The Challenges Of Cultural Diversity

Question
CBSEENSO12044819

What is a ‘minority’? Why do minorities need protection from the state?

Solution

Minority in sociological perspective is releatively a small and disadvantaged group. Extremely wealthy people are not usually referred to as minorities. In case, they are addressed for any special references, they are referred to as privileged minority.
Minorities need protection from government because of demographic dominance of majority as it attains political power in democratic pattern of election. In this view of the matter, the dominant majority may use the state machinery to suppress their religious and cultural institutions and it ultimately, will force monorities to abandon their distinctive identity. However, in statewise calculation, some minorities in India are in majority E.g. In Jammu and Kashmir, there is the Muslim majority and vast population in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Andra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan. This is the reason, Supreme Court of India has recently declared that Muslims are no more in minorities. Similarly, Nagaland, Misaram and Meghalaya are Christian majority states and they have a good share in the population of Goa and Kerala. Sikhs have also majority in Punjab state and Buddhists are in majority in Sikkim and Arunanchal Pradesh.

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