In an interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Najeeb Jung, who is also a former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, said Muslims are in a very grave situation
NEW DELHI — In a blistering sit-down with prominent journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire, former Delhi Lt-Governor and Jamia Millia Islamia Vice-Chancellor Dr Najeeb Jung didn’t mince words: the plight of Muslims in India is now “very, very grave” — and they’re “knocking on the doors of being second-class citizens.”
In the interview aired on Monday, 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. Today, they’re in a very, very grave situation.”
Muslims feel shoved “into the backyard — ill-treated and not finding a place in the Indian horizon,” he said.
“It’s hurting. Where it will go, I cannot say. But it requires introspection from everyone. Right now, it is only liberal sections of society that are concerned about it… and that is going to be disastrous for us.”
Jung’s warning turns up the heat on an already simmering debate: Is India’s largest minority being quietly downgraded from citizen to afterthought?
Jung also referred to recent elections in West Bengal and Assam, noting that despite Muslims constituting around 27% and 34% of the population in the respective states, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not field a single Muslim candidate.
He further pointed out that, for the first time since Independence, there is no Muslim minister in the Union government, and the BJP does not have a single elected Muslim member in Parliament.
Recalling earlier decades, Jung noted that India once had Muslim Presidents, Vice Presidents, and ministers holding key portfolios such as Home and External Affairs, as well as representation in the armed forces and intelligence agencies. “Today, no Indian state has a Muslim Chief Minister; several don’t even have Muslim ministers. 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 said.
He was questioned whether this decline in representation indicates that Muslims are being gradually pushed out of public life.
“Muslims make up around 15% of the population — roughly 200 million people. That is a significant number. 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?” Jung asked, adding that even opposition parties often hesitate to champion Muslim issues for fear of alienating Hindu voters.
