THE ‘MINORITY COMPLEX’ OF THE MAJORITIES AND THEIR IDENTITY CLAIMS: A CASE STUDY OF INDIA-PAKISTAN PHENOMENON

Abstract

There is an inherent socio-political and religio-cultural need for communities to claim their identity, even though there are ambiguities in its definition. However these groups seem to have hegemonized their claims above the rest. New socio-cultural camps have unprecedentedly engaged in a process of ‘othering,’ resulting in politically untenable agendas, socially futile situations, conflict, contestation and even engaging violent extremism. Even though there is validity in claiming a certain ‘identity’ for a specific group, socially or religiously, exclusive claims lead to unfavorable demands and are detrimental to the survival of the “other.” The ‘minorities’ too are made up of a socio-political or a religio-cultural ‘other’ like the majority. Yet desire parity, honour and space for themselves, and their identities are set resolutely to nothing less than the status and claims of a ‘majority.’ Hence, what both claim arguably is a socio-political or a religio-cultural affirmation of a subliminal ‘tribal identity’ to reconfigure their own ‘individual identity’ as ‘a truth claim’ now juxtaposed unknowingly with multiple layers of identities. This social complexity has challenged the traditional forms of social and political stability, desperately leading to irreparable social decay. The focus of this deliberation is the ‘India-Pakistan phenomenon case study.’ This article raises new questions for the reader - imagination to search for answers alongside opinion makers and influencers in both nations to move from the incumbent stalemate and redesign a possible shared future.