Majoritarianism

Topic: Power-sharing: Majoritarianism versus Accommodation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "Power-sharing"; Class 10, Ch 5 "Outcomes of Democracy"

Meaning

Majoritarianism is the belief that the majority community in a country may rule in any way it wants, even if it ignores what minorities want and need. It matters because it shows how a country that holds free elections can still treat its minorities unfairly. NCERT uses Sri Lanka after 1948 as its main example, and Belgium as the opposite example of accommodation (sharing power so that minorities get a real place in government).

Explanation

How it works

• Majoritarianism mixes up two different ideas:
• Majority rule: the bigger group wins elections and forms the government. This is normal in a democracy.

• Majority domination: the bigger group decides everything alone and leaves no space for minorities. This is majoritarianism.

• It works through ordinary laws and policies. A majority that controls Parliament can change language, religion, jobs and education in its own favour.

• The mindset treats being the majority as a right to rule alone. NCERT's cartoon sums it up: "If Sinhalas don't rule in Sri Lanka, where else will they rule?"

The Sri Lankan setting

• Sri Lanka is an island a few kilometres off the coast of Tamil Nadu, across the Palk Strait.
• Language groups:

Group	Share	Who they are
Sinhala speakers	74%	Majority across most of the island; mostly Buddhists
All Tamil speakers	18%	Mostly Hindus or Muslims
— Sri Lankan Tamils	13%	Native Tamils, mainly in the north and east
— Indian Tamils	~5%	Descendants of plantation workers the British brought from India

• About 7% of people are Christians, from both the Sinhala and Tamil groups.
• Tamil-speaking Muslims (Moors) see themselves as a separate community, so the minority side has more than one identity.

Its parts: the tools of Sinhala dominance

NCERT names three majoritarian measures. The study note adds more.

• Language: the Official Language Act, 1956 (the "Sinhala Only Act") made Sinhala the only official language.
• Jobs and education: preferential policies (1950s–70s) favoured Sinhala applicants for university places and government jobs.
• Religion: the 1972 Constitution required the state to "protect and foster Buddhism".
• Citizenship: laws from 1948–49 left most Indian Tamils without citizenship or the vote.

Its results and limits

• Alienation of Tamils (a feeling of being shut out and unprotected by the state). Tamils felt that:
• no major party, all led by Sinhala Buddhists, cared about their language and culture.
• the Constitution and government policies denied them equal political rights.

• they faced discrimination in jobs and other opportunities.

• Breakdown of trust:

• Relations between the Sinhala and Tamil communities became strained.
• Tamil demands moved from federalism (power shared between the centre and the regions) towards separatism.

• This prepared the ground for the civil war (1983–2009).

• The limit it shows: elections alone do not make a democracy fair. A majority needs constitutional limits.

In the Constitution and practice

Sri Lanka: how majoritarianism was built, step by step

• 4 February 1948: Ceylon becomes independent. Sinhala leaders want to dominate the government because they are the majority.
• Ceylon Citizenship Act, 1948: citizenship mostly depended on proving descent through records that plantation workers did not have. As a result, most Indian Tamils became stateless (citizens of no country).
• 1949 franchise law (Ceylon Parliamentary Elections Amendment Act): it linked the vote to citizenship, so Indian Tamils lost the vote.
• Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956):
• It was the first step of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike's new government, which had won a landslide in the 1956 general election [2][3].
• Tamil speakers opposed it strongly, and riots followed [2].
• The Federal Party, the main Tamil party, led a bitter opposition [2][3].

• Tamil government servants now had to work in Sinhala, which shut many of them out of public jobs.

• Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact (1957), a failed attempt at accommodation:

• It promised regional councils with some self-rule and the official use of Tamil in Tamil-speaking provinces [2].
• Under pressure from Sinhala extremists, Bandaranaike cancelled it in April 1958 [2].

• Severe communal riots followed. People moved to areas where their own community lived, and a state of emergency was declared [2].

• Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act, August 1958:

• It allowed Tamil for some administrative work and as a medium of teaching in secondary and higher education [2].

• It did not give Tamil equal official status, so the anger remained.

