2nd Term
DEFINITION
OF MINORITY AND MAJORITY INTEREST
A minority interest is an activity,
subject, etc. that is of interest to only a limited number of people called the
Minority. Minority is a culturally,
ethnically, or racially distinct group that coexists with but is subordinate to
a more dominant group. This subordination is the chief defining characteristic
of a minority group. As such, minority status does not necessarily correlate to population. In fact, in some cases one or more so-called minority groups may
have more population than the dominating group, as was the case in South Africa
under apartheid (1950–91).
Members
of a minority group are usually cut off from full involvement in the workings
of the society and from an equal share in the society’s rewards because they
are socially separated or segregated from
the dominant forces of the society. E.g. in the traditional Hindu caste system
the Vaishyas (commoners) were deprived certain privileges which the Brahmans
(priests) and the Rajanya (ruling class) enjoyed.
Efforts to forcibly
eliminate a minority from a society have ranged from expulsion, mob violence and
ethnic cleansing, to genocide. E.g. (1)British
deportation of the French population of Acadia, a group that became known
as Cajuns, in 1755. (2) Pogroms against Jews in
Russia (3) lynching of blacks, Roman Catholics, immigrants, and others in
the United States (4) Nazis extermination of
more than six million Jews in the mid-20th-century Holocaust. (5) Ethnic cleansing and genocide in the former Yugoslavia,
Rwanda and The Sudan (6) South African xenophobic attack
On the other hand,
there may be political, ideological, or moral impediments to the elimination of a minority, even if it is
disliked. For instance, the commercial trade of certain European countries in
the 12th and 13th centuries depended on Jewish merchants, a
circumstance that (for a time) prevented the anti-Semitic aristocracy and clergy from driving the Jews into exile. Another example
of begrudging tolerance can be seen in Britain in the 20-year period following 1950, which saw an influx of
immigrants from the Caribbean, Pakistan, and India. Many British people
did not like these new minority groups, but the nation’s prevailing
democratic ideology overcame attempts to eject them.
Reasons
for protecting minority interest: (1) To prevent inter-tribal crisis (2) to maintain political stability (3)to foster unity (4)to make the country more productive by engaging the right
people for a particular job even if they are in the minority (5)to make up for past injustice done
to the minority
Ways of
protecting/safeguarding minority interest: (1) By
creating them a component unit like state or local government (2)through adherence to the federal
character principle (3)by ensuring
even development across the country (4)by
having the fundamental human rights enshrined in the constitution (5)by respecting their culture (6)by eliminating discrimination
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