Protecting rights of minorities is essential

Aftab Alam
Professor, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

ON December 18, 1992 the UN General Assembly adopted the Minority Rights Declaration, recognising that the promotion and protection of the rights of minorities contribute to the political and social stability of the states. This declaration is considered a leap forward in protecting minority groups all over the world and obliges the states to protect the existence and identity of minorities within their respective territories and encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.

The experience of minorities across the globe shows that they are among the most disadvantaged, marginalised and vulnerable groups in society. They are often discriminated against and subjected to injustice. Their exclusion from power is often combined with the denial of dignity, identities and cultures. Tragically, they are often subjected to physical violence and even genocide takes place against them. 

Unfortunately, minorities’ problems are not confined to any particular country or region and can be witnessed in almost all parts of the globe, making this a worldwide phenomenon.

Protection of minorities

The protection of minorities has been and still is one of the most exciting, complex and sensitive problems of our time. There has never been consensus on how to handle minorities. The approaches of states have varied from forced assimilation to accommodation. However, we have also seen that false methods of dealing with minorities have even produced conflicts of varying degrees. 

Jawaharlal Nehru wrote in Young India on May 15, 1930, that “the history of India and of many of the countries of Europe has demonstrated that there can be no stable equilibrium in any country so long as an attempt is made to crush a minority or force it to conform to the ways of the majority...” 

In a similar vein, while moving the resolution to set up an advisory committee on fundamental rights and the rights of minorities, GB Pant stated: “Unless the minorities are fully satisfied, we cannot make progress; we cannot even maintain peace in an undisturbed manner.” 

Realising the danger of the mishandling of the minority issue, states have sought to protect the minorities for centuries. The protection of minorities has, however, never been only a security consideration. It has rather been recognised as a hallmark of a democracy, a moral imperative and a human rights obligation. 

Gandhi said the claim of a country to civilisation depends on the treatment it extends to the minorities.

Equality vs privileges

Unfortunately, some people argue that since the foundation of democracy rests on the principle of equality where all persons are treated as equal, whether they belong to the majority or minority, why minorities should be privileged with some special rights? They believe that minority rights are some special privileges which are not available to the majority. They often go to the extent of arguing that these special privileges and concessions have a serious bearing on national integration. The misgivings about minority rights, ultimately, results in mistrust between minority and majority communities. 

Justice HR Khanna faced similar questions in St Xavier’s case. He eloquently clarified that the idea of giving some special rights to the minorities is not to have a kind of a privileged or pampered section of the population, but to give to the minorities a sense of security and a feeling of confidence. He argued that the differential treatment of the minorities by giving them special rights is intended to bring about an equilibrium, so that the ideal of equality may not be reduced to a mere abstract idea, but it should become a living reality and result in true, genuine equality, an equality not merely in theory but also in fact.

We must understand that it is because of their vulnerability in any given society that minority groups will need special protection to ensure that they also enjoy the same rights and protection as enjoyed by the majority. The protection of the rights of minorities is not appeasement; rather, it’s a practical imperative and a legal obligation. 

Maintaining pluralism

The framers of our Constitution, by recognising minority rights, also conspicuously chose to limit the possibility of cultural assimilation and process of homogenisation of the nation state and opted for maintaining our rich heritage of pluralism and cultural diversity. 

Unfortunately, this idea of a pluralistic India is under attack today and it is our duty to stand steadfastly to protect it. 

The root of the present crisis lies in the project of violent assertion of ‘cultural nationalism’ which is dangerous for both Indian plurality and religious minorities. It not only calls for cultural conformity but also leaves no respectful space for others’ way of life, even to the extent of denigrating them. This project is poisoning the minds of majority against minorities with serious consequences. Things have moved to such a critical phase that priests are resorting to prayers to save the secular fabric and democratic principles recognised in our Constitution. 

It is disturbing to note that a vicious hate campaign has been launched against minorities by twisting history and facts. They are projected as aggressors, outsiders, responsible for the Partition and often blamed for many social problems. Inter-religious marriages and loves are viewed with suspicion and as a tool of jihad. A false propaganda of the rising population of Muslims, leading to claim that India would soon become a Muslim-majority state, is being spread. Minority rights are presented as minority appeasement and majority community as the victim of this appeasement.

The onslaught of cultural nationalism not only dismisses the minority rights but also challenges the democratic project of allowing space and recognition to all identities. In the process of building a unified culture as the basis of the political community, it marginalises those communities whose belief systems may not fit in with those of the majority.

The misgivings of ‘special privilege’ or ‘pampered lot’ about minorities are nothing but poisonous falsehoods and they must be countered with. There is need to detoxify and sensitise the citizens about minority safeguards. Minority safeguards are needed to achieve the goal of substantive equality and to preserve their distinct identity and culture. Minorities need special safeguards to save themselves from oppression, persecution and forceful assimilation.