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India:
Who is a minority?
Ram
Puniyani
The
debate around the concept of minorities has been an ongoing one,
and it keeps propping up especially in the context of anti minority
violence occurring so frequently in India. Opining on the concept of
minority, and of course giving a baggage of advice to them, Mr. K.
Sudarshan, the RSS sarsanghchalak, (supreme dictator) said that
Muslims and Christians should not be regarded as minorities as they
have their genetic roots here. (Bhubaneshwar, Jan 24, 2004). He did
say that Jews and Parsis are the minorities but they do not claim
any such status. According to the same ideology Sikhs and Buddhists,
though are accorded the minority status by the constitution, are not
minorities. And the issue of Jains being accorded the minority
status is hanging fire since quite some time. So de facto the boss
of Sangh Parivar is asserting that the concept of minorities should
be done away with. Also he questions the definition and provisions
about minorities given in Indian constitution and in the UN
charters, and makes a simplistic claim that it is genes, which
should be the basis of defining minorities. Of course genetics is a
very complex subject, especially when applied to national, religious
and ethnic communities. This has become more so with the results of
some of the genetic roots of Human kind coming forth through various
scientific studies. One is skeptical if such a basis can be accepted
for defining the minorities. Mr. Sudarshan’s concepts are in tune
with Sangh Parivar’s (SP) notions of Hindu rashtra, Hindutva,
which give the genetic basis of race as the prime consideration for
defining the Nation and are polar opposite of the provisions of
Indian constitution and the UN charters.
These
documents (Indian Constitution and UN Charter) accept the
linguistic, regional, ethnic and religious diversities in the
national states and go on to suggest that those groups, which are
numerically weak may be vulnerable at social and political level so
the state needs to devise affirmative action for such groups, so
that they can strive for a secure life as citizens. In the nation
building processes multiple such factors have come up and to
accommodate the weaker sections the provisions for preservation of
their religion, language, culture etc., these safeguards have been
provided for. It is worth recalling here that the Nation state
formation has also been accompanied by transmigrations of people and
spread of religions. The initial concept that all the people forming
the Modern Nation states will result in a uniform culture, a
‘melting pot’, has been lately questioned. The concept of
‘mosaic model’, where different cultures intermingle and
preserve themselves is the one more congenial in the current times.
The melting pot model as such should be out come any way as
different people intermingle with each other and through their
interaction there is emergence of mixed traditions. But of course
these processes have their own logic and speed. If these processes
occur naturally they develop properly, if these are imposed they can
never come up and sustain. Mosaic model, is not just a poor
compromise, it can be the starting point from where communities
create another culture, of course by celebrating diversity. Not only
that it is supposed to be the duty of state to ensure that these
groups are not discriminated against due to their numerical
weakness.
These
norms are accepted practices in most of the modern democratic
states, and many of these provisions are also enshrined in the UN
charters on this issue. Most of the countries including India are
signatories to these charters. Needless to say these provisions are
supposed to be temporary, till the time the handicaps of minorities
are overcome and all citizens feel equally safe and secure in the
state. Has such a situation been achieved in our country? Far from
it. Can genetics be the basis of defining minorities? In no way!
While one is not clear about the genetic compositions of the
minorities one does recapitulate that race and religion have been
the major markers of minorities, but not the only one’s. One also
recalls Dr. Ambedkar’s remarks in the constituent assembly
debates; “in this country both the majority and minority have
followed the wrong path, it is wrong for the majority to deny the
existence of minorities. It is equally wrong for minorities to
perpetuate themselves” (Constituent Assembly Debates, VII,
p.39)
We
can go so far as to say that the present statement of Mr. Sudarshan
contradicts the earlier understanding of the RSS as presented by its
previous Sarsanghchalak Mr. Golwalkar in ‘We or Our Nationhood
Defined’ refers to Muslims and Christians as the foreign races.
While Mr. Sudarhsan may hold to the fact that Muslims have been
converted due to the swords of Muslims Kings and Christians due to
the allurement, the fact is that 95% of Muslims come from the
Shudras who took to Islam to escape the tyrannical Brahminism, the
synonym of Hinduism in RSS language, and many took to Christianity
due to the social work of Christian missionaries. The debate about
the genetic composition of Adivasi, Dravid, Aryan, and the North
Eastern is of no relevance today. What is important is their
political and social condition and their status as Indian Citizens.
What matters is whether they are able to live as equal citizens in
the country. What matters is whether we have come to a stage where
the affirmative clauses of minorities can be done away with. As
Ambedkar points out the majority should not deny the existence of
minority. What has happened on that front? Focusing on Muslims and
Christians we have to note that Muslims began with a lot of
disadvantage due to the tragedy of Pakistan formation, due to their
own inherent poor socio economic condition. The matters did not
improve as the communal politics began to resurface after the
Jabalpur riot of early 60s, which reminded the Muslims that their
safety in ‘secular’ India cannot be taken for granted. The
political, economic and social situation of Muslims is on the
decline more so after the upcoming of Ram temple issue and after the
demolition of Babri mosque. As a matter of fact this RSS politics
has entrenched the ‘Hate minority’ in a deeper sense and by now
that forms the base of the anti-Muslim pogroms.
As
far as Christians are concenred thought their economic plight has
not been as bad, in a way better than the average of Indian
population, their social security has seen serious erosion. The
anti-Christian missionary campaign, on the ground that they are
doing conversions by allurement, has seen the rise in the attacks on
Christian nuns and missionaries in far-flung areas. And this has
given a sense of insecurity to the community as a whole. When should
the minorities stop taking shelter of these protective clauses?
That’s possible only when they feel secure. That’s only when
they feel that they can breathe in the atmosphere of amity and
harmony? To give up the protective clauses today will further
intimidate them. We need to cultivate an atmosphere of harmony
before such ideas can be floated. The insecurity felt by both these
communities was never worse in the Independent India.
So
in effect What Mr. Sudarshan is doing is to increase the
intimidation of both these minority communities. What is needed
today is creation of an atmosphere where not only ‘Hate
Minority’ propaganda is halted but also an affirmative, proactive
stance where all the Indian citizens, irrespective of their religion
feel at home. Taking Ambedkar’s criterion, it is very clear that
minorities today are in no position to give up these protective
clauses, or is it that they need more of them? RSS is no
spokesperson of Hindus, it does represent the most retrograde values
of a section of Hindu community. If it is serious about ensuring
that the concept of minorities is done away with, it should stop the
whole paraphernalia, which it has unleashed upon the country, to
spread hate. |
