An analysis of the rights of minorities in international law

The concern for the plight of the minorities and an attempt to safeguard their interests has been an ideal which has contributed towards the growth and expansion of international law. Although international law primarily operates through the medium of States, and minorities generally have no locus standi, the treatment which the minorities receive from their States has occasionally become a matter of international concern. International law, however, has historically found it difficult to deal with the issue of minorities. Like the poor, the weak and the inarticulate, they have, since time immemorial been the natural victims of persecution and genocide. In an age when wars were "just", religious repression legitimate, and cultural or political dissidence unacceptable, minorities remained the prime target of repression.Even in this contemporary period of relative tolerance and rationality, minorities are often subjected to persecution, discrimination and genocide. The stance of international law remains tentative and extremely cautious, for minorities pose questions of a serious nature, existing in myriad forms with their own social, political, cultural and religious peculiarities. Often transcending national frontiers minorities are extremely capable of appealing to the sensitivities of their international sympathisers. Most national boundaries are arbitrarily drawn, and a number of States contain turbulent factions artificially placed within their borders, often cutting across frontiers. Many regions continue to witness a perpetual and infinite struggle between the minority groups on the one hand and the State on the other, sometimes to a point where the very fabric of the institution of the State comes under threat.A consideration of many of the contemporary disputes including those involving the Kurds of Iraq, Turkey and Iran, the Kashmiris of Pakistan and India, the Sikhs of Indian Punjab, the Tamils of Sri Lanka, the Biharis of Bangladesh, the Tibetans of China, the Catholics of Northern Ireland, the ...