ABSTRACT
Theorists have come to suggest a persisting strain in the relationship of minority groups with discourses of nationalism. In the dominant nationalist constructs therefore, the loyalty of minority groups comes under a cloud of suspicion. On the contrary, this chapter takes a nuanced view of the tenuous relationship between minority groups and national identity and examines the multifarious ways in which minority groups negotiate their terms of co-existence, accommodation and adaptation with several other competing identities within the framework of nation-states. It takes into account the structural variation in the nature and composition of minority groups to make sense of this vexed relationship. Therefore, the chapter distinguishes between three different strains of minority communities each specific in terms of its composition and the politics that follows. One, cultural enclaves with real or fictitious association with a homeland often defined as a nation, nationality or sub-nation. Two, territorially dispersed but culturally or religiously distinct identities. Three, the indigenous communities or tribes. Drawing from the South Asian experience, the chapter argues for a fresh theorisation of the relationship between minority identities and nationalism.
