Excluded by the BJP, shunned by the Opposition: Indian Muslims and the crisis of non-belonging
In a communal majority, where Hindus vote based on religion, do members of India’s largest minority have a place as equal citizens?
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After Narendra Modi was sworn in for the third time as prime minister and his oversized cabinet of 71 members assembled for its first cabinet meeting at his residence, it was clear that he had taken care to include people of disadvantaged castes, tribes, minority religions and women in his cabinet.
There were seven women ministers, 10 Dalits, 27 of Other Backward Classes, and five of religious minorities. Although no Sikhs had been elected to the Lok Sabha from the parties in the ruling National Development Alliance, Ravneet Singh Bittu who had lost his bid to enter the Lok Sabha, and Hardeep Puri from the Rajya Sabha were included as Sikh ministers. Likewise, George Kurien who had not even contested the 2024 election was inducted from the Christian community.
Only one major minority that was conspicuously excluded from the cabinet. This was of Muslims.
A significant marker of democratic citizenship is political representation. All political parties together in 2014 had nominated 320 Muslim candidates. These numbers have plunged dramatically to a historic low of 94 in 2024. The numbers of people of Muslim identity nominated by even parties that were not the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 national elections were the lowest since India became a republic.
The success of...
