Muslims in India
History and Background
Today, Muslims constitute about 14 per cent of the total population in India. This constitutes
about 174 million people and this Muslim population is the third largest Muslim population in
the world. To speak of them as a minority might then seem misleading if you look at the
population numbers but keep in mind that minority status in this case refers to a group´s
relative power compared to other groups in the same area. When considering this, they are a
minority in India. They are spread over the entire country and are a minority in numbers in
most states. India's introduction to Islam was through Arab traders. The Arabs had been
coming to the Malabar Coast in southern India as traders for a long time. It was also a trader
who built the first mosque in the country in the year of 629.
In the 18th century, the British East India Company arrived at India. After the Indian
Rebellion, the Company lost its power to the British Crown and India became part of the
British Empire. The European culture and system were introduced step by step. The British
and their colonial power was known for their strategy of divide and conquer in order to
maintain control of their colonies. In India, there was a clear separation between Hindus and
Muslims and this could be seen in the Congress where the Muslims felt underrepresented. But
the diversity among India’s Muslims made it impossible to unify in one cultural and
intellectual party to fight for their rights. The British considered the Muslims as a threat to
their power and they started to persecute and alienate them. This made it more difficult for the
Muslims to acquire education and jobs. The Muslims were isolated from the rest of the
society.
The Beginning of the 20th century the differences between the Muslims and the Hindus led to
separate movements. This was of course convenient for the British and it continued the work
to divide and conquer. In 1905, the partition of Bengal took place. This separated the Muslims
from the Hindus even further by separating their respective areas. This was what started the
Muslim independent movement. This movement, called the Muslim League, put pressure on
the British to introduce separate electorate, which started the process of partition.
Mahatma Gandhi, was a leader of the independence movement. He tried to win back the
Muslims and create a Hindu-Muslim unity. In the end, his attempt failed and the country was
divided in 1947 into India and Pakistan on the basis of religion. The Muslim majority
provinces became Pakistan. The British policy of divide and rule not only contributed to this
partition but also left permanent damage in the relationship between the Hindus and Muslims.
Ever since the partition, the country has experienced periodic outbreaks of large-scale
communal violence against religious minorities and this has many times led to people fleeing
from their homes but also deaths, rapes and other atrocities. Muslim communities report that
since the 2008 and 2010 terrorist attacks in India, Muslims have faced undue scrutiny and
arbitrary arrests and detentions, which the government justifies as necessary to counter
terrorism.
The Prime Minister and Previous Situations
Narendra Modi is the prime minister of India and has been since 2014. He has been involved
in Indian politics since long before. He belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),is a Hindu
nationalist and a member of the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as is
apparent from his policies which considerably weakened labour and environmental laws.
Modi’s administration has been considered complicit in the 2002 Gujarat Riots, or otherwise
criticised for its handling of it, however a court found no evidence to prosecute Modi.
In 2002 in a place called Godhra, a train carrying several hundred people returning from a
Hindu pilgrimage was set on fire. The majority of the train had just been in Ayodyha,
indulging a ceremony at the site of the demolished Babri Masjid. The Babri Masjid was a
mosque, destroyed by Hindus during a political rally in 1992 that turned violent.
Modi publicly declared that the Godhra train riot was an act of terrorism, committed by local
Muslims.
A Bandh was thereafter declared across the state, by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. A Bandh is
kind of protest occurring in South Asian countries such as Nepal and India, somewhat similar
to industrial action. The etymology of the word points to the Urdu word for ‘closed’. It is a
powerful means of civil disobedience and is widely feared. During a Bandh, is it not
uncommon for people to turn to arson attacks, stoning, forced closures and general clashes.
Bandhs affect shopkeepers and public transport drivers the most. Whilst Bandhs are formally
banned by the Supreme Court of India, it hasn’t stopped political parties from inciting them.
