PROBLEMS OF A RELIGIOUS MINORITY IN A MULTI-CONFESSIONAL SOCIETY

There are 150 million people living in India. Muslims, or 13.4% of the total population. In terms of their number, it is second only to Indonesia. Muslims are the largest religious minority in the country. Other minorities are Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, etc¹ largest religious community of Hindus is 80.5% of the population. Despite the overwhelming majority, this community has to take into account the interests of all other faiths, taking into account the fact that India is a secular state under the constitution. In real conditions, the problems of minorities, especially such a large one as the Muslim one, are an important part of the entire socio-political life.

Many of the current problems of Muslims have their roots in colonial India. During the struggle for independence of the country, the Muslim movement focused around the Muslim League (ML was formed in 1906), contributed to the creation of an independent Pakistan in 1947. The partition of British India and the movement of Muslims to Pakistan, and Hindus and Sikhs to India, took place in the conditions of fierce inter-communal clashes. Millions of Muslims were virtually expelled from India, just as millions of Hindus and Sikhs left their homes in the territory that was ceded to Pakistan and moved to India. Particularly affected were women, thousands of whom on both sides of the new borders were raped, converted to another religion, and separated from their families.² All of this has left a deep, unhealed wound and, since India's independence, has not helped improve relations between the two largest religious communities.

This had serious consequences for the majority of Muslims who remained in India and became an integral part of it. According to some estimates, at the time of the division of British India into two states, about 7 million people were killed. Muslims migrated to Pakistan. In India itself, there were then approximately 40 million of them. The majority of Muslim migrants to Pakistan came from Punjab, where there was a tragic "exchange" for Hindu migrants from Pakistan to India. A large proportion of Muslims migrated to Pakistan from parts of India such as Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and less from Andhra Pradesh, Bombay, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, and Mysore.³ They were mostly young, educated, economically and socially mobile citizens. Most of the Muslim leaders also moved to Pakistan.

CHAUVINISTS BEHIND THE KILLER'S BACK

A tragic blow to the fate of Muslims was the murder of Mahatma Gandhi in January 1948 by a fanatical Hindu because Gandhi persistently and consistently advocated equal rights for Muslims, for peaceful, fraternal relations between them and Hindus. The Indian government quickly responded to the murder by banning the killer's Hindu chauvinist organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Union of Voluntary Servants of the Nation). However, a few years later, the RCC again launched its activities.

Indian Muslims, especially their elites, faced severe trials after the partition of British India. The remaining Muslim migrant families in India were subject to economic sanctions that allowed the Indian Government, under The Evacuation Property Act, to confiscate the property of Muslims who had left India. Later, substantial damage was inflicted on well-to-do Muslims, especially in Uttar Pradesh, by a land reform that abolished the Zamindari land management system, which was the basis of their hereditary wealth and social prestige.

Muslims, especially the upper classes, had to adapt to the new conditions in independent India, where they remained in a clear minority compared to the Hindus, and most importantly, they lost the influence that they had in colonial India, and even more so in the pre - colonial era. Until August 1947, most of the Muslims were under the predominant influence of the Muslim League. After the partition of India, there were Muslim leaders who belonged to the supporters of the Indian National Congress (INC), as well as a small number of ML leaders. Politically, this led to the virtual elimination of the Muslim League almost immediately after India's independence.

The Indian leadership has faced a difficult issue related to the socio-economic and political adaptation of Muslims to the country's public life. The answer to this question seems to have been found by the INC government led by Jawaharlal Nehru, which proclaimed the principle of secularism and the separation of religion from politics.

Before India gained independence, the country had laws that were uniform for all citizens, covering almost all aspects of legal relations, except for those related to family, marriage, divorce, alimony payments, and child custody rules

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and inheritance. In 1949, when discussing the draft constitution in the Constituent Assembly, the issue of adopting a single code for all citizens in the field of family and marriage relations was raised. However, members of the assembly from Muslims opposed this. They referred to the fact that since the 1920s. The Indian National Congress has repeatedly passed resolutions guaranteeing non-interference of the State in Muslim personal law after the country's independence. Then Nehru persuaded the members of the Constituent Assembly not to insist on a unified civil code.

