minority commissions and Boards exist in Andhra Pradesh, Assam (Board). Gujarat (Board), Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu            

(Source: NCM Newsletter).