I refer to A Arulnageswaran's letter, [#1] Oblivious of minority's needs[/#] (March 17), in which the author suggests that race and religion of minority groups are viewed as insignificant by the majority of Malaysians. Consequently, issues such as the Petaling Selatan incident are not being given their due recognition because they involve an insignificant minority group.

However, the fear is that minority groups are viewed as nothing more than passive recipients of social influence. If anything, history illustrates the power of minorities. Many giants of the scientific and religious world - Galileo, Freud, the Prophet Muhammad - faced virtually unanimous majorities who rejected their views in harsh terms. Yet, over time, they won growing numbers of peers to their side, until ultimately their view prevailed. More recent examples of minorities influencing majorities are provided by the success of environmentalists and freedom fighters of East Timor.

Minorities, particularly ones that are active and organised, introduce innovations that ultimately produce social change. For example, the anti-war rallies during the 1960s in the United States had an effect on majority attitudes that hastened American withdrawal from Vietnam.

Similarly, the suffragettes of the 1920s gradually changed public opinion so that women were granted the vote, and the CND rallies in western Europe in the early 1980s gradually shifted public opinion away from the 'benefits' of nuclear proliferation.

With respect to the many minority groups of Malaysia, it is my belief that such minorities should take the lead in pushing for wider recognition. Members of minority groups should be consistent, flexible and in line with current social trends in making their demands. Of course, this is an uphill task. The power of majorities is great, partly because people view majorities as providing an important source of both informational social influence.

Nevertheless, minorities cannot and must not remain the passive targets of social influence. Minorities need to lead majorities to consider ideas and alternatives they would otherwise have ignored.

In this sense, there is much truth to Franklin Roosevelt's remark that, "No democracy can long survive which does not accept as fundamental to its very existence the recognition of the rights of minorities."