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CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF IMPLEMENTATION ON OF RIGHTS OF MINORITIES IN NORTH-EAST INDIA BY:- PRADNYA VIJAYKUMAR PATIL
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CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF
IMPLEMENTATION ON OF RIGHTS OF MINORITIES IN NORTH-EAST INDIA
AUTHORED BY:-
PRADNYA VIJAYKUMAR PATIL
INTRODUCTION
? Minority - The word 'minority' used
in English is derived from the Latin word 'minor'. It is suffixed with 'eti',
which literally means 'small in number'. According to the United Nations, any
group or community that is not socially, politically, and economically dominant
and is small in number is considered a minority group. In the third part of the
Indian Constitution, the fundamental rights have been clarified which are the
rights of the minorities. But there is no definition of minority in the
constitution. The Motilal Nehru Report (1928) expressed a major desire to
protect minorities but lacked sufficient explanation. The Sapru Report (1945)
also proposed, inter alia, a Commission on Minorities, but it did not define
minorities.
Historical
background
The substantive resolution moved by
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the Constituent Assembly on 13 December 1946 was unanimously
adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1947. In this resolution, it
was decided that government mechanisms would be adopted for the benefit of
minority communities, remote backward areas, and tribals. Dr. Ambedkar, while
in the Drafting Committee of the Constitution, brought up the discussion on the
word minority. In this discussion, Ambedkar says, 'The word minority is only
technically a minority. It is necessary to understand it in a broader sense
than them.' He had argued for the need for cultural protection of this broad
minority group.
The Drafting Committee of the
Constitution in 1948 framed various provisions and laws under the name Special
Provisions relating to Minorities and contained in Part XIV and Articles
292-301. Important changes were made in the provisions for the special rights
of minorities, in which minorities had no special rights except in cultural and
educational subjects. It is further to be noted that no provision has been made
in the Constitution for reserved seats for religious minorities in the
Legislature and public services.
The rights granted to minorities in
India by the Constitution protect the people of the group from being
discriminated against on the basis of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic, or
religious identity. Persons belonging to minority groups are expected to be
able to learn and use their language, to use their own names, to preserve their
identity, and to express it freely. Hence, the rights granted to minorities by
the Constitution guarantee these groups equality, protection of fundamental
freedoms, non-discrimination, protection from violence on the basis of
different identities, and participation in political and public life. It also
guarantees the possibility of cooperation with other communities and
organizations within states and across borders. Minority rights are an integral
part of human rights. The main objective is that by using these special rights,
the minority and majority communities should coexist peacefully and help each
other to build a better future.
Rights of
Minority Community
The basic fundamental rights given to
the minority community in the Constitution of India include cultural and
Educational rights is included.
Article 29. Protection of the interests of the minority
classes
(1) Any group of citizens living within the
territory of India or any part thereof having its own distinct language, script,
or culture shall have the right to preserve it.
(2) No citizen shall be denied
admission to any educational institution run by the State or aided by State
funds solely on the grounds of religion, race, caste, language or any of these.
Article 30.
Right of minority classes to establish and administer educational
institutions.
(1) All classes who are in the minority
on the basis of religion or language shall have the right to establish and
administer educational institutions of their choice.
(1a) In making any law providing for
the compulsory acquisition of any property of an educational institution
established and administered by a minority class as specified in clause (1),
the State shall, by reason of the amount fixed by or under such law for the
acquisition of such property, restrict the right guaranteed under that clause
or It will make sure that it is such
amount that it will not be canceled.
(2) In granting aid to educational
institutions, the State shall not discriminate to the detriment of an
educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a
class that is a minority on the basis of religion or language.
Who is the minority?
Article 30 (1) of the Constitution
uses the terms 'linguistic' or 'religious' minority. Minorities can be either linguistic or
religious. They need not be both a
minority as well as a linguistic minority.
