This text is an analysis of many of the ethnic problems that plague South Asia. Conflicts which stem from the impact of colonial legacies, population movements, the disruptive effects of modernization forces and the exigencies of electoral politics. The text traces the historical origins of these various conflicts and discusses their contemporary dimensions in the late 1990s. It takes a comparative approach, highlighting common attitudinal patterns in policies and strategies and the case studies are analyzed within an historical theoretical perspective.