Majoritarianism versus accommodation: lessons from two democracies

Detail

1. NCERT's lesson: "What do we learn from these two stories?"

• Both countries are democracies. They dealt with power-sharing in opposite ways.
• Belgium chose accommodation.
• Its population was mixed (NCERT: Dutch-speaking 59%, French-speaking 40%, German-speaking 1%).
• Its leaders saw that the country could stay united only if every community and region had its feelings and interests respected.

• It amended its Constitution four times between 1970 and 1993. It created arrangements that all groups could accept:

  • equal numbers of Dutch- and French-speaking ministers in the central government;
  • more power for state governments;
  • a separate government for Brussels in which both communities have equal representation;
  • a community government, elected by people of one language community, which deals with culture, education and language.

• Sri Lanka chose majoritarianism.

• Majoritarianism is the belief that the majority community should rule the country as it likes and ignore the wishes and needs of the minority.
• Sri Lanka's population (NCERT): Sinhala speakers 74%, Tamil speakers 18%.

• After independence in 1948, Sinhala-majority governments tried to establish Sinhala dominance.

• The result. A majority that forces its dominance and refuses to share power can undermine the unity of the country. Sri Lanka's civil war ran from 1983 to 2009.

• The cartoon line: "sharing of power makes us more powerful". Sharing power makes a country stronger, not weaker.

2. Tyranny of the majority

• Tyranny of the majority means a majority using its numbers to oppress minorities.
• NCERT's point: it is oppressive for the minority, and it often harms the majority too.
• Majority rule pushes the minority aside.
• The minority resists, and conflict follows. In Sri Lanka this meant Tamil parties, then armed struggle.
• The whole country, majority included, then suffers instability, violence and economic loss.

3. Intellectual roots (beyond NCERT)

• Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835): in a democracy, the majority's power can crush individuals and minorities. He called this the "tyranny of the majority".
• J.S. Mill, On Liberty (1859): this tyranny works through laws and also through social pressure, meaning public opinion that forces everyone to conform.
• James Madison, Federalist No. 10 (1787): a faction is a group, majority or minority, that acts against other people's rights or the common good. A large republic with many interests makes it hard for one faction to become a permanent majority.
• Majority rule is different from majoritarianism.

	Majority rule (democratic)	Majoritarianism (undemocratic)
Who forms the majority	Different people on different issues	The same group every time
Basis	Opinion on an issue or a policy	Birth-based identity: religion, language, ethnicity
Can a minority become a majority?	Yes, at the next issue or election	Never, so the minority stays out of power for good

• So democracy needs two conditions. Rule by majority must not become rule by one community. Every citizen must have a fair chance to be in the majority at some time (pointer: democracy-forms-outcomes).

4. Accommodation of diversity: India's constitutional answer

• Accommodation of diversity means accepting that groups are different and sharing power so that all of them can live together in one country. It is the opposite of majoritarianism.
• India's aim is unity in diversity, not uniformity.

Issue	Sri Lanka (majoritarian)	India (accommodative)
Language	Sinhala Only Act 1956	Hindi under Art. 343, with English continuing; 22 Eighth Schedule languages
Region	Regional autonomy denied	Linguistic states: Andhra (1953), States Reorganisation Act 1956
Religion	State to protect and foster Buddhism	Secular state

5. Language: Sinhala Only versus India's multilingual compromise

Sri Lanka

• The Sinhala Only Bill (1956) was passed under S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike's government. It made Sinhala the only official language, keeping a promise from the 1956 election campaign [7].
• The Tamil-speaking minority opposed it violently, and riots followed. The Tamil Federal Party (leader: S.J.V. Chelvanayakam) demanded a federal Ceylon [7][8].
• Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam pact: it allowed official use of Tamil in Tamil-speaking provinces. Bandaranaike cancelled it in April 1958 under pressure from Sinhala hardliners. Communal riots and a state of emergency followed [7][8].
• The Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act, August 1958 allowed Tamil for some administrative work and as a medium of teaching in secondary and higher education. It came too late, and Tamils still felt unequal [7].
• NCERT adds that governments favoured Sinhala applicants for university places and government jobs.

India: the constitutional text (Part XVII, Arts. 343-351)

• Art. 343(1): the official language of the Union is Hindi in Devanagari script, with the international form of Indian numerals [4].
• Art. 343(2): English was to continue for all official purposes of the Union for 15 years from 1950 [4].
• Art. 343(3): after those 15 years, Parliament may by law allow English to continue for purposes it names [4].
• Other safeguards in Part XVII [5]:
• Art. 344: an Official Language Commission and a Parliamentary Committee review the use of Hindi.
• Art. 345: each state legislature chooses the state's own official language or languages.
• Art. 347: the President may recognise a language spoken by a large section of a state's people.
• Art. 348: the Supreme Court, the High Courts and authoritative texts of laws use English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
• Art. 350: a person may submit a complaint or request in any language used in the Union or the state.
• Art. 350A: states should provide teaching in the mother tongue at the primary stage for linguistic minorities.
• Art. 350B: a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities is appointed by the President.
• Art. 351: the Union must promote Hindi but enrich it by drawing on other Eighth Schedule languages.

India: the Acts

• The Official Languages Act 1963 used Art. 343(3) and allowed English to continue after 1965 [2].
• 1965: anti-Hindi agitation broke out, mainly in Madras (now Tamil Nadu), as the 15-year deadline ended.
• The Official Languages (Amendment) Act 1967 (Act No. 1 of 1968, dated 8 January 1968) changed Section 3 of the 1963 Act [3][2].
• English "may continue to be used, in addition to Hindi" for all official purposes of the Union and for business in Parliament [3].

