NCM not in favour of Vedic Brahmans and Sindhis to be tagged as minorities

The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) is not in favour of granting minority status to Vedic Brahmans and Sindhis.

It has also said that if the request of World Brahman Organisation and Purbouttar Bahubhashiya Brahmin Mahasabha is agreed to by the government, other castes like Rajputs and Vaishyas would also make similar demands leading to "manifold and unwarranted fragmentation" of the Hindu community.

"Vedic Brahmans are part and parcel of the Hindu religion. Merely claiming that Vedic Brahmans are only a select few does not warrant a view that they should be declared as a minority community by the government of India," the Commission said in its annual report for 2016-17.

It also said that the community's claim that they are committed to protecting their tradition and culture does not add any further weight to their claim for minority status. The UNESCO urging to protect the Vedas and Vedic culture is also not supporting their case to declare them as a separate minority community, it added.

According to the commission, in case the government agrees to the demand of the Brahman organisations, it may result in other castes seeking similar status.

"In view of the above, the commission finds no merit in the claim for declaring Vedic Brahmans as a separate minority community," the panel said.

On the demand for grant of minority status to Sindhis, the commission observed that the community members based their claim primarily on the ground that they are a "linguistic minority".

"It is not their case that Sindhis living in different parts of the country are not part of the Hindu religion. Moreover, the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 deals only with religious minorities.

"Therefore, the commission finds no merit in their claim for being declared as a minority community," the panel said.

The report is yet to be tabled in Parliament, sources said.

The previous commission, whose tenure ended in March last year, had made the observations during its meeting held on May 3, 2016.

It was not clear from the report when did the communities demand the minority tag.

At present, there are six notified communities namely Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains.