Minorities: A View from South Asia

The ‘minority question’ continues to pose a challenge to countries across the world. Legal provisions, relating to individual rights and non-discrimination, are seen to be insufficient, and special rights to minorities are seen as necessary within national constitutions. This chapter focuses on how the ‘minority question’ has shaped normative and political developments in the South Asian region, and the constitutional choices made. This is a region marked by large populations and great diversity. The post-colonial constitutions in this region have experimented with multiple responses to address their historically plural societies. These include the continuing recognition of religion-based personal laws, the use of federal and/or consociational devices to ‘manage’ multiple identities, the grant of special rights, including affirmative action, to minorities, and the grant of limited autonomy including exclusive rights over land and natural resources to certain communities. This chapter examines the politics surrounding the inclusion of minority rights within these constitutions and the choice of minority rights with a focus on India’s minority protection and affirmative action measures. The discussion also examines the politics surrounding the implementation of minority protection and the various amendments made to refine the rights available to minorities, while also noticing the power of judicial review in this region in determining the scope of these rights. The chapter concludes by examining the lessons, if any, that could be drawn from the South Asian experience.