What is minority right?

uk jn

Minority... you mean Muslims? In India Minority means only Muslims even though they are the 2nd Majority

CA pp jain

Religion as an opinion or an intellectual vision as we knew it is changing, taking new forms of power, politics and material. We are upset about changes. But do we fear that breaking our silence on changes will dent on our decency and good nature. For those who think that a discussion on change is eminent to forge a healthy religious unity among the Kerala people, here is an opportunity)

The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) on Wednesday granted minority status to five educational institutions under the Pushpagiri Medical Society; ending an eight-year-old wait that began in February 1999. With this, the number of professional colleges having minority status in Kerala has gone up to 11. reference

Currently the number of minority institutions that got â€˜minority statusâ€™ stands at 27 and the upward trend continues.

The Commissionâ€™s verdict, apparently kept under wraps by Keralaâ€™s Media from reaching its majority, is riddled with controversy, lack of common sense and is another example for Indiaâ€™s judicial bungling.

That an Indian constitutional clause (article 30) intended to guarantee a minority, rights to run own educational institutions to attain equal development with the majority is used to enhance the minorityâ€™s domination over the majority, is the controversy.

The verdict is a cover for the rich owners of Keralsâ€™s Professional Colleges to renege on their social responsibility. For the socially and economically backward, still reeling under Indiaâ€™s old apartheid and the poor it deflects professional education into an unreachable trajectory.

No doubt, it hacks through the socialist model of development that Kerala has been envisaging for decades. I wonder how many current flag bearers of the â€˜minority statusâ€™ would have been there if Kerala had not embarked on that model.

Currently the two minorities in Kerala, the Christians and the Muslims, are far more advanced than the rest of its population.

One cannot forget how these minorities have turned Keralaâ€™s old apartheid situations to their favour: a Kerala that reeled under the lordship of a lazy, unskilled feudal land-lords, and an equally inefficient royal princes.

Colonialism with its missionary outfit and the oil in Arabian lands rushed more opportunities into the minoritiesâ€™ hands.

When feudalism crumbled, its bankrupt managers had no choice but to pawn away Keralaâ€™s land properties to the rich minorities.

In the rush of the foreign money even when the minority wholesaled the landed property of Kerala, the poor patiently retreated to the outskirts blaming their own destiny, appreciating and respecting the achievement of the minorities.

They never interfered with the minorityâ€™s rights to language and religion and never discriminated against them.

Yet, why are my minority friends cutting out a sorry state of them invoking article 30? To gain development at par with the majority, or to renege on their social responsibility towards the disadvantaged and the poor

Who is a Kerala Minority?

Amidst all these perhaps the most interesting questions are (i) Who is a Minority in Kerala (ii) In the context of Article 30 of the I.C, are the rights for minority educational institutions the same as â€˜minority statusâ€™?

Even the UN that stands to protect the rights of the minorities the world over does not give a definition on, â€˜Who is a Minority?â€™

In some context, minority is taken to be people that are undergoing serious discrimination and ill treatment from the rest of the population, which has never been the case in India.

Likewise, the Indian constitution never defined who is a minority in its national or state contexts. The following article highlights that even article 30 of the Indian constitution are silent on â€œWho is a minority?â€ reference

John Dayal, President of All India Catholic Union Secretary general, All India Christian Council defines in his article, â€œThe Indian Government, the Supreme Court and the Religious Minorities of Indiaâ€, that article 30 as one that gives â€œ Minorities, both religious and linguistic, the right to administer their own institutions as the means to preserving, encouraging and propagating that distinctive culture which makes them what they are, members of Indiaâ€™s rich tapestry of a plural cultureâ€. reference

Do Christians in Kerala have a â€˜distinctive cultureâ€™ different from that of the rest? If so, is it European, Roman or American? The same question applies to the Muslims?

