05-12-2006, 06:22 PM
<b>Insight into Minoritism </b>
By Muzaffer Hussain
155pp, Delhi: India First Foundation, Price Rs.250
In almost all countries in the world, a certain segment -ethnic, religious
linguistic or ideological would be in the majority and some others would be in
a minority. That is inevitable. A multi-cultural national like the United
States has its majority and minorities as well, but one seldom talks about
them. The biggest minority would be the Blacks, but whoever would think of
providing reservation for them in the Senate or Congress or in government
service?
Indeed in older textbooks on political science there would hardly be any
reference to majoritarianism and minoritarianism. These are recently-coined
words. <b>But India is different. Here we constantly talk of minorities as if
they are a plague and we even have a Minority Commission! It is a carry over from British colonialism. </b>
Nobody in India talked of a majority or a minority in
the days of Tipu Sultan or during hayed of Mogul rule. Hindus were even
then in a majority but they were often treated as if they were non-existent.
Hindus were made aware of their majority status during the time of the British,
as were Muslims of their minority place in society.
That may have been a display - and a distorted one at that - of British
sense of Justice, but the consequences were severe, resulting, for one thing, in
partition of the country. Reference has been made to this in Muzaffer
Hussain's well-argued book Insight into Minoritism, which goes into the subject
in different contexts and in some detail. Minorities have been dealt with very
poorly in Pakistan and Bangladesh, India's immediate neighbours. Hussain
draws pointed attention to that.
Says Hussain: <b>"There is a sizeable population of Hindus in the Gulf
countries but those countries are not ready to give any facility to them in the
name of minority or Human Rights. The Hindus are not allowed there to cremate
their kith and kin as per their belief. They can't construct places for
worship nor can they celebrate their festivals at public places. During the Ramzan, non-Muslims can't eat anything at daytime in public places. The Muslims
expect to get everything as minorities in the countries of Hindus, Buddhists
and Christians but in Islamic countries the minorities don't have such
privilege.."</b>
We have to blame history for that. In India, minorities like Jews, Parsis
and Christians have full freedom. No Christian missionary dare try in an
Islamic country, but in India every citizen, especially if he is a tribal or
one from the lower caste, is fair game to Christian missionaries. In India
propagation of religion is not a crime. <b>The freedom given is often interpreted
to mean that one can resort to conversion, which is frequently resorted to in
tribal areas. It started under the British when missionaries flooded the
northeast and converted large number of tribals to Christianity. Unconsciously
this has caused problems for free India. </b>
Hussain damns minoritism as a "menace" which it has indeed become. Hussain
maintains that Christians and Muslims in India can't be dubbed as minorities
because they are very much Indian. As he puts it: When all are born and
brought up in the Indian context, the question of 'alien' and 'indigenous'
people don't arise". Hussain's argument is that all over the world, a minority
status is granted only to those classes, which have migrated from abroad. So
he says: "Hence it is not proper to designate Muslims and Christians (of India)
as aliens since they, too are very much Indian".
All are one in this country where there is one citizenship for all and
everyone is a part of this nation. The word 'minority' Hussain asserts,
weakens the unity of the country and draws a dividing line between individuals".
How right he is. Hussain is critical of Muslims in India who, he says, haven't
accepted democracy. Inevitably the Islamic world has been gripped by
fanaticism and narrow thinking. The point indeed was well made by Justice
Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari in his preface. Writes Mr Dharmadhikari: "India
as a nation has suffered continuous tussles between the religious and orthodox
religious fanaticism even after the creation of Pakistan. <b>How many Muslim
mohallas or Madarassas hoist the national flag and sing the national anthem
collectively on the occasion of Independence Day!"</b>
How many indeed. The former Justice adds: "To accept special rights for any
community along with the provisions of equal human rights are mutually
contradictory principles. This creates a controversy and the majority class
begins to feel unprotected and adopts a defensive mechanism".
Hussain in his treatise goes into this subject in a special and separate
chapter entitled "How to tackle minoritism", He notes that there are three distinct approaches in handling minoritism". In the Arab world minorities like Christians and Hindus have no political or religious rights. The second category belongs to western countries where religion is recognized but the country comes first. Religion has no role in framing laws and rule. National interest alone is taken into
account. In the US, 18 per cent of the people are blacks but they are not
given any minority status. Britain and France solved the problem by enforcing
a uniform civil code. What should India do in the circumstances?
Hussain has his answer ready. <b>He says: A uniform civil code is the only
answer." He points out that the Fundamental Rights as enumerated in the
Constitution ensure religious freedom for all.</b> As Hussain sees it, minorities
will continue to exist in one from or another anywhere in the world. That is only
but natural. The term 'Minority' Hussain concedes, is not in itself bad, but
problems arise when it is used by vested interests, <b>As he sees it,
minoritism is a 'deception' practiced on human civilization of which one should
be aware of. And majority communalism is a myth. </b>
In a democracy, Hussain insists, it is essential to respect the opinion of
the majority in day-today life. There haven't been many treatises on this
subject and Muzaffer Hussain's attempt, almost the first of its kind, is highly
praiseworthy. He has no hesitation in asking inconvenient questions.
For example he asks: <b>"How can Muslims who form between 15 to 20 per cent of India's population consider themselves a minority?"</b> Not many have dared to raise this question. Hussain has. All praise to him. This is a book that our
policy-makers and politicians would do well to read. It may not necessarily
have all the right answers, but it certainly raises all the right questions. And
isn't that what a good study should be all about?
