The non-inclusion of Muslims in the Union cabinet headed by Narendra Modi has sparked another debate after a Delhi University professor claimed that the BJP government has done a lot for Muslims, contradicting government data that speaks of the dismal condition of the community.
Experts on this subject have questioned the claim made by Sangit Kumar Ragi, the head of the political science department at DU, who wrote on X: “I am happy that BJP has decided not to keep Muslims in the cabinet. Enough has been done by the party to bring Muslims closer. But it is well established that Muslims vote to defeat BJP.”
Facts, however, differed from the assertion made by Ragi. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education, 2021-22, conducted by the ministry of education (MoE), the enrolment of Muslims was less than five per cent against their population share of 14.2 per cent. Nearly 4.33 crore students were enrolled in higher educational institutions out of which only 21.08 lakh were Muslims.
The India Discrimination Report, 2022, brought out by Oxfam India said Dalit, tribal and Muslim workers earn less than other workers because of caste and sectarian bias in the labour market. The report analysed the disparities among different groups in access to regular and casual jobs, self-employment and earnings. It used government data such as the 61st-round National Sample Survey on employment and unemployment (2004-05) and the Periodic Labour Force Surveys of 2018-19 and 2019-20. For instance, the report says, Muslims in rural areas earned ₹12,796 a month in 2020 compared to ₹13,440 for the rest.
A ministry of women and child development report suggested that Muslim women had the lowest literacy rate and their labour force participation rate was lowest compared to other social groups.
Zafarul-Islam Khan, the president of All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat and the former chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission, said Modi and his party had done everything in their power in the last 10 years to target, criminalise and invisibilise the Muslims.
“Today, for the first time in the history of independent India, there is no Muslim minister in the central cabinet. Campaigns were unleashed against Muslims in the name of fake issues like hijab, halal, beef, conversion, love Jihad. Mr Modi himself stooped so low as to directly target Muslims day in and day out during the recent prolonged election campaigning,” he said.
