Author: Iftekharuzzaman
Editor(s): Iftekharuzzaman
Publisher: Manohar
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: 190
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8173042071
Description
Ethnic issues are at the root of many of the vexing problems and conflicts between and within nations today. In many cases ethnicity-based political assertion transforms into secessionist movement defying political and constitutional response. The upsurge of ethno-political strife that often has cross-border implications is also a major source of threat to national, regional and international security.
The problem highlights the importance of constitutional reform in preventing and resolving ethnic conflict. By creating the legal and institutional structures constitutional reform can protect and preserve the rights of various ethnic groups, provide equitable access to political and economic opportunity, and address the problem of power-sharing.
The linkage between ethnicity and constitutional reform is of ceaseless academic and policy interest, particularly in the context of south Asia where very few other factors are more dominant in national and regional politics. The states in this region, emerging from colonial dispensation hardly reflected coincidence of state with nation, and have ceaselessly confronted the challenge of transforming ethnic and religious diversities into nationhood.
Problems have been exacerbated by the failure of the dominant majority community to provide democratic space to other social groups. Discriminatory legislation and flawed distributive justice are responsible for many of the conflicts and instabilities. As a result, the states remain ill-prepared to face challenges of effective governance and development, and the region remains endemically unstable.
This book probes into the problem of ethnicity is South Asia and examines if and to what extent constitutional reform is a way out.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
The Problems of Tribal Separatism and Constitutional Reform in Bangladesh
MOHAMMAD HUMAYUN KABIR
Ethnicity and Constitutional Reforms in India
SUBHASH C KASHYAP
Ethnic Conflict and Conflict Management: The Indian Case
PARTHA S GHOSH
Ethnicity and Constitutional Reforms in Nepal
LOK RAJ BARAL
Ethnicity and constitutional Reforms: A Pakistani Perspective
MOONIS AHMAR
Ethnicity and Constitutional Reform in Sri Lanka: Reflections on Some Relevant Mechanisms
G L PEIRIS
Ethnicity and Constitutional Reform in Sri Lanka: A Consociational Approach
AMBALAVANAR SIVARAJAH
Constitutional Reform as an Instrument for Settling Ethnic Disputes
LAKSHMAN MARASINGHE
Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka: Reconstituting the Polity through Constitutional Reform GAMINI SAMARANAYAKE
CONTRIBUTORS