Article Details

Minorities – In the Eye of Human Rights | Original Article

Rahul Kumar Yadav*, in Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education | Multidisciplinary Academic Research

ABSTRACT:

The population of India is composed of various groups with different racial, ethnic, religious and socio-cultural background. Since time immemorial, these groups arrived in this land from different areas at different points of time. During the extensive period of their association, which spread over thousands of years, there has been a absolute admixture in the common habitation. Some of the groups underwent sub-divisions and disintegrations and some other groups retained their distinct identity, maintaining a certain measure of their traditional exclusiveness, mainly through cultural institutions religious ideologies. Indian Minorities belong to the latter category. The questions with reference to minority rights have been of international consequence and are at the center of many political, academic and legal debates. Identity claims of minority groups have been recognized and deemed worthy of protection. It will be significant to note that nonetheless, even today minority issues tend to occasion anxiety amongst people and States. It is, therefore, necessary to have a jurisprudential understanding of minority rights vis-à-vis human rights in Indian context. This article will enable us to gain clarity on questions regarding the nature of minority rights and the various challenges revolving around them. The article has viewed claims and rights of minorities from the standpoint of international law and human rights and in doing so has charted out the historic progression of minority rights. This article further talk about the present day issues of the inter-relationship between minority rights and human rights in India. It also examines the ever increasing demands for the inclusion of various categories like gender and children under the minority rights regime.