‘Minority’ status in India

Why in news?

• The Supreme Court on 28^th March 2022 granted four weeks to the Centre to respond to a plea, which has sought directions for framing of guidelines for identification of minorities at the state level, contending that Hindus are in minority in 10 states.

More about News:

• A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court stating that the 2011 Census showed that Hindus have become a minority in states/UTs such as Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, J&K, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Punjab.
• But they were being denied minority benefits that are currently being enjoyed by the respective majority communities in these places.

Definition of Minority under Constitution:

• The Constitution does not define the term “minorities” anywhere, but only mentions it in some Articles.
• For instance,
  • Article 29 deals with the “Protection of interests of minorities”
  • Article 30 deals with the “right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions”
  • Article 350(A) says there shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President.

Who is a minority in India?

• Those communities notified under Section 2(c) of the National Minorities Commission Act, 1992 by the central government are regarded as minorities.
• Hence, in the exercise of its powers, the Centre has notified six groups:
  • Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains— as ‘minority’ communities.

What has the Court said on the issue of Minority status?

• T.M.A.Pai Foundation, 2002:
  • In this case, the Supreme Court dealt with the question of the scope of rights of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice under the Constitution.
  • While delivering judgment, the court rejected the contention that since Hindus were a majority in India, they could not be a religious minority in the State of Punjab as it took the State as the unit to determine whether the Hindus were a minority community.
  • Therefore, this judgment held that the unit to determine a religious or linguistic minority can only be the State.
• Bal Patil v/s Union Of India, 2005:
  • The SC in this case has re-instated the verdict in the TMA Pai Foundation case.
  • The Court clarified that the unit for determining the status of both linguistic and religious minorities would be ‘state’.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Which of the following communities are notified as ‘minorities’ under National Minorities Commission Act, 1992?

1. Jews

2. Sikhs

3. Buddhists

4. Parsis

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1,2 and 3 only

(b) 2,3 and 4 only

(c) 1 and 4 only

(d) 1,2,3 and 4

Answer