India

‘Systematic discrimination’ against Muslims in 10 districts across India: Report

Tablighi Jamaat members who were falsely held for 'flouting COVID guidelines' while participating in a Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin in March 2020 and later acquitted by Delhi court. [File Photo]

New Delhi: In a development audit report titled ‘Marginalisation of Muslims in Ten Minority Concentration Districts: Bringing the Equity Question Back Into the Political Discourse’, prepared by a non-profit organization SPECT Foundation has found out that Muslims have been forcefully kept out of government schemes in various districts across India.

The report, released by the Press Club of India recently, also addressed the narrative around the “rise of radical Islam” in many districts that lie on India’s borders, News Click reported.

The 10 districts selected for the audit have around 1.41 crore Muslims; the community represents 52% of the population of these districts.

Moreover, the report says that the choice of the districts was also dictated by the fact that they have been targeted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for various reasons, “including alleged population explosion and ‘illegal infiltration’ from neighbouring countries.’

The chosen districts include Araria (Bihar), Purnea (Bihar), Kishanganj (Bihar), Katihar (Bihar), Dhubri (Assam), Kokrajhar (Assam), Shravasti (Uttar Pradesh), Balarampur (Uttar Pradesh), Malda (West Bengal), and Murshidabad (West Bengal).

The data reveals that the Muslim population in these 10 districts has remained more cut off from basic resources than other regions of the country.

Click to comment
To Top