- 05 December, 2025
Dec 5, 2025: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) is facing a surge in discrimination complaints from minority communities. Government data confirms a substantial increase in pending cases over the last five years.
This escalation in backlog coincides with the NCM lacking both a chairperson and members, which has rendered the body effectively non-functional.
On December 3, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju provided a written reply in the Rajya Sabha to a question posed by CPI(M) MP AA Rahim. This reply revealed that the number of unresolved complaints from Muslim community members has dramatically increased, rising from just three in 2020-21 to 217 in 2024-25. Similarly, the pendency for Christian complainants has jumped from zero to 42 during the same timeframe.
Functional Lapses and Slowed Case Resolution
The current crisis stems from a prolonged institutional vacancy within the Commission. The statutory body—which includes a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, and representatives for each notified minority community (Parsi, Buddhist, Muslim, Sikh, Jain, and Christian)—has been without occupants for many months. The last Chairperson, Iqbal Singh Lalpura, resigned in April of this year.
With no members appointed since then, the quasi-judicial body, which is legally mandated to investigate discrimination and protect minority rights, exists only on paper and not in practice.
The spike in pending cases is compounded by a sharp reduction in the speed of case disposal. Despite a decrease in the number of new complaints, the disposal rate has dropped significantly, leading to the surge in pendency.
In 2020-21, the NCM resolved 1,102 of 1,105 complaints submitted by Muslims, and it disposed of all 103 complaints received from Christians.
Last year (2024-25), the Commission received 855 complaints from Muslims and 95 from Christians, but it only managed to resolve 638 and 53 cases, respectively.
Central Government Offers No Commitments
In a separate question regarding the NCM, Rajya Sabha MPs IB Inbadurai (AIADMK) and KR Suresh Reddy (BRS) questioned the government on whether "initiated any process for filling up these vacancies, and if so, the present stage of such process" and "whether any interim arrangements have been made to ensure that the functioning of the NCM is not adversely affected," among other issues.
Rijiju responded by stating that "grievances which are received in the Commission continue to be taken up with the concerned authorities for redressal," despite the Commission operating without its designated members. This assertion, however, is contradicted by the accumulating backlog of pending cases.
The government failed to provide clear answers or timeframes for when the Commission would likely be reconstituted. Rijiju simply stated, "The Government endeavours to appoint the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and all the Members of the Commission".
Lack of Legal Recourse
Advocate Anas Tanwir, a Supreme Court lawyer specializing in civil liberties cases concerning minorities, noted: "It's not a hidden fact that minorities have been facing increased challenges in the past few years,". He added that "And, with the disbanding of the Commission, they have no recourse but to go to the courts. That is where the actual data can be found,".
Complaint Numbers Are Falling
The growing backlog is not caused by an increase in the filing of complaints; in fact, the number of complaints has decreased over the past two years. Experts suggest this decline indicates a lack of faith in the institution, reflecting a "collapse in the Commission's functioning," rather than fewer incidents of discrimination.
The rise in pending cases for Muslim and Christian complainants, while the NCM remains vacant and non-functional, raises fears of systemic neglect and injustice for minority communities.
The Crisis of Minority Protections
"This data shows a fraction of the truth... The numbers are much lower than what the real picture is. Many people are not even in a position to complain, and when they lodge a complaint, it is not registered properly. And when it is registered, it is not disposed of. This is something the whole world knows. It's the reality of Modi's India," Congress MP from Bihar Mohammad Jawed told The Federal.
John Dayal, a human rights activist and former member of the National Integration Council, commented that the closure of such commissions sends a broader message.
"It is a matter of coincidence, but a coincidence that should embarrass the Government of India, that Pakistan has just enacted legislation giving constitutional status to its minority commission. And here, the Minority Commission has been without any member for a long time, and many states do not even have a notion of a nominal minority commission," he said.
A Miscarriage of Justice
"You (the government) have no respect for their rights, and you have no intention to grant them, in letter and in spirit, their rights as people," Dayal added. "Your inclination has been noted and followed by the courts of law, by the police and the administration, who in their behaviour are showing or reflecting the same feelings, the same tendencies...".
"To me, this is very dangerous, because it is not just the fact that the government is amiss in its regard and respect for the rights of religious minorities, but that the agencies of the government read the mind of the government and then follow suit, leading to a miscarriage of justice and anarchy in the streets instead of the rule of law".
Courtesy: The Federal
Image credit: Lifeandlaw.in
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