The inaugural edition of the South Asia State of Minorities Report series seeks to create a baseline of minority groups and minority rights regimes, mechanisms and practices, by country, for the South Asia region. To do this, the report examines both the theory and the practice of minority rights protection in each country, looking at the range of rights guaranteed by national and international instruments. It also proposes a set of recommendations for the region, as well as for each country, separately. This report covers six SAARC member countries, ciz. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.