Explained: This article explains the political background, key decisions, and possible outcomes related to Explained : Hilal Ahmed with Harsh Mander on Indian Muslims’ marginalisation and Its Impact and why it matters right now.
Glossary:
NITI Aayog: The top policy think tank of the government of India
Sachar committee: A high-level committee headed by Justice Rajendra Sachar and constituted in 2005 by Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister at the time, to examine the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in the country
Kaka Kalelkar commission: India’s first backward classes commission established in 1953 to determine criteria for socially and educationally backward groups.
SC, ST, OBC: Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes are demographic categories in India of groups that have been historically discriminated against and marginalised, and therefore identified for affirmative action.
Hela caste: The Hela Mehtar are Muslim converts of the Hindu Hela caste and have been categorised as an Other Backward Class (OBC)
Bhangi or Valmiki: A Dalit community categorised as a Scheduled Caste group in India
Triple-talaq: In 2019, India’s government criminalised triple-talaq – the practice which allowed a Muslim man to divorce his wife by saying “talaq” three times – making it a non-bailable offence with three years imprisonment. A major criticism of the move was that criminalising the civil law was a way of targeting the Muslim community
Khadi: the hand-spun cloth that was intrinsic to Congress philosophy and therefore worn by many party members