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2. What is regionalism?..........................................................................
• Theories
a) Socio-Psychological analysis
b) Socio-Cultural Analysis
d) Relative Deprivation
c) Growing population
d) Inadequate infrastructure
• Why regionalism?
a) Political motivation
b) Economic Interest
a) Secession
b) Federalism
c) Parochialism
d) Decentralization
11.Conclusion……………………………………………………………
Vision 2020
Sociology is a subject made up of competing theories in the society. Ever since the subject
began to get popular its main aim was to interpret the definition of ‘social order’. It sought to
understand the components of the society such as social institution and social relationships
contribute to or deflect the very existence of the society.
According to the theories which have gained wide acceptance, culture exhibits the way, the
human interpret their biology and environment. The cultural change can be defined as the
human adaptation to the historical events. Moreover culture can be seen as the primary
adaptive mechanism of humans and takes place much faster than a biological evolution. A
Culture, with its attendant roles, statuses, values and norms similarly constrains our range of
possible behaviors. It leads the individual choosing to limit his or her range of behavior.
People do not behave in the same way and there are cultural differences in the same country
or region. This is mainly due to the different levels of socialisation. Membership of a certain
cultural group generates certain norms and values that are important in an individual’s life.
These values and norms may accord or dissent with other cultural groups or general social
values and norms. But this disagreement is a large part of the necessary dynamic process
whereby societies adapt and change. How this anomie does occur? On the one hand you a
have people actively desiring success. On the other hand you have a large number of
potentially unhappy people when they discovered that supposed means to such success does
not deliver the goods.
In India regionalism has been a heavy weight for a long long time. In the pages of Indian
history, you will never find a nationalistic movement before 20th century. The imperialistic
rulers always used regionalism as a tool to implement their policies and gaining public
support. They always followed the policy of division. They didn’t allow the concept of
unified India to grow beyond an abstract idea. Gaining independence in 1947 had changed
the whole character of India as a geographical as well as a political unit; the mindset of the
people first needed to be changed to make them understand that they belonged to India as a
whole. Various constitutional steps, such as strengthening of All India Services, adoption of
single citizenship, a strong central government and an independent judiciary were taken to
achieve this goal.
But with the passage of time it was very clear that the feeling of regionalism very much
thrive in India. Local leaders with big aspirations in politics took advantage of the public
feelings and regionalism imbalances. The things didn’t end there, from regionalism there
originated sub-regionalism which tries to protect the rights of the people in a particular sub-
region and to see that they were properly represented in the governing bodies. In this way the
idea of regionalism got deeply attached to Indian politics such that uprooting it is becoming
an increasingly arduous task.
2. What is regionalism?
A region is a defined territorial unit and a nucleus of a social aggregation for multiple
purposes1 including particular language or languages, jatis, ethnic groups, tribes, particular
social settings and cultural pattern, music, dance, folk arts etc. Several variables engage in a
simultaneous inter-play in varying degrees over a considerable period of time, which then
sets a particular theory apart from other areas. The region is characterized by a widely shared
sentiment of ‘togetherness’ and ‘separateness’ from others in the people, internalized from a
wide variety of sources which might include common prosperity and comraderie developed
in a common struggle. Regionalism is analogous to nationalism, which can also be called as
Micro-nationalism. The conflict tends to arise out of the ‘nationality question’ of the
constituent cultural communities of a multicultural country vis-à-vis their macro-national
identity along with the regional disparities exiting in the various parts of a multicultural
country. People in such countries wish to cling on to both their collective political (state)
identity and their respective cultural identities and notions of ‘homeland’.
If this framework is tampered in any form, there would be predictable conflict giving rise to
the threats and resistances because one or the other community may feel deprived objectively
or subjectively by specific cultural community by historical accident or political machination.
The fact that nation and the states in these multicultural countries are not co-terminous
reinforces this issue further. Taking advantage of the situation the dominant cultural
community tries to pose a threat to the distinct identity of the dominated cultural community.
The latter responds to this situation by asserting its identity in separatist nationalist terms.