During the Bandh following the train arson, anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat quickly
escalated and riots were rife. The violence was furthered when the government decided to
move the bodies of the deceased from Godhra to Ahmedabad.
Following the riots, it was said that the death toll numbered over 2000 and around 150,000
people were forced into refugee camps. The violence also included mutilations and rapes of
women en mass. The riots have now been almost entirely attributed to ‘state terrorism’ by
scholars, and the government of Gujarat has hence been the subject of heavy criticism.
Martha Nussbaum said: "There is by now a broad consensus that the Gujarat violence was a
form of ethnic cleansing, that in many ways it was premeditated, and that it was carried out
with the complicity of the state government and officers of the law."
The fact that so many more Muslims than Hindus died during the riots, points to Nussbaum
being correct on the matter. And further points to the guilt of Modi’s government. Whilst they
issued shoot at sight orders, imposed curfews in major cities and called for the army to patrol
the streets, they failed to prevent unnecessary violence from escalating.
The discrimination of the Muslim minority only continued after the riots, when it was
announced that Muslim victims would only be entitled to half the compensation that Hindu
victims would be entitled to. Fortunately, however, this decision was later reversed when
taken to court.
Riot victims were often prevented from leaving the refugee camps, even though the camps
didn’t even come close to having enough resources for everyone.
A minister in Modi’s government, Maya Kodnani, was in 2012 convicted of participation in
the Naroda Patiya massacre at the time of the Gujarat riots. Modi’s government initially
purported to seek the death penalty on appeal, however it changed its mind the following
year.
As for Modi, it is still debated whether his involvement was direct and deliberate, however as
previously mentioned, most scholars believe he was. Modi purports that the only part of his
handling of events which was wrong, was his handling of the media. He has offered no
apology.
A special investigation team looking into Modi’s involvement, declared that there was no
evidence against him in 2011.
Legal aspects of protecting Muslims’ rights
Rights to Muslims are provided mainly by Constitution. More specifically, Article 14, 15
declare Right to Equality, Article 25 to 28 grant Right to Freedom of Religion and Article 29
and 30 define Cultural and Educational Rights.
Article
14. Equality before law.
15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
25. Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
26. Freedom to manage religious affairs.
27. Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion.
28. Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain
educational institutions.
29. Protection of interests of minorities.
30. Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions
Under these Articles, Muslims are protected in the same way as people of other religions in
India.
However, India has witnessed the conflict between its Constitution, especially Article 14
which grants equal protection of law for all citizens and Muslim Personal Law.
Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) was enacted in 1937 based on the Quran and the Hadith and
the writings in the Quran would be of foremost importance according to Adrija
Roychowdhury. This law governs Muslim’s personal issues such as marriage, divorce,
inheritance, custody of children, so government are supposed not to interfere with above
issues. Special Marriage Act which was last amended in 1954 also grants rights provided by
marital laws for everyone notwithstanding the difference in religious belief he or she has.
The Shah Bano case(1985) is worthy to note here as a specific example of the conflict
between Criminal Code and Muslim Personal Law. Shah Bano who went to the court and
demanded the maintenance from her ex-husband under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure
Code which is applicable to all Indians irrespective of religious affiliations. After the
judgement approved her request, her ex-husband appealed the court’s decisions by arguing
that he was not required to pay maintenance to the divorced wife beyond three months after
the divorce according to Muslim personal law. The Supreme Court eventually granted
lifelong maintenance to Shah Bano under the Section 125. This court’s decision caused the
increased tension between Muslims and Hindus. Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government
reacted this by enacting The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986.
Since this law requires the husband to pay alimony to his wife for only 90 days after the
divorce, this act has worked as freeing men from the obligation of paying lifelong
maintenance for divorced wife. This means that the government let gender justice unsolved
and prioritized “religious freedom of groups” over “freedom from religion” (Nath, 2016).
