Going beyond the mere mapping of the minority situation in South Asia, the essays in this volume explore the modern minority problematique in a democracy as integral to modern state-making processes, recognizing Nation and State as majoritarian concepts. Focusing on the South Asian context, they emphasize minority as a political category. Further, they move away from isolated national frames and explore the minority question as a foreign policy question.
These second generation studies by authors who have defined the scholarly discourse on minority rights in the region invite comparative analyses and point towards the necessity of addressing the minority question regionally. The book reveals the limits of the strategy of political liberalism in delivering equality and justice to minority groups. But it also points to a positive shift in the politics of some of the minority communities-a moving away from the politics of difference towards a politics centred on egalitarian claims, and common issues of democratic governance. Some essays examine specific trends of minorities′ rights in countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, while others take a more general account of the intellectual trends of minority constitution, the development of the minority discourse and the accommodation of social, political, economic and legal aspects of this section of the population. The book encompasses issues such as stereotyping of minorities, state induced politics of polarization, development of an economy of collusion and co-operation, institutions enabling greater inclusion, etc.
The book will be extremely valuable to policy-makers, NGOs, human rights activists and students of political science, sociology and international relations.
Rita Manchanda is an established writer, scholar-researcher, and human rights activist specializing in conflicts and peace-building in South Asia with particular attention to vulnerable and marginalized groups, that is, women, minorities, indigenous peoples, and forcibly displaced persons.
Professor Manchanda has over 15 years of experience as a Senior Executive and Research Director with the regional NGO “South Asia Forum for Human Rights” (SAFHR), directing and coordinating a diverse portfolio of programs, including “Human Rights Audits of Peace Processes,” “Women, Conflict, and Peace,” “Media in Conflict,” and “Rights-based Approaches to Poverty Reduction.” Also, during the last decade and a half, she had been the gender advisor, Commonwealth Technical Fund (2004–05), and consultant in projects with UN Women (2010–11, 2012– 13, 2014), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 2014–15), Centre for Humanitarian Dialogues (2011, 2012), and SAFERWORLD (2015, 2016). She has lectured on conflict resolution at Rotary Centre for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution, Chulalongkorn University (2014), Welthungerhilfe (WHH; 2014), Lady Shri Ram College (2008–16), and SAFHR: Human Rights and Peace Orientation Course (2000–08).
Her more recent publication SAGE Series in Human Rights Audits of Peace Processes undertaken by SAFHR and published by SAGE (2015), is a field-based audit study of peace-making in Northeast (India), Balochistan (Pakistan), Madhesh (Nepal), and Chittagong Hill Tracts (Bangladesh). Among her many books and articles are Women War and Peace in South Asia: Beyond Victimhood to Agency, a pioneering study on feminist theorizing and praxis on conflict and peace-building (SAGE 2001), and Naga Women in the Peace Process (SAGE 2004).