As a compromise, article 44 was included in the "Guiding Principles of State Policy" section of the Constitution, which states:: "The State will strive to ensure that a uniform civil code is adopted for citizens throughout India." Since then, the issue of a unified civil code has not been raised for almost 40 years.

The ruling INC party has declared its commitment to ensuring the rights and interests of all citizens of the country, including the Muslim minority. Thus, in the difficult conditions of distrust between Hindus and Muslims, an atmosphere was created that contributed to the political and socio-economic integration of most Muslims into Indian society. This, in particular, was reflected in the fact that the majority of Muslims followed the Indian National Congress, as evidenced by the results of the first three parliamentary elections (1952, 1957 and 1962).

The INC's focus on the broad integration of Muslims into public life began to change after Nehru's death in 1964. In the country, the influence of Hindu religious and communal forces began to grow, mainly represented by the RSS and its political wing of the BDS-the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (Indian People's Union, since 1980-the Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP). In response, Muslim parties and groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami (Society of Islam, founded in 1941), which expressed the interests of conservative theologians and intellectuals in Northern India, and the All India Muslim League in Kerala (established in 1948), have become active.

Since the second half of the 1960s, India has been actively communalizing politics, that is, introducing religious consciousness into it, provoking inter-communal contradictions. Inc was unable to actively resist the development of this trend. The process of integration of Muslims into the socio-political and economic life of the country has significantly slowed down. This did not slow down to manifest itself in politics. In the 1967 parliamentary elections, Muslims demonstrated their departure from the INC, which was especially noticeable in states with significant Muslim populations (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal).

The further departure of Muslims from the INC continued during the rule of Indira Gandhi (1966-1984) and her son Rajiv Gandhi (1984-1989), when religious and communal policies were increasingly introduced into public life, and the INC government moved further away from secularism. Losing influence under the pressure of religious and community forces, Prime Minister Gandhi went to the introduction of a state of emergency in the country (1975-1977). Among the activities undertaken during this period was the amendment of the Constitution of India. In the Preamble of the basic law describing the structure of the country, the words " socialist, secular "were added to the formula:" India is a sovereign democratic republic". Thus, the secular nature of the State was constitutionally affirmed. This was intended to send a message to the public about a return to the previous policies pursued by the Nehru government.

But in fact, the INC continued to lose influence, which was reflected in its defeat in the 1977 parliamentary elections. The new Janata Party (People's Party) coalition block, which has formed a government in the center, for the first time included the Bharatiya Jana Sangh Party, known for its pro-Hindu and anti-Muslim sentiments.

In 1980, Inc again won the election and returned to power. However, his policy towards the former social base began to change. In the village, there was a shift in emphasis in favor of large landowners, including those from high castes. This led to the political alienation of large numbers of Muslim agricultural workers and tenants from the INC, which was reflected in the results of the by - election to parliament in 1985, in which the INC lost many of the votes of Muslim voters.

RETREAT FROM SECULARISM

Realizing the importance of a Muslim "vote bank," INC tried to use Muslim Orthodox people who could influence the behavior of voters from their community. This political calculation of the INC found its vivid expression in the events that unfolded in 1985 around the court case of the Muslim woman Shah Bano, when the issue of a unified civil code became on the agenda. Back in 1974, the Government completed work on amending the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure (CPC). One of them concerned the issue of the maintenance of a woman after divorce, which was inevitably associated with a departure from the provisions of both Hindu and Muslim personal law. The new version of the code obliges a man, regardless of his religion, to support his parents, children and wife, including after a divorce.

In turn, Muslim theologians insisted that in all family matters, including divorce and the subsequent maintenance of the wife, the courts should make decisions in the light of the instructions of Sharia, that is, Muslim religious law, on the basis of which maintenance is paid only for three months after the divorce. However, divorced Muslim women began to appeal to civil courts, which since the late 1970s have repeatedly returned verdicts in their favor, which contradicted the provisions of Sharia law on this issue.

Soon among the Muslim

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the public discussed the necessity and expediency of reforming the Muslim personal law. It culminated in the 1985 trial of a divorced 70-year-old Muslim woman, Shah Bano.