According to a 2004 statistics in Kerala, there were 258 professional colleges run by minorities against 89 Hindu-owned. Were they for â€˜preserving, encouraging and propagating minoritiesâ€™ distinctive cultures? (Somebody please help me)

In the same article Dayal talks about Soli Sorabjee, Indiaâ€™s esteemed former Attorney General that he recently presented before the Supreme Court of India that â€œthe right of the minority communities to establish and administer an ed

reghukumar

In Kerala ,both Xi'an and Muslim communities enjoy many benefits of Government under the label of " Minority Protection". The Vote Bank Politicians brought only the religious hatred among those who live without any Govt. grants ( ie:upon one's merit )
For example, Muslim Madrasa teachers are now offered Rs.4,000/- as pension from Govt.Treasury ! It is ironic to note that Devaswom pensioners' money come only from Temple Income; not from Govt.Treasury.

alamsha_karnan

This is just an eye wash. Never get into this nasty trap and you won't get anything free. If you are Muslim, then follow this.

http://alamsha.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/04/varun-gandhi-nehru-and-jinnah-are-right-hindus-must.htm

Roshan kumar jha,Rautahat, Gaur,Nepal

Of the many ‘minority’ ethnic groups of Nepal, the Madhesis have put forward their demands before the government more strongly after the Revolution. An understanding of Madhesis and their demands is integral to understanding what is at stake in Nepal today. The Madhesis of Nepal are the lowland people, occupying the strategic Terai belt bordering the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttaranchal. They include different cultural and linguistic groups – Maithilis, Bhojpuris, Awadhis, Tharus, as also some smaller tribal groups. The Madhesis claim that they form 40-50 per cent of the total population of Nepal. Since the Madhesis occupy the most important lifeline of Nepal, it is obvious that activities in the Terai would have immense implications for Nepal. The domestic economy of Nepal depends overwhelmingly on this region that forms its industrial hub with more than 70-80 per cent of all industries located in the Terai, as also its agricultural bowl, producing more than 65 per cent of the nation’s foodgrains. The Madhesi issue is as old as the emergence of Nepal’s democratic movement in 1950s; major grievance of that time was the imposition of Nepali as medium of education. In the mid-1970s and 80s, issues of citizenship and ‘work permit’ were the major problems for the Madhesis. For the last fifty years, they have been raising their voice against alleged ‘discrimination’ by the state, yet their problems remained unresolved. Their major demands continue to revolve around questions of citizenship and political participation. The DMA claims that even today five million Madhesis have been denied citizenship. During the ongoing agitation, the demands the DMA has put forward include issuance of ‘citizenship to all stateless Madhesis before elections to the Constituent Assembly’ (CA), ‘Establishment of Federal, Democratic Republican political system’, ‘Proportional Representation for Madhesis in all state structures’, ‘Proportional Representation for Madhesis in the CA election’, and ‘Fresh Census on a scientific basis before elections to the CA.’ To concede to the Madhesi-specific demands, Nepal’s government may have to break its traditional apprehensions and narrowly defined ideologies and policies. The Madhesis seem to have understood that this is the best moment to herald a better future for their people. Hence, the Madhesi leadership will make every effort to pressurize the government and ensure that their demands are realized in the new dispensation. They have, for the first time, garnered the courage to stage a gherao in the capital of Kathmandu. Such an occurance would have been unimaginable some years ago and an important reason for this change is the April Revolution. It is unclear whether all the Madhesis will stand united under the DMA banner until their demands are achieved. The schisms between various Madhesi groups have been a major handicap of the Madhesi movement in the past. Differences in terms of religion, caste, tribal groups and language were the major divisive elements. These divisions still remain the movement’s vulnerabilities. However, this does not make the movement a non-starter. Despite the many differences and divisions among them, one of the most important uniting factors that binds all the groups together is the sense of being ‘discriminated against’. The Madhesis’ strength also lies in the fact that this is the first time that they have come together under one Madhesi umbrella to stage a protest in Kathmandu. This suggests a realization by the Madhesi leadership of the weakness afflicting their movement so far. Another source of strength lies in the support they have received from other minority communities facing similar problems. In the changed political context, the movement surely has the potential to carve out a space for the Madhesis in the new polity and in redefining Nepal’s political structure. At the same time, it is also one of several potential fissures that have arisen as a consequence of the Jan Andolan of April 2006. Roshan kumar jha Kathmandu school of Law, BHakatpur,Nepal LL.B 3rd year

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