Evolving Features of the Muslim Representation in India.

NEWS HIGHLIGHT

Theme : Social empowerment, Minorities and issues associated with them.
Paper:GS-1 and GS-2

 The representation of Muslims is more of a lightning rod for present-day political divide.

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Context
2. Minorities
3. Constitutional Provisions for Minorities
4. Article-350-B
5. Components of symbolic representation of Muslims which have been hollowed out by right wing
6. Road Ahead

Context : The representation of Muslims is more of a lightning rod for present-day political divide.

Minorities : 

• Currently, only those communities notified under section 2(c) of the NCM Act, 1992, by the central government are regarded as minority.
• Muslim minority(Census 2011): population of Muslims in India 2(fourteen point two)% of India’s population.

Constitutional Provisions for Minorities : 

Article 29:

• It provides that any section of the citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language, script or culture of its own, shall have the right to conserve the same.
• It grants protection to both religious minorities as well as linguistic minorities.
• However, the SC held that the scope of this article is not necessarily restricted to minorities only, as use of the word ‘section of citizens’ in the Article includes minorities as well as the majority.

Article 30:

• All minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
• The protection under Article 30 is confined only to minorities (religious or linguistic) and does not extend to any section of citizens (as under Article 29).

Article-350-B : 

• The 7th Constitutional (Amendment) Act 1956 inserted this article which provides for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities appointed by the President of India.
• It would be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under the Constitution.

Components of symbolic representation of Muslims which have been hollowed out by right wing:

• Silence in their rhetorical response to the policies relating to cultural concerns of minorities (UCC, madrasas, AMU, Babri Masjid, etc)
• Protector: Self-consciously shirked away from the role of “protector” of minorities.
• Markedly indifferent attitude towards the systematic destruction of the political career of Muslim politicians.

Road Ahead : 

• The partial outsourcing of the task of mobilizing Muslims stemming to some extent from a long-standing under-representation of Muslims in party organization, remains a risky political maneuver.
• Secular parties of North India need to integrate the productive elements of the more robust southern model, promising “substantive representation” to Muslims while fending off the ‘attacks’ of “minority appeasement”.

FAQs : 

1. What is Article-29?

ANS. 

• It provides that any section of the citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language, script or culture of its own, shall have the right to conserve the same.
• It grants protection to both religious minorities as well as linguistic minorities.
• However, the SC held that the scope of this article is not necessarily restricted to minorities only, as use of the word ‘section of citizens’ in the Article includes minorities as well as the majority.

2. What is Article-30 ?

ANS. 

• All minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
• The protection under Article 30 is confined only to minorities (religious or linguistic) and does not extend to any section of citizens (as under Article 29)