According to the verdict of the Supreme Court of India, Shah Bano received life support from her ex-husband on the basis of the criminal procedure Code. When considering this case, the chief judge in his speech emphasized that in matters of alimony, the CPC is given priority, and not personal law, and women from the Muslim community after divorce, as well as women from all other religious communities, have the right to maintenance from their ex-husband. At the same time, he referred to the authoritative " Anthology of the Koran "(author-English orientalist E. W. Lane, published in 1843), quoting from it the following quote:"The fatal dignity of Islam is the degradation of women"⁴. He then stated that there was an urgent need to pass through the Indian Parliament a law on a unified civil code for all religious communities.

Muslim religious leaders took the Chief Justice's statement as offensive to their community. Very quickly, the issue became political. However, the crux of the problem was not so much the careless statement of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but rather the fact that his verdict created a precedent according to which other similar cases would be decided in courts throughout the country. By that time, more than a hundred such lawsuits had accumulated in the courts filed by Muslim women.

A sharp political discussion has begun around this court verdict. Muslim Orthodoxists demanded that the Supreme Court's decision be overturned, citing the advantage of Muslim personal law over the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Rajiv Gandhi's government, which had lost much of its influence among Muslims before, was faced with a choice: to confront Muslim fundamentalists and thus lose the tool of influencing the Muslim masses, or to give in to them in the hope of political support in the future. The government chose the second way. In the spring of 1986, the Indian Parliament passed the Muslim Women's Rights Protection (Divorce) Act. According to this law, a husband is supposed to pay maintenance to his ex-wife after a divorce for three months, as well as alimony to his children from this marriage for two years. If a woman has no means of support after this deadline, she must be supported by her parents and brothers, and in their absence-by the Waqf committee (a Muslim compulsory charity organization).⁵. Thus, this law completely excluded a divorced Muslim woman from the scope of the Criminal Procedure Code and transferred the decision of her fate to the jurisdiction of Muslim personal law, making it impossible to apply to a civil court. As a result, Muslim women were reduced in comparison with all other Indian women.

This move to appease the conservative part of the Muslim community provoked a sharp protest from the advanced public, which qualified it as retrograde, and a sharp reaction in various socio-political circles of the country. Spooked by this turn of events, Shah Bano was forced to withdraw her lawsuit from the Supreme Court, whose decision was annulled.

The discussion, which lasted for several years, involved not only Muslim religious fundamentalists, but also Hindu chauvinist organizations that demanded the adoption of a unified civil code on marriage, divorce, family, adoption and inheritance. The Hindu community organizations Shiv Sena (Shivaji Army), RCC, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Council of Hindus) and others held mass marches in support of these demands in the name of "national unity". Hundreds of thousands of their supporters were mobilized under the slogan "Hinduism is in danger!". In response, Jamaat-e-Islami and other Muslim community organizations rallied around the slogan "Islam is in danger!". The women's question has been used by various political groups to settle scores with each other. And the women's movement itself did not agree on the issue of a single civil code. Many women's organizations have shifted the discussion from the area of women's civil rights to the area of traditional relations within Islam.⁶

WHO HAS A PLACE IN RAMA'S KINGDOM

The subsequent events did not seem to directly affect Muslims, but in the case of-

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in the end, they, as part of Indian society, became involved in them. This was due to the 1990 decision of the United Front Government headed by Prime Minister V. P. Singh to implement the recommendations of the parliamentary commission headed by B. P. Mandal on reservation (or quotas) 27% of jobs in state institutions of federal subordination and the same proportion of places in universities for "other backward classes". These included not only Hindu backward castes, but also some Muslims, who were allocated 4.2% of the seats under this quota.⁷

This was opposed by powerful forces representing the so-called advanced Hindu castes (higher and part of the middle). The BJP and its backers reacted negatively to Prime Minister V. P. Singh's announcement to implement the Mandala Commission's recommendations because they were concerned that the political rise of" other backward classes " could lead to a further loss of upper-caste influence, especially in Northern India. And this, in turn, would negatively affect the positions of parties and organizations that relied on the creation of Hindu Rashtra (the state of Hindus) and professed the ideas of the Hindu religious and communal movement Hindutva (Hinduism).

Hindutva's ideology was to create a Hindu state in which the values of Hinduism should take the dominant position, and therefore Indian Muslims and Christians were invited to integrate into the Hindu social system. There were also demands to revise the Constitution of India, removing everything related to secularism, modernization of society, etc.

