Social inequality and exclusion in South Asia originates in the caste system. What is the region’s experience with affirmative action (AA) policies in addressing social exclusion? Can affirmative action help rebuild inclusive societies? This background paper for UNDP’s Human Development Report 2004 outlines how the outcome of AA policies in South Asia has depended on each country’s approach to nation-building. In India, an ethno-neutral state, it has contributed to making the society more inclusive. In ethno-majoritarian states like Pakistan and Sri Lanka it has mainly been used as an instrument for appeasing the majority.
Caste can be seen as the institution that has structured power relations among different communities for centuries in South Asia. Caste legitimises power relations by dispensing different mixes of economic and cultural assets and giving them religious or ideological sanctification. Caste should be viewed in terms of a sacralized power structure, rather than a hierarchy of statuses.
Building an inclusive national society whilst at the same time retaining the autonomy and neutrality of the state has been an insurmountable task in South Asian countries. Two different approaches to nation building have emerged: the ethno-majoritarian state ethno-neutral state models. The impact of affirmative action policies, which aim to include traditionally excluded groups in the power-structure of the state and its institutions, has different depending on the choice of model.
- The ethno-majoritarian states of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka aligned themselves to a cultural or religious majority, resulting in the exclusion of minorities.
- In Pakistan, the non-recognition of different identities within Islam led to strong ethnic identification by communities who felt discriminated against. AA contributed to the rise of militant and separatist movements. After the separation of Bangladesh, the policy was more efficient in achieving its intended objectives.
- The ruling elite’s inability to devise inclusive social and cultural policies resulted in the breakdown of ethno-neutrality in Sri Lanka. The AA policies that were implemented in the wake of the Sinhalese-Buddhist majoritarian movement contributed to the growing ethnic polarisation in the society.
- India developed as an ethno-neutral state, defining its nationas a territorial-political community of citizens. India’s five decade old Reservations policy has been fairly successful in addressing exclusion. Issues based on caste, ethnicity and language have become integral to the normal politics of the country.
There is a need to continue to strengthen affirmative action policies. The lessons learnt from South Asia imply that:
- Building an inclusive national society requires special policies and programmes, even for a secular democratic state.
- The state has to proactively provide social justice to citizens who exist on the peripheries of both the market economy and the civil society.
- The state must view AA policies as an anticipatorymeasure to ensure participation by the excluded communities in political and bureaucratic power.
- No economic reforms can work unless a vast majority of a country’s population acquire a stake in them. The government must ensure that the weaker and vulnerable sections of society can participate and derive benefits from the expanding economy. Affirmative action is the most potent instrument for achieving this state.
