Minorities

INTRODUCTION

The expression "minority" has been derived from the Latin word 'minor' and the suffix 'ity' which means "small in number". 'Minorities' means 'groups held together by ties of common descent, language or religious faith and feeling different in these respects from the maority of the inhabitants of a gi!en political entity"#"Minority" can also be defined as a group of persons ha!ing different race, language or religion from that of maority of inhabitants $rticle %&()  uses the terms ‘linguistic’ or ‘religious’ minorities. The word ‘or’ means that a minority may either be linguistic or religious and that it does not have to be both – a religious minority as well as linguistic minority. minority. t is sufficient of it is one or the other or both.

The constitution uses the term ‘minority’ without defining it. n re The !erala ducation #ill$ the %upreme &ourt opined that while it is easy to say that minority means a community which is numerically less than ( per cent$ the important )uestion is ( * of what+ %hould %hou ld it be of the entire population of ndia$ or of a state$ or a part thereof+ t is possible that a co mmunity may be in ma,ority in a state but in a minority in the whole of ndia. - community community may be concentrated con centrated in a part of a state and may thus be in ma,ority there$ though it may be in minority in the state as a whole. f a part of a state is to be taen$ then the )uestion is where to draw the line and an d what is to be taen into consideration a district$ town$ a municipality or its wards. The ruling in the !erala ducation #ill has been reiterated by the %upreme &ourt in /uru 0ana 1niversity case. n that case$ the %upreme &ourt re,ected the contention of the state of 2un,ab that a religious or linguistic minority should be a minority in relation to the entire population of ndia. The &ourt has ruled that a minority has to be determined$ in relation to the particular legislation which is sought to be impugned. f it is a state law$ the minorities have to be determined in relation to the state population. The 3indus in 2un,ab constitute a religious minority. Therefore$ -rya %ama,istis in 2un,ab also constitute a religious minority having their own distinct language and script. t is within the realm of possibility that the population of a state may be so fragmented that no linguistic or religious group may by itself constitute ( percent of the total state population. n such a situation$ every group will fall within the umbrella of -rt. 4(567 without there being a ma,ority group in the state against which minorities need to claim  protection.

The &ourt has pointed out that if various sections and classes of the 3indus were to be regarded as ‘minorities’ under article 4(567$ then the 3indus would be divided into numerous sections and classes and cease to be a ma,ority any longer. The sections of one religion cannot constitute religious minorities. The term ‘minority based on religion’ should be restricted only to those

religious minorities$ e.g. 8uslims$ &hristians$ 9ains$ #uddists$ %ihs$ etc.$ which have ept their identity separate from the ma,ority$ namely$ the 3indus.

The term Minority Rights embodies t*o separate concepts+ first, normal indi!idual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or seual minorities, and second, collecti!e rights accorded to minority groups#  The term may also apply simply to individual rights of anyone who is not part of a ma,ority decision.

&ivil rights movements often see to ensure that individual rights are not denied on the basis of membership in a minority group. There are many political bodies which also feature minority group rights. This might be seen in affirmative action )uotas$ or in guaranteed minority representation in a consociational state.

Constitutional Constitutional rights and safeguards pro!ided to the minorities in India+

(# Constitutional safeguards for religious and linguistic minorities of India

Though Though the &onsti &onstitut tution ion of ndia ndia does does not define define the word word ‘8inor ‘8inority ity’’ and only refers refers to ‘8inorities’ and speas of those ‘based on religion or language’$ the rights of the minorities have  been spelt out in the &onstitution in detail.

-# .Commo .Common n Domain Domain// and .0e .0epara parate te Domain/ Domain/ of rights rights of minori minorities ties pro!id pro!ided ed in the Constitution

The &onstitution provides two sets of rights of minorities which can be placed in ‘common domain’ and ‘separate domain’. The rights which fall in the ‘common domain’ are those which are applicable to all the citi:ens of our country. The rights which fall in the ‘separate domain’ are those which are applicable to the minorities only and these are reserved to protect their identity. The distinction between ‘common domain’ and ‘separate domain’ and their combination have  been well ept ep t and protected in the &onstitution. The 2reamble to the &onstitution declares the %tate to be ‘%ecular’ and this is a special relevance for the ;eligious 8inorities. )ually relevant for them$ especially$ is the declaration of the &onstitution in its 2reamble that all citi:ens of ndia

are to be secured ‘liberty of thought$ expression$ belief$ faith and worship and ‘e)uality of status and of opportunity.’

-#( .Common Domain/, the Directi!e 1rinciples of 0tate 1olicy 2 1art I3 of the Constitution

The &onstitution has made provisions for the $ which are connected with social and economic rights of the people. These rights are nown as ‘?irective 2rinciples of %tate 2olicy’$ which legally are not binding upon the %tate$ but are @fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the %tate to apply these principles in maing lawsA. 5-rticle 4B7. 2art > of the &onstitution of ndia$ containing non=,usticiable ?irective 2rinciples of %tate 2olicy$ includes the following provisions having significant implications for the 8inorities C= i.

obligation of the %tate ‘to endeavour to eliminate ine)ualities in status$ facilities and opportunities’ amongst individuals and groups of people residing in different areas or  engaged in different vocationsDE-rticle 4F 5G7 H

ii.

obligation of %tate ‘to promote with special care’ the educational and economic interests of ‘the weaer sections of the people’ 5besides %cheduled &astes and %cheduled Tribes7 5-rticle IJ7

-#- .Common Domain/, the 4undamental Duties 2 1art I3$ of the Constitution

2art >- of the &onstitution$ relating to