Minority rights and the nationalist doctrine in India: Contestation and coalescence in the public sphere

Abstract

In India the genealogy of the concept of minority rights is drawn from its pre-independent past and is intrinsic to the nationalist doctrine that emerged. Indeed minority groups were endowed with certain self-preservation rights, albeit extremely limited, in the new Constitution. This single fact has driven theorists to laud the commitment of the Indian polity towards minority entitlements. Amidst such celebratory euphoria, however, the disquiet, deceit and aversion with which the prevailing nationalist opinion engaged with the concept, is often overlooked. This essay seeks to trace the trajectory of the idea of minority rights as it evolved within the Constituent Assembly as much as outside it in the public domain. In the process, the essay interrogates the constitution of the public sphere as an arena, rational and autonomous of state influences. © 2012 Taylor & Francis.