You might wonder why the Constitution makers were so particular in providing written guarantees of the rights of the minorities. Why are there no special guarantees for the majority? Well, for -the simple reason that the working of democracy gives power to the majority. It is the language, culture and religion of minorities that needs special protection. Otherwise, they may get neglected or undermined under the impact of the language, religion and culture of the majority.
That is why the Constitution speci- fies the cultural and educational rights of the minorities:
■ Any section of citizens with a distinct language or culture have a right to conserve it.
■ Admission to any educational institution maintained by government or receiving government aid cannot be denied to any citizen on the ground of religion or language.
■ All minorities have the right to es- tablish and administer educa- tional institutions of their choice. Here minority does not mean only religious minority at the national level. In some places people speaking a particular language are in majority; people speaking a different language are in a minority. For example, Telugu speaking people form a majority in Andhra Pradesh. But they are a minority in the neighbouring State of Karnataka. Sikhs constitute a majority in Punjab. But they are a minority in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.
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