“Knocking on the doors of second-class citizenship”: Dr. Najeeb Jung on India’s Muslim community
New Delhi: The former Delhi Lieutenant Governor and Jamia Millia Islamia Vice-Chancellor Dr. Najeeb Jung has expressed deep concern over the deteriorating condition of India’s Muslim community.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a candid interview with journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire, Dr. Najeeb Jung described the situation of Indian Muslims as “very, very grave, warning they are “knocking on the doors of being second-class citizens.”
He highlighted how Muslims feel pushed to the margins — ill-treated by the state and excluded from India’s mainstream progress. “It’s hurting,” he said, stressing the need for introspection across society.
Citing political exclusion Dr. Najeeb Jung pointed out that despite Muslims forming 27% of West Bengal’s and 34% of Assam’s population, the BJP govt fielded no Muslim candidates in recent elections. For the first time since Independence, the Indian government has no Muslim minister, and the BJP has zero elected Muslim MPs.
He said the Muslim representation has sharply declined, with no Muslim Chief Ministers, minimal presence in senior bureaucracy, judiciary, and other key institutions compared to earlier decades.
With Muslims comprising nearly 15% of India’s population (around 200 million), Jung questioned a future where their votes seemingly don’t matter to the ruling dispensation and their role in public life continues to shrink.