-- Book review by M. V. Kamath, Free Press Journal
By Muzaffer Hussain
155pp, Delhi: India First Foundation, Price Rs.250
In almost all countries in the world, a certain segment -ethnic, religious
linguistic or ideological would be in the majority and some others would be in
a minority. That is inevitable. A multi-cultural national like the United
States has its majority and minorities as well, but one seldom talks about
them. The biggest minority would be the Blacks, but whoever would think of
providing reservation for them in the Senate or Congress or in government
service?
Indeed in older textbooks on political science there would hardly be any
reference to majoritarianism and minoritarianism. These are recently-coined
words. <b>But India is different. Here we constantly talk of minorities as if
they are a plague and we even have a Minority Commission! It is a carry over from British colonialism. </b>
Nobody in India talked of a majority or a minority in
the days of Tipu Sultan or during hayed of Mogul rule. Hindus were even
then in a majority but they were often treated as if they were non-existent.
Hindus were made aware of their majority status during the time of the British,
as were Muslims of their minority place in society.
That may have been a display - and a distorted one at that - of British
sense of Justice, but the consequences were severe, resulting, for one thing, in
partition of the country. Reference has been made to this in Muzaffer
Hussain's well-argued book Insight into Minoritism, which goes into the subject
in different contexts and in some detail. Minorities have been dealt with very
poorly in Pakistan and Bangladesh, India's immediate neighbours. Hussain
draws pointed attention to that.
Says Hussain: <b>"There is a sizeable population of Hindus in the Gulf
countries but those countries are not ready to give any facility to them in the
name of minority or Human Rights. The Hindus are not allowed there to cremate
their kith and kin as per their belief. They can't construct places for
worship nor can they celebrate their festivals at public places. During the Ramzan, non-Muslims can't eat anything at daytime in public places. The Muslims
expect to get everything as minorities in the countries of Hindus, Buddhists
and Christians but in Islamic countries the minorities don't have such
privilege.."</b>
We have to blame history for that. In India, minorities like Jews, Parsis
and Christians have full freedom. No Christian missionary dare try in an
Islamic country, but in India every citizen, especially if he is a tribal or
one from the lower caste, is fair game to Christian missionaries. In India
propagation of religion is not a crime. <b>The freedom given is often interpreted
to mean that one can resort to conversion, which is frequently resorted to in
tribal areas. It started under the British when missionaries flooded the
northeast and converted large number of tribals to Christianity. Unconsciously
this has caused problems for free India. </b>
Hussain damns minoritism as a "menace" which it has indeed become. Hussain
maintains that Christians and Muslims in India can't be dubbed as minorities
because they are very much Indian. As he puts it: When all are born and
brought up in the Indian context, the question of 'alien' and 'indigenous'
people don't arise". Hussain's argument is that all over the world, a minority
status is granted only to those classes, which have migrated from abroad. So
he says: "Hence it is not proper to designate Muslims and Christians (of India)
as aliens since they, too are very much Indian".
All are one in this country where there is one citizenship for all and
everyone is a part of this nation. The word 'minority' Hussain asserts,
weakens the unity of the country and draws a dividing line between individuals".
How right he is. Hussain is critical of Muslims in India who, he says, haven't
accepted democracy. Inevitably the Islamic world has been gripped by
fanaticism and narrow thinking. The point indeed was well made by Justice
Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari in his preface. Writes Mr Dharmadhikari: "India
as a nation has suffered continuous tussles between the religious and orthodox
religious fanaticism even after the creation of Pakistan. <b>How many Muslim
mohallas or Madarassas hoist the national flag and sing the national anthem
collectively on the occasion of Independence Day!"</b>
How many indeed. The former Justice adds: "To accept special rights for any
community along with the provisions of equal human rights are mutually
contradictory principles. This creates a controversy and the majority class
begins to feel unprotected and adopts a defensive mechanism".
Hussain in his treatise goes into this subject in a special and separate
chapter entitled "How to tackle minoritism", He notes that there are three distinct approaches in handling minoritism". In the Arab world minorities like Christians and Hindus have no political or religious rights. The second category belongs to western countries where religion is recognized but the country comes first. Religion has no role in framing laws and rule. National interest alone is taken into
account. In the US, 18 per cent of the people are blacks but they are not
given any minority status. Britain and France solved the problem by enforcing
a uniform civil code. What should India do in the circumstances?
Hussain has his answer ready. <b>He says: A uniform civil code is the only
answer." He points out that the Fundamental Rights as enumerated in the
Constitution ensure religious freedom for all.</b> As Hussain sees it, minorities
will continue to exist in one from or another anywhere in the world. That is only
but natural. The term 'Minority' Hussain concedes, is not in itself bad, but
problems arise when it is used by vested interests, <b>As he sees it,
minoritism is a 'deception' practiced on human civilization of which one should
be aware of. And majority communalism is a myth. </b>
In a democracy, Hussain insists, it is essential to respect the opinion of
the majority in day-today life. There haven't been many treatises on this
subject and Muzaffer Hussain's attempt, almost the first of its kind, is highly
praiseworthy. He has no hesitation in asking inconvenient questions.
For example he asks: <b>"How can Muslims who form between 15 to 20 per cent of India's population consider themselves a minority?"</b> Not many have dared to raise this question. Hussain has. All praise to him. This is a book that our
policy-makers and politicians would do well to read. It may not necessarily
have all the right answers, but it certainly raises all the right questions. And
isn't that what a good study should be all about?
-- Book review by M. V. Kamath, Free Press Journal