I wonder why the Muslims in India are making so much fuss about their minority status. I question their minority-ness. They are not minority enough-take any benchmark. The real minorities are here-the Manipuris, the Nagas, the Mizos and other genuinely marginalised people. Yet, it is the Muslim community that has appropriated the minority cause, ironically by virtue of their numbers, and made their agenda the front-page national issue. This dichotomy needs to be corrected at the earliest.

Let's consider the facts first. After the majority Hindus, who make up about 83% of India's population, it is the Muslims who have the second highest population at 150 millions, the number that makes India home to the third largest number of Muslims after Indonesia and Pakistan. Compare this statistics to our head count, which the 2001 census estimates at 2.3 millions. Which means for every 65 Muslim bhai, there is just 1 flat-nosed Manipuri. The same goes for other groups from the north-east.

We don't rue the peanut size of our population. What we deplore is the compartmentalisation of the minorities further into the privileged and the insignificants. The Muslims belong to the first category, and we are the insignificants-the minority within the minority.

Despite the sporadic Ayodhya and Godhra scars, the Muslims in India are, at any time, a political power to reckon with. The Congress claims to stand for its welfare; and now, the BJP, realising that Hindutva alone will not pave the way to absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, is busy enlisting the likes of Arif Mohammad Khan and Najma Heptullah in its fold.

Forget the Manipuris, which political party of any consequence goes out of their way to woo the voters of the north-east, and tailor their national manifestoes to pander to their aspirations. None. Our numbers add to virtually nothing. We are dispensable people, betrayed by own numbers.

What adds to our plight is that some of it is of our own making. We fight among ourselves a lot, and every Tomba or John wants to be the leader. If Tomba floats a pan regional platform, John would abstain from it, just because he is not made the leader, or he fears that he would be sidelined. Tomba is no saint either; he would also behave in the same manner if their places are swapped. The fact is: both Tomba and John are opportunists, who are not interested in any larger good, beyond filling their own bank balance with slush money.

We should learn from the Muslims, who stand united, held together by their common cultural and religious bond. Yes, they have suffered also at the hands of Hindu bigots, but after every jolt, they have become stronger, and their political stocks have soared. They are the darlings of goodwill hunters. From George Bush to Al Queda, they get sympathies. Numerous documentaries are made that highlight Muslims' plight and speak for them at international festivals. Human Rights groups, both Indian and those based abroad, come to their rescue, condemning and warning the perpetrators of crime against the community, as the aftermath of the Gujarat riots show. Newspaper editorials dutifully play up their plight. Judiciary too pitch in with their critical pronouncements that indict the Muslim bashers in no ambiguous manner. The world sits up and takes notice, and the likes of Narendra Modi had but to retreat.

No wonder, India's most important issue at the moment is the Ayodhya tangle involving Muslims. India's least known temple dispute is that of Kangla, the most sacred historical and spiritual site of the Meiteis, now turned to an army barrack. Kashmir problem is about Muslims' right to self-determination; north-east insurgency, they say, is about unemployment. 'Appease' the Muslims, but rule the north-east with an iron hand.

We are just specks in the ocean that count for nothing. To my horror, I found that even the population of cattle in India, at 205 millions, outstrips that of the seven states of north-east put together. Perhaps, that's the reason why cow protection is such a pet-theme for the BJP. Stray dogs in just one Indian metropolitan city easily beat the Manipuris, at least, in the headcount comparison. If 25 million stray dogs in India suddenly become intelligent enough to organise themselves, they can bark out the Manipuris from their homeland. Still undaunted, I tried these comparisons with other assorted animals too-pigs, rats, cockroaches, frogs, etc.--, but the results were the same: we counted so little.

I fervently wish that Muslims in India got rid of the minority tag, either by integrating seamlessly into mainstream power structure, which is already happening by degrees, or by inflating their population by a miracle, whatever. The real minorities need to be recognised, and this can only happen when the Muslims stop overshadowing us, the insignificants. We desperately want to graduate to the privileged minority status enjoyed by the Muslims. We are sick of the bogus minority status conferred on us that only serves to belittle and kill us psychologically. Give us the real brand value.