Religious A linguistic minority for the purpose of Article 30 (1) is a
people whose independent speech is the language. Even that language is not said
to have a separate script. There are many languages ??in India, that have no
such script of their own, but still the speakers of such languages ??can be
classified as linguistic minorities by claiming the right under Article 30
(1) 3 36.
The word 'minority' has been used in
the constitution without defining the word 'minority' precisely. The National Commission
for Minorities Act, 1992 also does not provide a clear definition by which the
Center can designate a community as a minority. In the context of the Kerala
Education Bill, the Supreme Court held that it is simplistic to say that a
minority means a community comprising less than 50%. But in what context
exactly is the 50% number? This question is important here. Is that percentage
in proportion to the whole population of India or in proportion to the number
of a State, or in respect of some particular part thereof? A majority community
in a state is likely to be a minority in the whole of India. A community may be
concentrated in one part of a state and thus be a majority there, even if it is
a minority in the state as a whole. If a state is to be included, where to draw
the 50% limit, and what unit to consider for it? This is the question – e.g.
District, city, municipality, or subdivision thereof.
However, the Supreme Court has not
definitively ruled on this issue. But in the context of the particular law
challenged, the Court has preferred who is a minority. Thus if a State Act is
subject to reference to the State as a whole, the unit minority must be
determined in reference to the State population as a whole. At such a time Any
community, language, or religion, that is numerically less than 50 percent of
the total population of the State, shall be deemed to be a minority for the
purpose of Article 30 (1). Therefore, the Christian community, which is 22
percent of the population in Kerala, has been given minority status.
Those on
the basis of language and religion
Having minority status, they get a certain
percentage reservation in government jobs, cheap loans from banks, scholarships
for students, and priority in admissions to educational institutions with
minority status. For example, Jamia Millia Islamia University has been granted
the status of a religious minority institution. Here almost 50 percent of seats
are reserved for students from the Muslim community. There is no caste-based
reservation quota here. Therefore, there is a continuous struggle and
controversy by various groups across the country to get minority status. To
date 6 religions namely Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Parsi, and
Jainism have got minority status at the national level. The central government
gave this status to Jainism in 2014, while others got it in 1993.
Important court judgments in this
context
The case of St. Stephen's College v
Delhi University challenged the preference given to Christian students at St.
Stephen's College. Subsequently, it was decided that half of the seats in the
selection process would be reserved for minority communities and the remaining
half would be based on merit.
T.M.A. Pai Foundation v. State of
Karnataka
The dispute in this case is
specifically in relation to Article 30. It concerned the question of how to
choose the state or the entire country as the unit for determining the status
of religious or linguistic minorities. An eleven-judge bench was constituted to
adjudicate this question. The majority held that language is the main basis for
the establishment of different States, for the purposes of Article 30, the
factor of linguistic minority must be determined in relation to the State in
which an educational institution is sought to be established. The 6-judge
majority held that only the State can determine the status of religious or
linguistic minorities and that religious and linguistic minorities, which are
accorded common status in Article 30, should be considered state-wise. Also,
the court opined that any rule made in the national interest of minority
educational institutions must be applicable to all educational institutions.[1]
D.A.V. In College v. State of Punjab,
the Court held that while it is not necessary in terms of Article 29(1) to
inquire whether all Hindus in the Punjab as well as the Arya Samaj speak Hindi
as a dialect, there is no doubt that the Arya Samaj has an independent script.
It differs from the Gurmukhi script used by the majority Sikh community in
Punjab. This script is the Devanagari script. Therefore, they are entitled to
the right under Article 29 (1). Because they are a religious minority and
constitute a group of citizens with a distinct script under Article 30 (1). The
Court[2]
held that the term linguistic minority for the purpose of Article 30 (1) must
have at least one distinct language spoken. There is no need to have a separate
script even for those who speak that language as a linguistic minority. There
are languages ??in this country, which have no such script of their own, but
the people who speak those languages ??would still be linguistic minorities,
entitled to the protection of Article 30(1).
4) In the case of the Kerala State
Education Bill, the court opined that
1) An educational institution for a
minority To get the special rights that are available, to other communities
• No need to deny access to members.
