On December 2, 1948, B R Ambedkar gave a dire warning: “We must all remember — including members of the Muslim community who have spoken on this subject, though one can appreciate their feelings very well — that sovereignty is always limited, no matter even if you assert that it is unlimited, because sovereignty in the exercise of that power must reconcile itself to the sentiments of different communities. No government can exercise its power in such a manner as to provoke the Muslim community to rise in rebellion. I think it would be a mad government if it did so.”

Ambedkar repeatedly warned against targeting the minorities. On November 4, 1948, “Speaking for myself, I have no doubt that the Constituent Assembly has done wisely in providing such a safeguard for minorities as it has done… To diehards who have developed a kind of fanaticism against minority protection, I would like to say two things. One is that minorities are an explosive force which, if it erupts, can blow up the whole fabric of the State. The history of Europe bears ample and appalling testimony to this fact. The other is that the minorities in India have agreed to place their existence in the hands of the majority.”

So, why has the current government of the day ignored these principles and passed the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025?

On May 25, 1949, Sardar Patel while calling upon the minority community to, “trust the good-sense and sense of fairness of the majority, and to place........

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