On Sunday (9th June), Kiren Rijiju was sworn in as the Union Minister of Minority Affairs. The BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh becomes the first Buddhist to hold the position of Minority Affairs Minister since its constitution in January 2006.
Conventionally, only Muslim politicians were appointed as the Minority Affairs Minister. The Congress-led-UPA government started the convention with the appointment of Abdul Rahman Antulay between 2006 and 2009.
The position was subsequently held by Salman Khurshid and K Rahman Khan. After the NDA came to power, the Modi government chose Najma Heptulla and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to lead the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
The big shift came in July 2022 when BJP leader Smriti Irani was roped in by the Modi government as the Minority Affairs Minister. Irani was assisted by Christian John Barla as the Minister of State.
Kiren Rijiju, who has previously served as Minister of Law, will now lead the Ministry of Minority Affairs. George Kurian, a Christian politician from Kerala, has been appointed as the Minister of State.
It must be mentioned that Muslims constitute the largest majority among ‘religious minorities’ in India. The Ministry of Minority Affairs was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment by the UPA government in 2006.