news details |
|
|
| Tyranny of the majority in J&K, Jammu victimised | | Denying Rights To Minority | | Rustam
EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, May 23: In any system, even a democratic system, decisions involving important policy-making, there is seldom complete unanimity. Quite often one section of citizens will be for an issue and another section will be against it. If the authorities are to be the instrument of the popular will, but there is difference of opinion on issues, then how shall the popular will be determined? The answer is simple. The answer is that the majority shall rule: in case of any controversy, the policy that has the support of the greatest number of people will surely become the policy of the government. This is the procedure that was used in the democracies in ancient times, especially Greece. However, the more moderns and practical concept of democracy is "majority rule with minority rights."
A glance at any political controversy will reveal that, as a fact of political and social life, political minorities do exist everywhere and at any given time. Their members could be seen demonstrating outside the parliament or legislative or protesting in the streets or making their presence felt, as it has been happening in Jammu province since October 1947. And, the impact of these minorities on government is very important. Just as it is true that a minority view may grow to be almost universally accepted over a period of time, so, too, a majority decision may eventually prove to be unwise, discriminatory, unworkable, or unwarranted. Just as a minority may be right, so, too, may a majority be wrong.
Modern liberal democracies tend to place limits on the concept of majority rule. It should not, for instance, be exploited to oppress minorities, and minority rights should only be overruled within certain accepted standards. If minorities are oppressed by it and their legitimate civil and political rights trampled upon, the will of the majority then becomes the tyranny of the majority, which is just as foreboding as executive tyranny. In any representative democracy, the burden is on the majority to persuade a minority rather than to coerce it, and the right of all citizens to dissent is protected. If the majority in power does not act in accordance with democratic practice, then citizens may refuse to accept as legitimate the decisions of the governing party, since, in their judgment, it is not governing legitimately.
This is precisely what has been happening in Jammu and Kashmir ever since its accession to the Indian Dominion since October 26, 1947. In other words, it is the tyranny of the majority (read Kashmiri Muslims) that has become the order of the day, with the rights of the minorities or with the rights of the people of Jammu being trampled upon by those representing the majority in the government. That's the reason we witness everyday the minority community holding protests against the government policies that only suit the majority. The worst part of the whole situation has been the failure of the authorities in the state and at the centre to take cognizance of the protest demonstrations held at regular intervals by the people of Jammu province and take corrective measures. It's no wonder then that the people of Jammu have from time to time demanded reorganization of the state on a regional basis so that the rights of the minorities are protected and promoted.
The situation in Jammu has reached to the point where the people have to come on the roads everyday to make their presence felt and put pressure on the authorities to accept their demands, but with no result. Take, for example, the negative attitude of the authorities even towards their petty demands like the establishment of Central University and issuance of Dogra certificates. It is this indifferent attitude or it is this bias against them that has finally made the radicals among the people of Jammu province to demand trifurcation of the state. And, they are within their right. If the authorities wish to keep the state intact, it has no other option but to end the tyranny of the majority and empower the minority to exercise all the rights they deserve as part and parcel of the Indian society. Not to do so would be only to hasten the process of the state's disintegration - process that was set-into-motion in October 1989, when the Union Government agreed to establish in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh autonomous hill development council. You simply can deprive the minorities of their rights for all times. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
