Rights of Minorities in India

The research paper aims at understanding the ambit of the term “minority” and the rights of minorities under Article 29 & 30 of the Indian Constitution. The research paper aims to answer the question of the extent of autonomy granted to minority education institutions to protect and preserve their religion and culture. The rights granted to minority was the result of a sense of insecurity among minority due to their vulnerable position in the society. This led to minorities demanded rights which were rejected by the Constituent Assembly and instead gave rise to Article 30 which came without any restrictions to minorities. However, it was important for minorities to realise that the rights granted to them was not above the law which led to intervention of Supreme Court in the interest of minorities. The Supreme Court, through various cases, has laid down the criteria and ambit to be covered under Article 30 grating minority community the right to establish and administer educational institutions for the betterment of their community. The objective of Article 30 is to prevent the majority to make legislation which takes away minority rights. The intervention of Supreme Court was due t0 the vulnerable position of minorities in the society. The paper also highlights that the right given to minority is granted with the purpose of preserving secularism in the country which is the base of the Indian Constitution. The research paper answers the questions of autonomy to minority institutions and deals with Article 29 & 30.