The long-simmering conflict in the city of Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) over the Babur Mosque, which, according to the leadership of Hindu chauvinist organizations, was built in the XVI century on the site of an ancient Hindu temple and where, according to legend, the god Rama was born, has found a new breath since the mid-1980s. According to the calculations of the leaders of chauvinist organizations, the idea of building a Hindu temple on this site (which meant destroying or moving the Babur Mosque to another place) was supposed to rally all Hindus (against Muslims) and at least for a while push into the background the most acute problem of reserving for "other backward classes". By the mid-1980s, all Hindu religious sects were united under the common symbol of Bhagwan Ram (Lord Rama). The construction of the temple at the birthplace of Rama in Ayodhya was declared a sacred cause for Hindus not only in India, but throughout the world.

However, the BJP's calculation to weaken the movement of "other backward classes" was not justified at that time. There was a standoff between supporters of the Mandala Commission's recommendations and those who supported the construction of a Hindu temple, which was further intensified after the Indian Supreme Court issued a decision in October 1992 obliging the INC Government to implement the commission's recommendations on reserving 27% of places for "other backward classes".

Although this Supreme Court decision weakened the position of supporters of the construction of the temple of the God Rama, the destructive machine of Hindu chauvinism had by then gained such momentum that on December 6, 1992, with the inaction of the INC government, the Babur Mosque in the center was destroyed. As a result, bloody Hindu-Muslim clashes broke out, during which about 1,500 people were killed and another five thousand were injured. The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was dissolved by the center, leaders of the BJP, VHP, RSS were arrested ⁸. Demonstrations have begun in Pakistan and Bangladesh in support of Indian Muslims.

In November 1993, legislative elections were held in four states where the BJP had previously held power, but the party did not win a majority. In these states and the country as a whole, there has been a major regrouping of social and political forces, due to changes in the mood of the "other backward classes", frightened by the militant position of the BJP and the extremism of its so-called cultural organizations, which called themselves the Sangh parivar (RCC family). The ideological platform of the sangha parivar is the so-called cultural nationalism, which opposes secularism as an alien borrowing from the arsenal of Western values directed against Hinduism. Muslims, registered castes (formerly untouchables), and "other backward classes" have clearly realized that they will have no place in the Hindu chauvinist kingdom of Rama.

Hindu cultural nationalism was rejected by Muslims and some Hindus, although the Bharatiya Janata Party retained its influence among the upper castes and tribes. And in 1998, she returned to power as the head of a coalition government, which indicated a further shift in the political establishment to the right and its acceptance of Hindu cultural nationalism with a clear anti-Muslim orientation.⁹

As a result of the BJP's religious and communal policies, there have been several major clashes between Hindus and Muslims over the past two decades. The most tragic of these were the aforementioned destruction of a mosque in Uttar Pradesh, as well as the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, which killed about 2,000 people. ¹⁰

Numerous commissions investigating the causes of inter-religious clashes failed to produce results, and their recommendations remained unanswered. Governments in these states and in the center have sought to mitigate the effects of conflict in order to avoid further aggravation of inter-communal relations. But some Muslims have formed the opinion that the authorities do not protect them. "The impression was that killing Muslims was normal," says S. Ali, president of the All India Democratic Women's Association11.

All this has led to an increased sense of distrust among Muslims of the State of Israel.

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to the authorities. They left the areas of inter-communal clashes, left their homes, and took their children from the schools where they studied with the children of Hindus. In this way, Muslims have effectively isolated themselves from other communities. This climate of isolation and discrimination has intensified since the terrorist attacks in the world and in India itself, in which Muslims were involved.

In this situation, the majority of Muslims became politically close to those groups of voters who were socially close to them - including the lower Hindu castes. Muslims formed electoral alliances with them and supported their leaders. This created a new social base based on the principles of secularism. The electoral success of leaders such as Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh was largely due to the support of the Muslim grassroots.

Muslims have become more actively involved in political life, seeking the nomination of their candidates for legislative and other government bodies. There was a marked departure from the previous policy of the Muslim elite, which cooperated mainly with the INC for its privileges, while ordinary Muslims acted as an obedient "voice block".

