Soon after Pakistan was formed in 1945, the population of Bengalis in…

The correct answer is Option (4) → Denial of cultural diversity

Option (1) Practice of Pluralism — Incorrect. Pluralism means accepting and respecting many cultures, languages and faiths side by side within one nation. Refusing to respect the Bengalis’ language and culture is the opposite of pluralism.

Option (2) Authoritarianism — Incorrect. An authoritarian state is one in which the people have no voice and those in power are not accountable to anyone. The situation is about one language group not respecting another’s language and culture, not about a form of government.

Option (3) Nationalism — Incorrect. Nationalism is the feeling of belonging to a nation and the wish that it should have a state of its own. The question describes a conflict inside one country over language, which nationalism alone does not name.

Option (4) Denial of cultural diversity — Correct. Cultural diversity means that communities with different language, religion, sect, race or caste live within one nation. Pakistan was divided in 1971 because the Punjabi and Urdu speakers of its western wing would not respect the sentiments of the Bengalis in the east, a refusal to accept the diversity of language and culture; Sri Lanka’s civil war rests on a similar denial by the majority linguistic group of the rights of the minority.

Note: It seems that there is a mistake in the original NTA paper, which prints that Pakistan was formed in 1945 when it should read 1947. Pakistan came into being when India was freed and divided in 1947; the year does not change the answer, which turns on the Bengalis’ language and culture not being respected.