• "Standardisation" (1970s):

• It began under the United Front government after the 1971 unrest. Entrance marks were adjusted by language medium, and later by district [6].
• Its stated aim was to make science faculties match each community's share of the population [6].

• In practice, Tamil students needed higher marks than Sinhala students for the same seats, and the Tamil share fell [6].

• 1972 Republican Constitution:

• Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka and stayed in the Commonwealth [4].
• Buddhism got "the foremost place" [4]. Section 6 made it the state's duty to "protect and foster" Buddhism, and the 1978 Constitution kept this as Article 9.
• Sinhala was confirmed again as the official language [4].
• Tamil demands for a federal set-up were ignored, and Sri Lanka stayed a unitary state (one where all real power sits with the central government).

India's link to it

• The Sirimavo–Shastri Pact (1964) and a 1974 agreement divided the stateless people between the two countries.
• 4,61,639 Tamils were sent back to India under the 1964 and 1974 Agreements on Persons of Indian Origin [5].
• Sri Lanka gave citizenship to 7,40,985 Indian-origin Tamils through laws passed between 1967 and 2003 [5].

How the Indian Constitution guards against majoritarianism

• Articles 25–28: freedom of religion for everyone, so no single faith is imposed by the state.
• Articles 29–30: minorities may protect their language, script and culture and run their own educational institutions.
• Articles 343–351 and the Eighth Schedule: Hindi is the official language of the Union, English is also used, and many regional languages are recognised.
• Linguistic reorganisation of states (1956) and the 1965–67 language compromise accommodated India's diversity instead of forcing one language on everyone.

Don't confuse with

• Majority rule: majority rule only means the bigger group forms the government after elections. Majoritarianism means the majority also ignores minority rights and decides everything alone.
• Accommodation (power-sharing): this is the opposite of majoritarianism. Minorities get a real share of power, as in Belgium (reforms 1970–1993).
• Sri Lankan Tamils vs Indian Tamils: the 1948 Citizenship Act made Indian Tamils (plantation workers' descendants, about 5%) stateless. Sri Lankan Tamils (13%, native to the north and east) were hit by the language, job and education policies.
• Standardisation vs Sinhala Only Act: standardisation (1970s) changed university admission marks. The 1956 Act was about the official language.

Prelims Hooks

• Sinhala Only Act = Official Language Act, 1956, passed under S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. It made Sinhala the only official language [2].
• Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact (1957) promised regional councils and the use of Tamil. It was cancelled in April 1958, and riots followed [2].
• Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act, 1958 gave Tamil a limited role in administration and education. It did not make Tamil an official language [2].
• 1972 Constitution: Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka, stayed in the Commonwealth, and gave Buddhism "the foremost place" [4].
• Sirimavo–Shastri Pact = 1964, followed by a 1974 agreement. About 4.6 lakh people were sent back to India [5].
• Trap: Sinhala speakers 74%, all Tamil speakers 18%, Sri Lankan Tamils 13%. The 7% Christians come from both groups.

Mains Points

• Majority rule needs limits: Sri Lanka shows that a democracy with free elections can still lock out its minorities through ordinary laws on language, religion, jobs and education. A strong democracy needs constitutional protections for minorities, not just elections. (GS-II: comparing constitutions)
• Accommodation delayed is accommodation denied:
• The B–C Pact (1957) was withdrawn under majority pressure, and the 1958 Act came too late and gave too little.
• Each failure made Tamils trust the state less.

• Tamil demands moved from federalism to separatism and then to civil war (1983–2009).

• India vs Sri Lanka as a case-study pair:

• India accommodated diversity through Articles 25–30 and 343–351, the Eighth Schedule, the linguistic states of 1956 and the 1965–67 language compromise.
• Sri Lanka's "one language, one religion" policies set communities against each other.
• Sri Lanka's majoritarianism also affected India directly, through stateless Indian Tamils, the 1964/1974 agreements, refugee flows and Tamil Nadu politics. (GS-II: India and its neighbourhood)

Related concepts

• Sinhala Only Act 1956
• Sri Lankan Tamils
• Indian Tamils

Read more

• Sri Lanka: majoritarian state-building after 1948