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY COMMITTEE

When the United Progressive Alliance (UGA), led by INC, came to power in 2004, the party began to take steps to attract Muslims to its side. Moreover, in large states - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and others-they have moved away from INC. So, in Uttar Pradesh, where more than 30 million people live. However, they also supported the Samajwadi Parti (Socialist Party) and supported the backward castes in the elections.

One of these steps was the establishment of the Committee on Muslim Minority Issues in March 2005 by the decision of the Manmohan Singh Government. Judge Rajindra Sachar was appointed as the head of the committee and was tasked with studying the socio-economic situation of the Muslim community, including its problems in the field of education, and making recommendations. The formation of this committee was accompanied by protests by opposition Hindu parties. The committee's task of determining the number of Muslims in the armed forces was particularly condemned. The heightened reaction to this is due to the fact that in British India, Muslims formed the basis of the colonial army. In addition, the Indian Government has always emphasized the secular nature of the armed forces, without singling out any religious groups. It should be noted right away that the committee received data on the number of Muslims in the Air Force and Navy, but at the request of the Indian Defense Minister, they were not included in its official report.

Despite opposition, the committee got to work, collected data across the country, and separately received written and oral responses to its questionnaire in 13 states where Muslims make up a significant part of the population. The Sachar Committee analyzed many aspects of the life of Muslims: their number and distribution in the country's regions, employment issues, income and consumption levels, education and health status. Data on the preservation of the caste system in the Muslim community were studied separately. The Committee also took into account the political situation in the country, where, as noted, since the mid-1980s, organizations belonging to the RCC family have been promoting Hindutva ideology, while accusing Muslims of lack of patriotism. Since the early 1990s, the Hindu chauvinist organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad has launched a direct attack against Muslims, calling them terrorists and calling their religious schools madrassas hotbeds of terror. The very establishment of the Sachar Committee by the Government was seen by these forces as another act of encouragement to Muslims.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION OF MUSLIMS

The creation of the committee on the Muslim community was dictated by the urgent need to clarify the real situation in the situation of Muslims. Data describing the level of socio-economic development of Muslims indicate that they are at the lowest levels of Indian society. 60.2% of Muslims living in rural areas do not have land (the national average is 43%). Only 2.1% of Muslim farmers own a tractor, and 1% own water pumps. Only 10% of Muslim families in villages have access to running water, including running water (the Indian average is 25%). The situation with electrification of Muslim villages is just as bad. Moreover, the number of villages without electricity supply is not only not decreasing, but even growing.

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In the field of education, Muslims lag behind most other social groups. The literacy rate among Muslims (2001) is 59.1% (compared to the Indian average of 64.8%). For Muslim women, this figure is 50.1%, for Hindus-65.1%, for Christians-80.3% ¹². In urban areas, 60% of Muslims have never been to school. And only 4% graduated from it. Contrary to the prevailing stereotype that Muslims prefer to send their children to madrasas, the real picture looks different. Only 4% of children from Muslim families study in madrasas. Among those who have completed higher education, Muslims make up less than 2% (3.1% in urban areas and 0.8% in rural areas).

31% of Muslims (16% of Muslim women), 40% of Hindus (31% of Hindus), and 40% of Christians (37% of Christians) are engaged in productive activities.

During the 60 years of independence, there was no adequate participation of Muslims in the country's governance. In the civil service, they hold only 4.9% of posts, mostly at the grassroots level. It is characteristic that even in states where Muslims make up the majority of the population, their participation in public service does not correspond to their number. For example, in Assam, where the proportion of Muslims in the population is 30.9%, their representatives occupy only 10.9% of positions in the civil service. In West Bengal, the corresponding figures are 25.2% and 4.7%, in Uttar Pradesh-18.5% and 7.5%.

In terms of employment, Muslims are inferior to other communities. The corresponding data for Muslims is 31.3%, for Hindus-40.4%, for Christians-39.7%.

