National minorities rights day
- National Minorities Rights Day is observed on December 18 in India to focus on the importance of the rights of religious minorities and the safeguard of their Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms.
- India is among the world’s most diverse countries and also the birthplace of four major religions.
History of day
- December 18 was declared as the Minorities Rights Day back in 1992 by the United Nations.
- The UN had adopted the statement on the individual’s Rights belonging to religious or Linguistic National or Ethnic Minorities.
- In India, it is the responsibility of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) to carry out the events on this day.
- The NCM was established by the Union Government under the National Commission for Minorities Act, in 1992.
Constitutional provisions related to minorities
- Article 29 and Articles 30 guarantee certain right to the minorities.
- Article 29 protects the interests of the minorities by making a provision that any citizen / section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture have the right to conserve the same.
- Article 29 mandates that no discrimination would be done on the ground of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.
- Article 30 of the Indian Constitution states the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.
- While Article 30 and Article 29 of the Constitution do not specify 'minorities' in India, it is classified into religious minorities and linguistic minorities.
Religious Minorities in India
- The basic ground for a community to be nominated as a religious minority is the numerical strength of the community.
- As India is a multi-religious country, it becomes important for the government to conserve and protect the religious minorities of the country.
- Section 2, clause (c) of the National Commission of Minorities Act, declares six communities as minority communities. They are:
- Muslims
- Christians
- Buddhists
- Sikhs
- Jains
- Zoroastrians (Parsis)