1
A.S Narang , Indian Government and Politics, Gijanjali Publishing House, 2004 6TH Edition, New Delhi p 409
The tampering of the cultural identities in many such multi-cultural countries occurred for the
first time during the period of colonial rule. The colonial administration in most of these
countries created artificial provincial units which didn’t match the cultural linguistic
affiliation and traditional homelands of the people, which resulted in the cumulative socio-
economic dominance of the majority community over the minority community. As the danger
of loosing one’s identity was very much involved, the minority communities reacted to this
by claiming their territorial-cultural specificity in clear nationalistic terms.
1. In the political level as a united Anti-imperialist struggle to liberate the country from
the foreign rule
2. In the cultural level it was seen as the movement for self fulfillment through self rule
for a people living in a culturally different homeland.
On 15th of December 1953, when Potti Sriramulu succumbed to death not able to sustain 52
days of marathon fast that was undertaken to demand a separate state for Telugu speaking
people, little did he realize that his death would become a launch pad for the dawn of Political
Regionalism in India – that would in course of time alter the whole landscape of India.
But the brand of regionalism that evolved after Potti Sriramulu’s death was legitimate,
genuine and logical. It reflected the aspirations of people at that time. It stood for fulfilling
the longstanding desire of people to have their own linguistic state. Thus, Andhra Pradesh
became the first linguistic state of India. Today, Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh is
renamed as Potti Sriramulu.
After the death of Sriramulu, reluctant Nehru was forced to accede to the various cries from
other parts of the country with similar demands. In 1954, a States Reorganization Committee
was formed with Fazal Ali as its head, which recommended the formation of 16 new states
and 3 Union Territories based on the language people spoke in those respective regions. This
heralded a new phase in the Indian politics. The subsequent movements for separate states
2
Retrieved 23:48 hrs April 10th 2009 <http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060827/edit2.jpg>
and territories gave birth to slew of regional parties which eventually became prominent in
national level and thus started coalition culture in Indian politics.
2. Accommodating the whole population on equal footing under one centralizing one
civil-political authority
Unfortunately, none of these goals has come true. Not only has the desired co-terminality
criterion between administrative unit and cultural not been fully met, but also the expected
‘displacement syndrome’ and the much hoped for singular loyalty to the state have not
emerged. The scheme mainly benefited the bigger or mainstream nationalities.
It is a human centered theory of development must necessarily base itself on the idea
that the progressive development of the external capabilities of society is a reflection
of a progressive development of the internal consciousness and capacities of human
beings, not just the result of external factors or the creation and application of better
tools and instruments. Society changes outwardly because people change inwardly.
We have defined social human development as the increasing complexity of the social
organization that enables it to release, organize and express human energies and
creativity more effectively to achieve the goals of the society – regardless of whether
those goals are political, economic, social or cultural.
The theory of Social Human development links social process and individual
processes to be interdependent. Individuals support and serve society using the
knowledge, skills and values acquired through the society’s collective effort in the
past. The term ‘development’ has broader meanings when it comes to development of
the society. It includes the advancement in physical infrastructure such as towns,
cities, sanitation and transport; social infrastructure such as defense, governance, food
production, trade, finance, industry, and education; mental infrastructure of organized
information, technology, science and other forms of knowledge; cultural/spiritual
organization of beliefs and values that determine human aspirations and behavior.
• Theories
a) Socio-Psychological analysis
When we apply this theory to the regionalism causing hindrance to social human
development, it can be derived that there is a big mental element controlling the
society. Selfishness, greediness etc. are the human emotions which can be found
behind every demand for separatism or regionalist movement. Every social action has
its roots in the thought process of an individual. When the same idea is conveyed into
the masses it turns into a social idea.
The study of social development mainly includes the study of attitude of individuals.
In social psychology, attitudes are defined as learned, global evaluations of a person,
object, place, or issue that influence thought and action3. It can be very varied like
liking chocolate ice cream, endorsing values of a particular political party. This part
of the human mind is very weak as it is vulnerable to the social factors. Persuasion is
an active method of influence that attempts to guide people toward the adoption of an
attitude, idea, or behavior by rational or emotive means. Persuasion can be
accomplished by either superficial aspects of the communication or the internal logic
and evidence of the message. Whether someone is persuaded by a popular celebrity or
factual arguments is largely determined by the ability and motivation of the audience.
