Why muslims are still minorities in India?

I think this is a very valid point of discussion, something that bothers most of us Hindus since, as said above, we are treated like orphans in our own motherland. First and foremost, with respect to all Indian Muslims, I think immediately after partition, it should have been made mandatory for all Muslims to leave for Pakistan…since the partition was accepted at the cost of us Hindus, purely on religious grounds. It is a well known fact that it was the Muslims who wanted a land of their own, based on their religion…this alone should have disqualified them for staying back. Muslims have had it good in both ways…those who wanted to leave….left and many others stayed back. as a result, most Muslim families have relatives in both India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and they enjoy unhindered movement, unlike the Hindus. Secondly, successive govts. (both at centre and state level) have hurt the Hindu pride time and again by pampering and cajoling these very Muslims and we have just tolerated it for more than 60years, mainly coz Hindus are tolerant by nature. In no other country is the majority treated such shabbily. Thirdly, immediately after independence, the concept of minority was created to protect the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains and so on. While the other minority communities have quietly accepted whatever the Govt has done for them, it’s the Muslims whose wants and demands are never ending and for whom, no Govt can do enough to please them. They are forever creating trouble over everything, bypassing secular rules and norms, demanding and getting special status, practicing polygamy…blackmailing society into accepting their point of view every time, yet having no particular contribution to healthy growth of India. Secular opportunities are there for everybody (as Pres. Kalam will testify)…yet Muslims will go only to their madarsas and mosques, study only religious (and often fanatic) texts, will not open their minds to change yet expect Govt to give them jobs and other opportunities to improve their condition. You want the funds to go towards educating muslims? Why specially them? As I said, the opportunity is there for everybody…for all sections of the society. its for Muslims to come forward and accept it, if they want good jobs and other opportunities. But no, they will languish in their madarsas and become jealous of other communities and their brethren from across the border will poison their minds further by saying how neglected they are in India! They are by nature, fanatic and violent so most people avoid going to any confrontation with them and they take advantage of this into browbeating the administration into accepting their every whims and fancies.

The Congress party since Mahatma(?) Gandhi is a serious cancer which India has been contracted with. And, most of us Indians are plain dumb to not realize that. But we can't be blamed entirely. We lack alternatives. Remember, the BJP is treacherous too. But still, they can be given a chance. You're right, we should treat Muslims equal as us. But hold on, is there a positive reaction from the other side, the Muslim side? Nopes. In fact a huge NO. Proof? Muslims to date have only been voting for those parties those have promised them a 'special status'. Be it Congress, SP, Left, RJD, NCP, JD(S), DMK and the like, it's only their heavy pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu policies that attracts the Muslim vote even today. And it needs no expert to claim that they always place their religion above our nation. Pity! Spending crores on Haj subsidies is an idiotic attempt since the government should not ideally interfere with such practices. But since it has already jumped into the fire, Hindus have every right in this world to demand similar subsidies. But they don't. Neither do they raise much of a hue and cry about their money of taxes being spent for such stuff. Does it indicate something? Your figure of 25% is not the official figure. The official one is around 14% in 2001. However the reality can go much above 25%, since there are lakhs of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Mumbai alone. Imagine the rest; imagine West Bengal, Assam and Kashmir. Muslims, with their high reproduction rates and many other reasons are bound to get close to 50% in the coming decades. The real minorities are Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Christians, Zoroastranians etc. In fact the Jains, Sikhs, Zoroastranians and some others deserve the most of minority welfare funds since they are minority not only in India, but the whole world.

Well, gogetitdear, since Muslims are of a sizeable vote bank, none of the political parties are ready to antogonize them. After some time all the Muslims in India will be given free tickets to go on their holy trip. Now, the Government is only subsidising their tickets. In the next election, some party will say, that they will be giving free tickets to Muslims to go to Mecca and Medina and some regional parties, will say, that we will not only give tickets, but we will also give you some money to spend. What to do,we Hindus have to keep quite, because actually we are the minorities in our own country. The Hindus of Kashmir have already become refugees, and in time, Hindus from Kerala, West Bengal and Hyderabad will become minorities in their own state and towns.

Its true that muslims have a sizeable population and still claim minority while there are others who really deserve that tag. Congress party is solely responsible for this state of affairs. Muslims have allowed themselves to be a vote bank of congress party. Corrupt congress party and the equally corrupt nehru/ghandy family are using this to further their dangerous agenda of destroying the nation. all the money spent on muslims is a big waste. they have remained at the ghetto level and seem to like that status. all muslim leaders are puppets of ghandy family. they will do anything to be in the good books of ghandy family. all that they want is mere announcements of welfare schemes and fund allocation for haj. most haj vaccancies are sold to the highest bidder, because for the highest bidder its still very cheap as government foots the bill. muslims can never be educated so long as they root their learning in quran and fancy arabian tales. any money allocated for their welfare is a big waste. so far that is the experience.

Hi, according to statistics Islam is the most practiced religion in India after Hinduism and India has the second largest population of Muslims in the world.They are also the world's largest minority group in any country.Although officially there are 15% of muslims in India, unofficially their population is close to 20%. There are many reasons for their minority status besides the politics of the country started by the Congress party for its own gains. One can see that more than 60% are economically and educationally backward and need the support of the govt to let them come forward.But how far they are benefited is anybody's guess. I personally feel that an educated Muslim population will be able to counteract terror and live a life of harmony with the majority population. They will have no reason to feel alienated... What is spent on Haj,is a small amount compared to the huge donations the state governments make to the temples and churches....I would agree that money should be well spent in educating them rather than give for any kind of religious issues...

Very interesting discussion indeed! But I have no answers and feel very sad about it all. Its such a delicate subject and needs to be treated with alot of care. I don't want to see another riot of any sort.

They are given this tag of minority as well as the rights above hindus in hindu country by a particular party which is ruling India for 50 years, to keep there votes intact.. and they are successful in doing so as most of the so called minority population votes for them. They will keep giving rights to muslims over hindus cos they know they can't be in power without that pet vote bank.. and above all the culprit was Mhatma Gandhi who allowed them to stay here even after when they were given there part of land. No problem in calling them minority but they should be treated as minorities are treated in Muslim countries.. not like what they do here just to be in power with help of there votes.

Yes unofficially the Muslim population in India is about 20% and the Second Highest Muslim Population in the world is in India. Moreover according to the 2001 census, the Muslim Population In India has grown at an exhorbidant rate of 29.3% and I still wonder why they need reservation and other aspects. Congress government, just for its vote bank gain resort to all sort of things like this. All people must be treated equally. Reservations are to be made only on the basis of Financial background and not upon the Religion. This method of reservation based on castism is totally Rubbish.

I think that the government should treat people the same regardless of their race or religion. This means that they should not be prejudice against a certain religion, but it also means that they should not grant people who practice that relition special favors and let them abide by different rules than anyone else. Anyone who says that they must do something because of their religion should consider moving to a place where the things that they do (such as polygamy) are already allowed, rather than try to change the current society and rules to fit their religion. Treating people differently also forces two separate societies to form. Children who would prefer to live in a secular world are forced to continue the traditions of their ancestors because they are expected to do so. When the government treats people differently it is much more difficult for an open-minded person to change their life.