Religious minority
Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Rights in the Indian Constitution"
Meaning
A religious minority is a religious group that is outnumbered by followers of another religion. The Constitution does not define "minority". Even so, Articles 29 and 30 protect religious minorities' culture and their right to run their own educational institutions. Under the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992, the Centre has notified six religious minorities: Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains. For Article 30, the Supreme Court in T.M.A. Pai (2002) held that minority status is decided state by state.
Example
The Centre notified five communities in 1993 and added the Jains in 2014. Petitions asking for minority status for Hindus in states where they are fewer are pending.
Don't confuse with
- Linguistic minority: based on mother tongue, not religion. A group can be a majority in one state and a minority in another.
- Notified in 1993: the Jains were not among the first five. This is a common exam trap.