Petition filed in the Supreme Court against the notification declaring Muslims, Christians, Sikhs etc. as minorities

Devkinandan Thakur

New Delhi – Devkinandan Thakur has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the 1993 notification of the then Central Government declaring Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains as national minorities. He further added that the notification was arbitrary and against Articles 14, 15, 21, 29 and 30 of the Constitution.

The petition states that in some States and parts, the Hindu population is small, but they are still not given the right to be a minority.  Ladakh has 1 %, Mizoram 2.75 %, Lakshadweep 2.77 %, Kashmir 4 %, Nagaland 8.74 %, Meghalaya 11.52 %, Arunachal Pradesh 29 %, Punjab 38.49 % and Manipur 41.29 % Hindu population. However, the Central Government has not declared them a minority. Muslims, on the other hand, have been declared a minority even when they are in the majority. Lakshadweep has a Muslim population of 96.58 %, Kashmir 95 % and Ladakh 46 %. The Christian population in Nagaland is 88.10 %, in Mizoram 87.16 % and in Meghalaya 74.59 %. Punjab has 57.69 % Sikhs and Ladakh has 50 % Buddhists.