WR Desk: The National Commission for Minorities in India has received the most number of complaints from the Muslim community in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, for the sixth time in a row, government data showed.

These two states also received the most number of calls from all the minority communities put together, the ministry of minority affairs said in reply to a question in Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament. The minister of minority affairs Smriti Irani provided the data in response to a question from Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi party’s Member of Parliament from Tamil Nadu, D. Ravikumar.

The MP had asked for the total number of complaints received by the Commission during the last five years on the basis of state and religion. He had also asked if the Commission had submitted action-taken reports up to only 2011, and the reasons for the delay in submitting them for the past ten years.

In response to this question, Smriti Irani said: “The National Commission for Minorities has submitted annual reports up to 2021-22 to the Ministry of Minority Affairs.” She added that “as per Sections 12 and 13 of the NCM Act, 1992, the Commission shall prepare, in such form and at such time, for each financial year, as may be prescribed, its annual report, giving a full account of its activities during the previous financial year and forward a copy thereof to the central government.”

According to the data, the Commission received a total number of 1,498 complaints in 2017-18, 1,871 in 2018-19, 1,670 in 2019-20, 1,463 in 2020-21, 2,076 in 2021-22, and 1,984 in the first 10 months of the current financial year 2022-23. The data showed an increase in the number of complaints by the minority communities over the last two financial years.

Overall, the data showed that in the last three years, most of the complaints have come from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. And in the last two years, the number of complaints had increased from Maharashtra as well.

In 2020-21, as many as 732 complaints – which were almost half of all the complaints received from across India – were filed from Uttar Pradesh. At least 106 complaints were filed from Delhi, and 60 from Maharashtra.

In 2021-22, as many as 745 complaints were filed from UP, 227 from Delhi, and 140 from Maharashtra. And in the first 10 months of the current financial year, 783 complaints were filed from UP, 204 from Delhi, and 119 from Maharashtra.

In 2020-21, people from the Muslim community had filed 1,105 complaints, which increased to 1,420 in 2021-22. At least 1,279 complaints have already been filed by them, as on January 31, indicating a rise in the number of incidents of harassment and discrimination.

The data showed that most of these complaints were filed from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Maharashtra.

Christians filed 103 complaints in 2020-21, and 137 in 2021-22. As of January 31, they filed 107 complaints, the data showed.

Sikhs filed 99 complaints in 2020-21, which was up by over 120% in 2021-22 to 222 complaints. They have already filed 270 complaints with the Commission this year.

Separately, the data also showed that the complaints from Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis, which stood at 78 in 2020-21 rose by 100% to reach a total of 156 in 2021-22. In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, these complaints have already reached 173, indicating a further increase in the dissatisfaction among these communities.