Data | Minorities within majority face persecution in Indian subcontinent

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act provides a path for citizenship to minorities (non-Muslims) from three Muslim majority nations - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Data show that religious minorities, including Muslims, in other neighboring countries such as Myanmar, China and Sri Lanka also face persecution. In many countries, minority sects within the majority religions (including Islam) are also persecuted.

Rohingya refugees gather at a market inside a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on March 7, 2019. File photo

According to UN estimates, there are over 51 lakh international migrants in India as of 2019. Among them, over 2 lakh people were refugees recognised under the 1951 Convention. Most migrants in India are from Bangladesh while most refugees are from China (Tibetans).

Migrant numbers

 

The Pew Research Center publishes a Government Restrictions Index (GRI) and Social Hostilities Index (SHI) every year. GRI measures laws, policies and actions by officials that restrict beliefs and practices. SHI measures religious hostility by private individuals, organisations or groups in the society. GRI and SHI are measured in a 10-point scale. The higher the number, the more the persecution.

Religious hostility

Except Bhutan and Nepal, every other neighbouring country had a higher SHI or GRI or both in 2016 indicating greater persecution of minorites. India too has a high GRI and SHI.

The Pew report also records whether there was harassment of religious/ethnic groups by government agencies. "1" indicates yes and "0" indicates no. For instance, in Myanmar, all communities including ethnic groups such as Rakhines that professed the same religion as the majority (Buddhism) faced harassment. In India and Nepal, Dalit persecution was recorded as "1" under Hinduism.

Government harassment