Question

200 or 300 words essay on minority

Answer 1

The National Commission of Minorities Act, 1992 notifies five religious communities as minorities: Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians.

As per Census 2001 figures, 18.4 per cent of our population belongs to minority communities. Muslims constitute 13.4 per cent, Christians 2.3 per cent, Sikhs 1.9 per cent, Buddhists 0.8 per cent and Parsis 0.07 per cent of the country’s total population. In absolute numbers, Muslims (nearly 140 million) account for 72.8 per cent of the total minority population of 189.5 million.

Muslims are in majority in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The proportion of Muslims to total population is above the national percentage of 13.4 per cent in Assam (30.9 per cent), West Bengal (25.2 per cent), Kerala (24.6 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (18.55 per cent), Bihar (16.5 per cent) and Jharkhand (13.8 per cent). In absolute numbers, Uttar Pradesh (30.7 million), West Bengal (20.2 million), Bihar (13.7 million), and Maharashtra (10.70 million) have the largest Muslim population.