RSS pushes cultural marginalisation of Muslims while keeping them demographically visible
The RSS is intensifying a strategy to strip Muslim cultural influence from India’s national identity, even as Muslims remain a large demographic group.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is advancing a subtle campaign to distance Indian Muslims from the nation’s cultural narrative while leaving them as a demographic majority. In a New York speech, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat suggested inclusivity, yet the organization’s domestic actions aim to render Muslimness politically powerless and culturally invisible. Muslims account for more than 14% of the population but occupy just 4.4% of Lok Sabha seats, with no representation in the ruling National Democratic Alliance and a decline in state-level legislators since 2013.
The 2006 Sachar Committee report highlighted severe under-representation in elite civil services, a gap that has widened over twenty years. The article points to the fading of Urdu and the excision of Sultanate and Mughal history from textbooks as signs of systematic cultural marginalisation. A recent clash in Ahmedabad over the reading of “I Am Malala” and “The Diary of a Young Girl” shows how this homogenisation is extending into education and public discourse, threatening India’s intellectual pluralism.
Why it matters
It shows how major political forces can reshape national identity, affecting minority rights and cultural diversity.
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