Ex-Delhi official warns Muslims risk becoming second-class citizens
Former lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung says Muslims are being pushed out of public life under rising Hindu nationalist politics in India
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has warned that Muslims in India are being pushed toward the status of “second-class citizens,” raising alarm over what he described as deepening political exclusion and institutional marginalization under the country’s Hindu nationalist climate.
Speaking in an interview with journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire, Jung said Indian Muslims increasingly feel isolated from mainstream political and public life.
“They are in a very, very grave situation,” Jung said. “By the way they’re being treated by the state, yes, I think they will be in deep trouble. That is on the anvil.”
The former bureaucrat, who also served as vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, said many Muslims now feel they are being “pushed into the backyard — ill-treated and not finding a place in the Indian horizon.”
Jung’s remarks come amid growing debate over the shrinking political representation of Muslims in India under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
He pointed to recent state elections in West Bengal and Assam, where the BJP reportedly did not field a single Muslim candidate despite Muslims making up roughly 27 percent of West Bengal’s population and around 34 percent of Assam’s population.
Jung also noted that, for the first time since India’s independence in 1947, there is no Muslim minister in the federal cabinet and the BJP has no elected Muslim member of parliament.
“Muslims make up around 15 percent of India’s population — roughly 200 million people,” he said. “How do they view a situation where their votes do not matter to the ruling party, their participation in public life has sharply reduced, and they are increasingly relegated to the margins?”
The former official said Muslim representation in major state institutions had sharply declined over the years, including in the bureaucracy, judiciary and executive offices.
“Today, no Indian state has a Muslim chief minister; several don’t even have Muslim ministers,” Jung said. “We have just one Muslim governor, one Muslim secretary in the central government out of around 100, and one Muslim Supreme Court judge out of 32.”
He contrasted the current situation with earlier decades when India had Muslim presidents, vice presidents and senior cabinet ministers overseeing major ministries such as home affairs and foreign affairs.
Jung also suggested that even opposition parties often avoid forcefully speaking on Muslim issues due to fears of political backlash from Hindu voters.
“It requires introspection from everyone,” he said. “Right now, it is only liberal sections of society that are concerned about it, and that is going to be disastrous for us.”
His remarks add to mounting concerns raised by civil rights groups, academics and former officials over increasing anti-Muslim polarization, declining representation and the mainstreaming of Hindu majoritarian politics in India.
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