One of the most important socio-economic indicators of the backwardness of Muslims is the high rate of their poverty. With an average poverty rate of 26% in India (2001), Muslims have a poverty rate of 31% - lower than all other social groups, with the exception of scheduled castes and tribes (35%). At the same time, among urban Muslims, poverty reaches 38.4% (more than among registered castes and tribes).¹³.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY

In November 2006, the Sachar Committee submitted a 400-page report to Parliament. This was the first systematic study of the problems of the Muslim community at the governmental level. Key findings of the report: Muslims suffer from accusations that they are not patriots of India. They have to prove the opposite every day. The claims that Muslims are supposedly in a privileged position do not correspond to reality. Moreover, their overall level of socio-economic development is lower than the national average. The Committee stressed that the Muslim community is a vivid example of the lack of achievements in almost all spheres of life. By and large, Muslims are slightly above the registered castes and tribes (that is, the lower classes of Indian society), and in some socio-economic indicators they are often even inferior to them, as well as to other religious communities - Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.

The Committee noted that the Muslim community itself is stratified, both economically and socially. Its three main social segments consist of ashrafs, ajlafs and Arzals. Ashrafs are descendants of people from Arab countries or representatives of the highest Hindu castes who converted to Islam several centuries ago. In socio-economic terms, they are the most prosperous stratum among Muslims. Ajlafs are similar in occupation to Hindu backward castes, with a small part of them owning land. Arzals are Hindu lower castes that were once converted to Islam. They are the ones who are in the most difficult situation. Their traditional occupations are essentially the same as those of the registered castes. Most Arzals work as butchers, laundresses, barbers, cleaners, etc. The conversion to Islam did not bring any noticeable changes in their socio-economic situation.

Thus, we can say that the stratification among Indian Muslims mainly corresponds to the caste division among the Hindu community.

The Sachar committee's report raised a difficult question about Muslims whose ancestors were once untouchables and converted to Islam in the hope of improving their situation. In independent India, their descendants tried to achieve the same benefits (i.e., reserving jobs in government institutions and educational institutions) that registered castes received. However, by the Presidential Decree of India (on Registered Castes) of 1950, they were denied such privileges.¹⁴

The Committee on the Muslim Minority proposed the creation of an" Equal Opportunities Commission " that would address issues of disadvantaged groups, including the Muslim grassroots. They need multi-pronged assistance, including for admission to educational institutions, employment, promotion of their representatives to central and local authorities, as well as to self-government bodies at all levels. The Committee recommended that the Muslim lower classes be included either in the list of scheduled castes or in a separate group of "other backward classes", which are granted certain benefits under the Indian Constitution.¹⁵

The committee's report was debated in the People's Chamber of Parliament in December 2006. Despite fierce criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which insisted that the creation of the Sachar committee and its report were for political purposes, the Minister of Minority Affairs, A. R. Antuley, said that the report's recommendations would be fully implemented in 2007. He was supported by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who said the Government was committed to addressing the injustices and backwardness that afflict the Muslim community. Any democratically elected government is obliged to solve the problems of uneven development in society, the Prime Minister stressed. The U.S. Government is genuinely interested in achieving equality for all parts of society and is committed to-

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It is taking steps to provide assistance to Muslims in the field of education and socio-economic development. We need to close the gap between them and the rest of society ¹⁶.

The political position of the OPA Government, which supported the recommendations of the Sachar committee, is certainly of great importance for protecting the interests of Muslims, especially the poorest part of them. However, in practice, the implementation of concrete measures in this direction faces great difficulties. Currently, Muslims theoretically already have the right to reserve places in State institutions and educational institutions under the quota of "other backward classes". But in practice, this recommendation is not implemented. Muslims are accused of competing with Hindu backward castes, which are also on the list compiled by the Mandala Commission.

However, among the representatives of the lower-caste Hindus who actively advocated reservation for the poorest Muslims was the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (Majority Party of the People), Kanshi Ram. Today, the demand for benefits for poor Muslims is supported by the Minister of the central government, a native of the registered castes Ram Vilas Pasvan. The same view is shared by another Muslim minister, Saifuddin Soz: "If the government goes so far as to grant a reservation to Muslims, then the rich part of them should not use it." ¹⁷

Other politicians and scientists propose to introduce "positive action" on the American model instead of quotas. This means that the public must ensure that all communities, especially those that have traditionally been subject to discrimination, are represented when applying for jobs, studying, and nominating candidates for elections. But this requires a higher level of civil society organization.