• English can continue indefinitely. It can be dropped only if every non-Hindi state legislature and both Houses of Parliament pass resolutions to end it [2].

• Three-language formula: school students learn three languages. The aim is that no region has to accept one language forced on it.

India: the Eighth Schedule

• It now lists 22 languages [6].
• How it grew [6]:
• 14 languages in the original Constitution of 1950;
• Sindhi added in 1967 (21st Amendment);
• Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali added in 1992 (71st Amendment);

• Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali added by the 92nd Amendment Act 2003, notified in the gazette on 8 January 2004.

• The Schedule links to Arts. 344(1) and 351 [6].

• Procedure for adding a language: 1. A Constitution amendment bill is introduced in either House. 2. Each House passes it by special majority under Art. 368: a majority of the House's total membership, plus two-thirds of members present and voting. 3. The President gives assent. No state needs to ratify it.

6. Region: autonomy refused versus linguistic states

• Sri Lanka: Tamil demands for regional autonomy and a federal system were repeatedly denied. By the 1980s some Tamil groups were demanding a separate state, Tamil Eelam.

• India: it redrew state borders mainly by language. 1. Potti Sriramulu fasted to death in 1952 to demand a separate Telugu state [9]. 2. The Centre then created Andhra State on 1 October 1953 from the Telugu-speaking districts of Madras State, but without Madras city [9]. 3. A States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) was set up, with Justice S. Fazal Ali as chairman and H.N. Kunzru and K.M. Panikkar as members. It submitted its report in 1955 [10]. 4. The States Reorganisation Act 1956 followed. On 1 November 1956, the Telugu-speaking districts of Hyderabad State (Telangana) were joined to Andhra to form Andhra Pradesh [9].

• Constitutional route (Arts. 3 and 4): 1. A bill to create a new state or change state borders needs the President's recommendation. 2. The President refers it to the affected state legislature for its views. Those views do not bind Parliament. 3. Parliament passes it by simple majority. 4. Art. 4: such a law is not treated as a constitutional amendment under Art. 368.

• Lesson: many feared that linguistic states would break India apart. Instead they reduced conflict, because each language group got self-rule within one Union.

7. Religion: state religion versus secular state

• Sri Lanka: its new constitution required the state to protect and foster Buddhism, giving Buddhism the foremost place. Hindu and Christian Tamils saw this as discrimination.
• India: a secular state has no official religion and treats all faiths equally.
• Arts. 25-28 protect freedom of religion.
• Arts. 29-30 protect the cultural and educational rights of minorities.
• The 42nd Amendment (1976) added the word "secular" to the Preamble.
• Pointer: secularism.

8. Classroom tools

• News-collage exercise:
• Collect news reports about conflicts between communities.
• Sort them by place (region or country) and cause (language, religion, region, caste).

• For each conflict, ask which form of power-sharing could resolve it.

• Merchtem case:

• The mayor of Merchtem, a Dutch-speaking town near Brussels, defended a ban on speaking French in the town's schools.
• His reason was that it would help non-Dutch speakers fit into the Flemish town.
• The question for students: is this in keeping with Belgium's power-sharing? It shows that majoritarian habits can return at the local level, even inside an accommodative country.

9. Caution: the limits of accommodation

• Accommodation can freeze group identities. When power is shared along language or religious lines, people may start to see themselves mainly as members of a group.
• Belgium's divide between Dutch and French speakers has hardened over time.

• In India, demands for new states and new Eighth Schedule languages keep growing.

• The challenge is to accommodate groups without making their divisions permanent (see Section 7).

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 343(1): Hindi in Devanagari script is the Union's official language. Trap: India has no national language.
• Art. 343(3) lets Parliament continue English after 15 years by law. It was used by the Official Languages Act 1963.
• Official Languages (Amendment) Act 1967 (Act No. 1 of 1968): English continues "in addition to Hindi" with no end date.
• 92nd Amendment Act 2003: added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali. The Eighth Schedule now has 22 languages.
• 71st Amendment (1992): added Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali. 21st Amendment (1967): added Sindhi.
• Art. 350A: mother-tongue teaching at the primary stage. Art. 350B: Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities.
• Andhra State: formed on 1 October 1953 after Potti Sriramulu's death in 1952. SRC: Fazal Ali (chairman), Kunzru and Panikkar; report in 1955.
• Sri Lanka: Sinhala Only Act 1956 → Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam pact cancelled in 1958 → Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act 1958 → civil war 1983-2009.
• Belgium: Constitution amended four times between 1970 and 1993. A community government handles culture, education and language.
• Trap: majority rule (shifting, issue-based majorities) ≠ majoritarianism (a fixed majority based on identity).

Mains Points

• Sri Lanka and Belgium as a comparison: forcing rule by one identity group produced riots and a civil war that lasted from 1983 to 2009. Accommodation kept Belgium together. This supports NCERT's line that "sharing of power makes us more powerful". It works as both a prudential argument (stability) and a moral one (legitimacy).
• India's language settlement combines Arts. 343-351, the 1963 and 1967 Acts, the 22-language Eighth Schedule and the three-language formula. It is a model of step-by-step accommodation after the 1965 agitation. The debate on imposing Hindi shows it must keep being renegotiated (GS-II; GS-I post-1947 history).
• Linguistic reorganisation (Andhra 1953, SRC 1955, States Reorganisation Act 1956): it was feared as divisive but strengthened federal unity. Its downside is a never-ending series of new demands for statehood.
• Accommodation versus frozen identities: group-based power-sharing must be balanced with common citizenship and cross-cutting interests, so that it does not harden divisions.