2) It is not necessary that an institution
run by a religious minority should impart only religious education or that an
institution run by a linguistic minority should teach only language.
5) The Supreme Court in the case of
Managing Board of the Milli Takimi Mission Bihar and others v. State of Bihar
held that the minority communities have a fundamental right to run their
institutions and it is as important as any other right granted to the nation's
citizens. Refusal of recognition of these institutions by the Government
without proper and sufficient reason is a violation of the right guaranteed
under Article 30 (1) of the Constitution.
Hindu
Minority Question
Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has filed a
petition in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the 'National
Commission for Minorities Act, 1992' and the 'National Commission for Minority
Educational Institutions. Upadhyaya's petition raised some important points,
according to which groups such as Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and
Parsis are counted as minorities at the national level. But in the states of
Ladakh, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh,
Punjab, and Manipur, Jews, Bahais and followers of Hinduism are real
minorities. As they do not get minority status, they are not able to establish
and manage educational institutions according to their choice. This has
endangered the fundamental rights of the 'minority' communities at the state
level. Also, the rights given to minorities under Article 29-30 were suppressed
by the majority community of that state are going Because the Center has not
notified them as 'Minority' under the NCMEI (National Commission for Minority
Educational Institutions) Act. On the other hand, in a Muslim-majority state[3]
Their population is equal to that of
Lakshadweep (96.58%) and Kashmir (96%). It is also significant in some states
like Ladakh (44%), Assam (34.20%), Bengal (27.5%), Kerala (26.60%), Uttar
Pradesh (19.30%) and Bihar (18%). . They can establish and manage educational
institutions of their choice in these states. While the Christian population is
the majority in Nagaland at 88.10%, Mizoram at 87.16% and Meghalaya at 74.59%,
and in Arunachal, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, where they
are not the majority, but have significant populations. They can establish
educational institutions and administer the same. Also Sikhs are in majority in
Punjab, where they can set up their educational institutions. But Hindus who
are a minority in these states are deprived of this right as they do not have
minority status.
Upadhyay's petition further states
that as per the 2011 census, there are eight states across the country where
Hindus have become a minority by population. These are states where the Hindu
population is less than fifty percent. It includes Manipur (31.39 percent),
Punjab (38.40 percent), Arunachal Pradesh (29 percent), Jammu and Kashmir
(28.44 percent), Meghalaya (11.53 percent), Nagaland (8.75 percent),
Lakshadweep ( This includes the states of Mizoram (2.5 percent) and Mizoram
(2.75 percent).
The petitioner has demanded in the
Supreme Court that T.M.A. In this case, the Court of Nationality has decided
that minorities can be determined not at the level, but at the state
level. Therefore, state-wise, where
Hindus are a minority, they should get the same rights as minorities.
In 2016, the Maharashtra government granted
this status to Jews in their state by exercising the right of states to grant
minority status to various minority groups in that state. The states of Karnataka and Gujarat have also
given such status to some linguistic groups.
But local politics in India seem to be standing in the way of minority
status for Hindus. For example, in
Nagaland, where Christians are the majority (87%), Hindus (8%) are a
minority. Majority understand if
concessions are made to Hindus as Christian understanding is decisive in local
politics
will be upset and will suffer in the
elections. This is actually suppressing
the fundamental rights of the minority Hindu community. Similar is the situation of Hindus in the
states of Punjab and Manipur...
As the local politics is in the hands of the
majority, some states are trying to resolve this dispute in the courts. But unless Hindus and other religions get the
minority rights accorded to them by the constitution in the state where they
are a minority, the controversy will continue to rage. In all this, new serious questions are being
raised due to the suppression of the fundamental rights and the position of the
minority groups in the social life.
Article Information
CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF IMPLEMENTATION ON OF RIGHTS OF MINORITIES IN NORTH-EAST INDIA BY:- PRADNYA VIJAYKUMAR PATIL
Authors: PRADNYA VIJAYKUMAR PATIL
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2024/04/11
- Issue 7
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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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