As some Indian analysts have pointed out, major practical steps in favor of the Muslim community are fraught with possible shocks.¹⁸ Moreover, there have been several major clashes between Hindus and Muslims over the past two decades. Given all this, moderate Indian politicians and experts believe that holding events in favor of Muslims should be preceded by a pan-Indian discussion on improving their situation, including the introduction of benefits in their favor. Otherwise, the situation of the 1990s may be repeated, when, according to the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the then Minister of Internal Affairs of India, L. K. Advani, the country was on the verge of civil war.

Muslims themselves view the verbal assurances of the leadership of the ruling INC party with distrust, which was confirmed in the legislative Assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh that ended in May 2007. Muslims lent their support to the Bahujan Samaj Party, which won a landslide victory, winning an absolute majority of 206 out of 403 seats, and its leader Mayawati became Chief Minister of the state for the fourth time. The Indian National Congress Party won 22 seats, while the BJP won 50.

* * *

The process of solving the problems of the Muslim minority in India in the conditions of the predominant Hindu majority is very slow, with high costs for Muslims, and therefore for society as a whole. The reasons for this must be sought both within and outside the Muslim community. Representing a huge mass of the population in the country, Indian Muslims are divided into numerous ethnolinguistic groups in different regions. Until now, the Muslim community remains poorly integrated into Indian society. This largely depends on the community itself, including the fact that the Muslim elite, and especially the orthodox, fundamentalist part of it, does not make efforts to integrate, but rather cares more about their own interests. A destructive role in this case is played by chauvinistic leaders of the Hindu community, who seek to make political capital on anti-Muslim sentiments.

In principle, the situation of the Muslim minority in India, for all its specifics and complexity, does not differ much from the situation in other multi-ethnic and multi-religious countries. There, multiculturalism is part of real social life, where members of minorities, including young people, are actively engaged in the search for their roots and identity.

Great efforts, tolerance, mutual respect, trust and political will of the authorities and leaders of religious communities are required to preserve the national unity of India.

¹ According to the 2001 census, there were 138 million Muslims. (The First Report on Religion. Census of India 2001).

^{Urvashi Butalia.} 2 Community, State, Gender. Some Reflections on the Partition of India // Mushirul Hasan (ed.). Inventing Boundaries. Gender, Politics and the Partition of India. New Delhi, OU. 2002, p. 183.

³ In a Minority. Essays on Muslim Women in India. Zoya Hasan and Ritu Menon (eds). New Delhi, OUP, 2005, p. 231, 264.

^{Khan M. W.} 4 Woman between Islam and Western Society. New Delhi, 1995, p. 13.

⁵ In a Minority.., p. 393.

^{Vibhuti Patel.} 6 The Shah Bano Controversy and the Challenges Faced by Women's Movement in India. Problems of Muslim Women in India // Asghar Ali Engineer (ed.). Orient Longman. Bombay, 1995, p. 142.

⁷ http://www.milligazette.com. 15.01.2007

⁸ Mainstream. 19.12.1992, p. 1.

^{Deepal Jayasekera.} 9 Government report concedes India's Muslims are a socially deprived, victimised minority - http://www.wsws.org/articles. 30.12.2006.

¹⁰ See: Brass Paul R. The Production of Hindu-Muslim Violence in Contemporary India. Oxford University Press, 2002.

^{Rajalakshmi T. K.} 11 Seclusion inflicted by insecurity // Frontline. December 02 - 15, 2006.

¹² The First Report on Religion...

¹³ http://www.wsws.org/articles.30.12.2006; until 1947, the literacy rate of Muslim women was higher than that of Hindus. See: The First Report on Religion...

¹⁴ Sachar Committee Report on Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community in India // Badri Raina. Right Wing Lies Exposed - http:// www.sulekha.com. 15.12.2006.

^{Venkitesh Ramakrishnan.} 15 Community on the Marging// Frontline. December 02 - 15.2006.

¹⁶ PM Vows To Do more for Muslims // The Asian Age. 28.12.2006.

^{Bhupesh Chaubey.} 17 Quota for Muslims is "UP" to the PM - www.ibnlive.com.21.11.2006.

^{Javeed Alam.} 18 A Turning Point // Frontline. December 02 - 15.2006.

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