South Asia is facing seemingly intractable problems of uneven development, ethnic conflict, and human rights violations. Development, Ethnicity, and Human Rights in South Asia challenges the dominant discourse on these issues while emphasizing the problems of minority rights in societies that are characterized by inegalitarian cultural values and highly skewed economic distribution. The affirmation of human rights for subordinate ethnic groups in the development process has been illustrated through case studies from South Asia. These include scheduled castes and tribes in India, minorities in Bangladesh, ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and the Sikhs in India. Various government policies to redress ethnic, class, and caste inequalities as well as rural decentralization, desegregation, and affirmative action to ameliorate the marginalization of subordinate groups are examined. The author contends that a collusion exists between national elites, NGOs, and international agencies in neglecting the issue of human rights abuse on the subcontinent. Dealing with important contemporary issues of ethnicity and human rights in the South Asian development process, this book will generate critical debate on previously neglected topics.