Although India signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there are still problems in
current situation. First, syllabi of Indian Education is consisted of matters related to the faiths
of the majority community, mythological and other stories of Hindu gods and goddesses then
against the principles prescribed in the Constitution. Therefore, Muslims are forced to study
by the ideas which are against the Islamic belief (Quran) Second, Gujarat riots (2002) which
experienced huge massacre of Muslims. After the riots none of Hindus were arrested and a
police officer, who were murdered later testified Modi ordered officers not to interfere with
the riots. Moreover, the practice of Triple talaq which grants Muslim men the right to divorce
their wives by saying “I divorce you” for 3 times has been questioned regarding its gender
bias. In October 2016, one organization called Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality claims
Triple Taraq violates fundamental constitutional rights and hampers gender equality. These
cases prove that India is still in a long way to apply the international law in order to protect
Muslims’ rights.
International Law
In an international context, provisions in international agreements help to give further
protection to minority religions. However, these agreements are rarely given full effect to
protect minorities unless they are encompassed within national law and constitution.
Notably, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains protections for such groups.
This declaration was adopted by the United Nations in 1948. This was the first of its kind on a
global scale to put in place an agreement of rights to which all people are entitled. Importantly
this arose following the destruction of WWII. India was one of the original 48 member states
that voted in favour of the declaration.
Two of the articles in the declaration are particularly relevant to the rights of the Muslim
minority in India. First, Article 2: everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth
in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. In
this article, religion is expressly named as a ground for which discrimination is prohibited.
Further, in Article 18, everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching,
practice, worship and observance. This article is specific about a person’s right to have selfdetermination over their religion.
While the declaration does not have legally binding status, it can be said to have significantly
influenced the constitutions and national laws of many countries, such as India. Further, the
declaration has laid the ground work for subsequent binding United Nations covenants,
namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both of which India is a
party to.
Article 27 of the ICCPR states that persons belonging to religious minorities have the right to
preserve their minority identity. In the Sachar Committee Report 2006, organised by the
Indian government, it was noted that Muslims in India have faced extreme violence and face
significant barriers to preserving their identity. The fact that they have faced such violence is
an indication that they are a minority, and the despite the group being large in number, it is a
numeric minority nonetheless.
Further, the UN Declaration on Minorities has relevant provisions for the protection of
religious minorities. Namely, Article 2.2 which identifies that actions must be taken to
overcome the socio-economic disadvantage of such minorities, and only then will such groups
be able to preserve their identity. The Sachar Report also found that Indian Muslims are
primarily poor, and have disadvantages in education, health and employment. Hence, the
combination of socio-economic disadvantage and social stigma are key barriers for this
minority.
As one of the founding members of the United Nations, India has participated vigorously in
the development of protections for rights and freedoms. This is evident from the reflection of
UN agreements in the drafting of India’s national laws. For example, subsequent to the
signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, India went on to include many of these
provisions in its own constitution. This has been further evident in the amendments made to
India’s constitution in light of developments in UN agreements over time. Such actions tend
to indication that India is committed to provided fully and adequately protections to
minorities and in particular, religious minorities including Muslims in India.
However, in practice, this is not necessarily the case when assessing the actions taken by the
Indian government to protect the Muslim minority. The key issue appears to be India’s
reluctance to accept Muslims as a minority and thereby grant them special rights and
protections. For example, India’s Minister of Minority Affairs, Najma Heptullah, explicitly
said that “Muslims are not minorities”. This reluctance is likely the result of the number of
Muslims being substantial. Yet when it is compared to India’s population of 1.2 billion, it is
clear that Muslims form a small proportion of this (a numerical minority).
Officially, India has been a secular state. However, this is increasingly not seen, as the new
ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is openly pro-Hindu. Further, President Modi
has not taken strong action to support the Muslim minority. The lack of minority status of
Muslims thereby prevents them from accessing the protections only available to minority
communities. All of which illustrates that India has to a degree disregarded and neglected its
obligations (morally and legally) in international law.