How do you understand the ‘minority’ question? Examine the violence and discrimination against the religious minorities in India. (UPSC CSE Mains 2019 - Sociology, Paper 2)
When a group of people is divided on any issue or approach or characteristics the difference usually produces a bigger sub-group and a smaller sub-group. The smaller sub-group is called minority whereas the bigger sub-group is called the majority. It is also possible that the two groups could be of equal strength or the smaller group may have control over power and other resources. So, it is not always the numerical strength or non-strength, which is the deciding factor for a group to be called a minority. If a group is discriminated against on the basis of religion, race or culture it can be considered a minority group.
Arnold Rose has defined minority without any quantitative connotations. He defines it as ‘a group of people differentiated from others in the same society by race, nationality, religion or language, who think of themselves as differentiated group and are thought of by others as a differentiated group with negative connotations. Further, they are relatively lacking in power and hence are subjected to certain exclusions, discrimination and other differential treatments.’
The violence and discrimination against the religious minorities in India.
Religious minorities have long been the target of a range of different forms of persecution, such as hate crimes, threats, attacks on places of worship, and forced conversion.
Main incidents of communal violence affecting India’s religious minorities,
- 1964, West Bengal / Bihar / Orissa- Riots took place in Calcutta, and later spread to Jamshedpur.
- Large-scale riots involving Hindus and Muslims in September 1969 took place in Ahmedabad
- November 1980, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh: An escalation of violence primarily between Muslims and (Hindu) Dalits
- 1983, Nellie, Assam: Violence during assembly elections occurred against a backdrop of ethnic and linguistic divisions, as well as tensions around the migration of Bangladeshi Muslims into the area.
- November 1984, Delhi: Following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two Sikh bodyguards, anti-Sikh riots broke out in Delhi
- 2002, Gujarat: Severe violence resulted in as many as 2,000 killed, 100,000 displaced, and many others injured – the overwhelming majority of them Muslim
- 2013, Muzaffarnagar and Shamli, Uttar Pradesh
Discriminations against religious minorities in India
While the minority groups are allowed to preserve their distinct characteristics they are also subjected to a great deal of discrimination.
- Very often they are discriminated in their social life. They are subjected to ridicule and segregation which further compels them to stay away from the majority.
- This discrimination in fact leads to assimilation among some ambitious members of the minority community
- The members of minority group ire eliminated by expulsion or by massacre
- They are often discriminated in all walks of life, in securing a job, in getting funds for educational institutions, in their social interaction and so on, inspite of the constitutional guarantees.
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