THE NO NONSENSE GUIDE TO MINORITY RIGHTS IN SOUTH ASIA

By Rita Manchanda. Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2009.

THE book provides insights into minority questions from the standpoint of ‘non-domination’ and ‘powerlessness’ of communities in six South Asian countries, namely India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Among other significant questions that this book addresses are: How minorities and majorities are constructed in a nation state. How minorities are recognized and why they need special rights. What are the processes of creation of new minorities and what is the situation of minorities within minorities and majorities. And how has minority rights been instrumental in enhancing cultural identity, diversity, equality and equity in the region? Drawing from constitutional, legal and policy frameworks and empirical evidence, the author extensively discusses these and other questions.

The book is presented in four chapters. The first chapter discusses in-depth issues of recognition and minority rights. Rita Manchanda provides a useful historical account of the debate on the recognition of minorities, with a special focus on colonial rule and the formation of independent nation states in South Asia. For instance, the colonial government in India chose to introduce religion as the fundamental category of administrative classification, whereas in Sri Lanka it was ethnic identities. She argues that the processes of post-colonial nation building in the region tended to focus on creating national identities around constitutional patriotism, religion or cultural nationalism and thus ‘created’ minorities. Rights of minorities, as she notes, consequently became conflictual amidst majority national identities and individual citizenship rights.

The second chapter looks at the political organization of the South Asian countries and critically examines their constitutional and legal provisions as agents of both protecting and discriminating against minorities. Citing the example of Pakistan, she sheds light on the discriminatory elements inherent in its constitution. Religious, political, civic and cultural rights of Hindus, Christians, Ahmadias, Sikhs and Parsis who together constitute around 3.5 per cent of population are therefore subject to some of the special provisions in the Constitution. Drawing on empirical evidence, she argues that although the Constitution of Pakistan assures freedom of religion and right to language, and institutions for minority rights are in place, minorities face discrimination on the lines of religion, language and ethnicity. Bangladesh, conversely, is a ‘secular state’ according to its Constitution. However, she notes that the idea of ‘one religion one language’ calls for a cultural homogenization, thereby excluding other communities. Similarly the ‘one nation one people’ philosophy in Bhutan undermines its multi-ethnic and multi-religious character.

Though in India, the term minority refers largely to Muslims in the mainstream discourse, Christians, Sikhs, and Parsis too constitute a minority in terms of demography. Manchanda, however, includes all minority groups and most importantly, Dalits and tribals as analytical categories and addresses the Dalit, tribal and, to an extent, gender questions from their position of ‘powerlessness’. She argues that the minority question in Sri Lanka is linked with the concerns of autonomy and special rights of its multi-ethnic groups. While detailing, she refers to the discriminatory laws by the state against Indian Tamils. Similarly, she highlights that the Constitution of Nepal does not (so far) recognize its multi-ethnic and multi-religious character. The minority question in Nepal, hence, refers largely to the exclusion based on caste and ethnicity.

Drawing from official data and media reports, the third chapter highlights the forms of exclusion that minority groups face in the region. The author extensively discusses the discrimination faced by Dalits, other backward groups and Muslims in Nepal and its implications for their social and economic status. Referring to the social and economic backwardness of Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities in general and Dalits in particular, she points towards the contemporary forms of discrimination and exclusions prevalent in the Indian society. Similarly, besides highlighting the shrinking space for democratic rights for Tamils, she probes into the social and economic exclusion of minorities within minorities such as Tamil Muslims and Hill Tamils in Sri Lanka. The situation of Hindus, Ahmadias and Christians in Bangladesh and Pakistan are also discussed in detail in this chapter. She further explicates on the issues of identity and discrimination of ‘ethnic Nepali Bhutanese’. Gender comes as an analytical category at several instances in this chapter. Developmental concerns of indigenous people including India’s adivasis, Nepal’s janajatis, Bangladesh’s indigenous population and Sri Lanka’s Wanniyala-Aetto are discussed separately in the last chapter. Distinguishing ‘indigenous people’ from ‘minorities’, she highlights the issues of displacement, land alienation, autonomy and identity.

The book links the debate on minoritization and minority rights to the larger questions of democratic citizenship and development. Equally, the book also highlights the marginal positions of minorities within minorities and majorities, a thematic often left unexplored by most commentators. Overall, the book constitutes a valuable reference resource for students and civil society groups working on minority rights.