Rights of Minorities

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Rights of Minority Educational Institutions

The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act 2004 (2 of 2005) as amended by the NCMEI (Amendment Act 2006) lays down rights of Minority Educational Institutions as under: –

Right to establish a Minority Educational Institution: –

  1. Any person who desires to establish a Minority Institution may apply to the Competent authority for the grant of no objection certificate for the said purpose.
  2. The Competent authority shall: –

(a) on perusal of documents, affidavits or other evidence, if any; and

(b) after giving an opportunity of being heard to the applicant, decide every application filed under sub-section (1) as expeditiously as possible and grant or reject the application, as the case may be: Provided that where an application is rejected, the Competent authority shall communicate the same to the applicant.

  1. Where within a period of ninety days from the receipt of the application under sub-section (1) for the grant of no objection certificate: –
  2. a) the Competent authority does not grant such certificate; or

(b) where an application has been rejected and the same has not been communicated to the person who has applied for the grant of such certificate, it shall be deemed that the Competent authority has granted a no objection certificate to the applicant.

National Minorities Development Finance Corporation (NMDFC)

National Minorities Development Financial Corporation was incorporated under the aegis of “Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment”, Government of India on the 30th of September 1994 under the Section 25 of the Companies Act –

1956 with the main objective to promote economic development of the poorer section of Minorities. The people belonging to five communities i.e. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists & Parsis have been notified as minorities under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. The prime mandate of NMDFC has been to provide concessional finance to the minorities living below double the poverty line for self-employment. NMDFC functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India.

The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities [NCRLM]

National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities also called as Justice Ranganath Misra Commission was constituted by Government of India on 29th October 2004 to look into various issues related to Linguistic and Religious minorities in India. It was chaired by former Chief Justice of India Justice

Ranganath Misra. The commission submitted its report to the Government on 21st May 2007. Іnіtіally, the commіssіon was entrusted wіth the followіng terms of reference.

(a) To suggest crіterіa for іdentіfіcatіon of socіally and economіcally backward sectіons among relіgіous and lіnguіstіc mіnorіtіes;

(b) To recommend measures for welfare of socіally and economіcally backward sectіons among relіgіous and lіnguіstіc mіnorіtіes, including reservation in education and government employment; and

(c) To suggest the necessary constitutional, legal and administrative modalities required for the implementation of its recommendations.

After nearly five months of its work the Commission’s Terms of Reference were modified so as to add the following to its original Terms of Reference.

(d) To examine and give recommendation on the demand of the Christian and Muslim dalits to be included in the Scheduled Castes. This issue has gone to the apex court through several writ petitions filed in that court and in several High Courts.

Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities

Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities has been adopted by the UN General Assembly on 18 December 1992.

Its key provisions include that “Persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities (hereinafter referred to as persons belonging to minorities) have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, and to use their own language, in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination” (Article 2.1).

Minority Rights Protection Under International Human Rights Law

In 1992 the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Minorities Declaration by consensus (resolution 47/135). It is the main reference document for minority rights. It grants to persons belonging to minorities:

  • Protection, by States, of their existence and their national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity (art. 1);
  • The right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, and to use their own language in private and in public (art. 2 (1));
  • The right to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic and public life (art. 2 (2));
  • The right to participate effectively in decisions which affect them on the national and regional levels (art. 2 (3));
  • The right to establish and maintain their own associations (art. 2 (4));
  • The right to establish and maintain peaceful contacts with other members of their group and with persons belonging to other minorities, both within their own country and across State borders (art. 2 (5)); and
  • The freedom to exercise their rights, individually as well as in community with other members of their group, without discrimination (art. 3).
  • States are to protect and promote the rights of persons belonging to minorities by taking measures to:
  • Ensure that they may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the law (art. 4 (1));
  • Create favorable conditions to enable them to express their characteristics and to develop their culture, language, religion, traditions and customs (art. 4 (2));
  • Allow them adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue (art. 4 (3));
  • Encourage knowledge of the history, traditions, language and culture of minorities existing within their territory and ensure that members of such minorities have adequate opportunities to gain knowledge of the society as a whole (art. 4 (4));
  • Allow their participation in economic progress and development (art. 4 (5));
  • Consider the legitimate interests of minorities in developing and implementing national policies and programmes, and international programmes of cooperation and assistance (art.5);
  • Cooperate with other States on questions relating to minorities, including exchanging information and experiences, to promote mutual understanding and confidence (art. 6);
  • Promote respect for the rights set forth in the Declaration (art. 7);
  • Fulfil the obligations and commitments States have assumed under international treaties and agreements to which they are parties.

Additional sources of minority rights

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is a legal source referred to in the United Nations Minorities Declaration for protecting the rights of minorities. It is one of the first conventions that the General Assembly adopted (resolution 260 A (III) of 9 December 1948) and relates to the protection of groups, including minorities, and their right to physical existence. No mechanism has been established to monitor its implementation. The ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda were the first to apply this international Convention. Its article II defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

  • Killing members of the group;
  • Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
  • Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
  • Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
  • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides for the prosecution of cases that encompass not only the crime of genocide but also crimes against humanity.

The ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) requires States to adopt and implement national policies to promote and ensure equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation, with a view to eliminating direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin (arts. 1 and 2).

The 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work provides that all members of the Organization have an obligation to respect, promote and realize the fundamental principles and rights at work (“core labour standards”). These include the principle of non-discrimination in employment and occupation, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, and the elimination of forced and compulsory labour, as well as child labour. The enjoyment of equality of opportunity and the treatment of minorities are monitored under this Declaration.

The 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage provides safeguards and promotes the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills—as well as the associated instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces—that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. For this purpose, the Convention establishes a fund and a listing system of representative and endangered heritage.

The 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions encourages States to incorporate culture as a strategic element in national and international development policies and to adopt measures aimed at protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions within their territory. It emphasizes the importance of the recognition of equal dignity and respect for all cultures, including that of persons belonging to minorities, and of the freedom to create, produce, disseminate, distribute and have access to traditional cultural expressions, and asks States to endeavor to create environments conducive thereto.

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