People are influenced by the situation; general attitudes are not always good
predictors of specific behavior. Social influence refers to the way people affect the
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of others. Like the study of attitudes, it is a
traditional, core topic in social psychology. Conformity is the most common and
pervasive form of social influence. It is generally defined as the tendency to act or
think like other members of a group. The two major motives in conformity are
3
D Bem, Beliefs, attitudes, and human affairs,CA Books. Belmont, 1970
normative influence, the tendency to conform in order to gain social acceptance, and
avoid social rejection or conflict, as in peer pressure; and informational influence,
which is based on the desire to obtain useful information through conformity, and
thereby achieve a correct or appropriate result. Another method of social influence is
of Compliance refers to any change in behavior that is due to a request or suggestion
from another person. All the regionalist parties exist with certain agenda of group
dynamics in order to persuade the common man by influencing their attitude in such a
way that it touches them in the most influential and weakest part i.e. their
motherland’s freedom, for which every person would undoubtly stand for.
b) Socio-Cultural Analysis
This theory has an ideological vanguard of ‘The survival of the fittest’ motion put
forward by Charles Darwin. Sociocultural evolution is an umbrella term for theories
of cultural evolution and social evolution, describing how cultures and societies have
developed over time. Although such theories typically provide models for
understanding the relationship between technologies, social structure, the values of a
society, and how and why they change with time, they vary as to the extent to which
they describe specific mechanisms of variation and social change.
c) Relative Deprivation
In the present scenario Relative deprivation refers to the discontent citizen of a larger
unit feel when they compare their positions to those of similarly situated and find that
they have less than their peers. It is a condition that is measured by comparing one
group’s situation to the situations of those who are more advantaged. This process is
stimulated through psycho-social analysis of the group and persuasion. In India we
can see petty politicians taking advantage of this social behavior to their personal
benefits and lust for power.
In politics, polarization is the process by which the public opinion divides and goes to
the extremes. It can also refer to when the extreme factions of a political party gain
dominance in a party. The people often get attracted towards the poles of distribution
or intensity. Polarization, also happens when support for a political figure or position
differentiates itself along political party lines.Leaders of the regionalist parties creates
an impression among the masses that they are the messengers or the protectors of their
and faith and rights. This is also called as vote bank politics. This will hinder the basic
motive of the democracy in the country.
Contradictions out of the development strategy adopted in the country are one of main
reason for regionalism in the country. In a period when capitalism in some parts of the
4
Richard T. Schaefer, Racial and Ethnic Groups, 11th Ed., Pearson Education, 2008, p.69
world has already advanced significantly and is subordinating the backward societies,
development through capitalist path in the latter gives rise to peculiar problems. Gap
between the producer states and consumer states came bigger than bigger. For
example producer states like Maharashtra and consumer states like Bihar and Kerala.
b) Cultural aspects
Minorities seek protection for their cultural values against deliberately hostile actions
by the majority in the fields of school and languages so much as the desire for
protection against deliberately hostile actions by the majority in the field and
languages so much as the desire for protection against the effects on their culture of
natural, economic and social developments. The ability to protect the cultural identity
very much depends upon economic and political power. This become important in
India, because in view of scarce resources the conviction that minorities are
vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation and suppression by those who control the
state and its resources is easy to grow. The concentration of power at the centre,
absence of sound language policy and very ambivalent attitude towards secularism
have continued fear among linguistic and cultural groups that attempts were made to
assimilate them in larger Hindi culture.
After independence, India lacked a balanced economic growth in all regions. Instead
of caring for the interest of the country as a whole, political leadership became narrow
minded and began to clamour for progress of their won state or region. Disparities in
per capita income among states are very intense because of negligence and lack of
planning from the part of government. In a way economic component is the crux of
regionalism consisting of slow development, regional imbalances and paradox of
adopted path of development. After 60 years of independence public started feeling
that benefits of the development maybe difficult to attain in the national level and
have started looking towards local and regional level leadership.
Almost all the states have spawned a military native movement directed against
outsiders. The fundamental issue has the employment for the local people and many
state governments either officially or unofficially have supported the protection of
jobs for the ‘sons of the soil’. Shiv Sena of Maharashtra is one example of this.
Central policies on resource transfers have not only been unable to prevent the
increasing gap between the rich and poor states, but may have contributed to
accentuating the disparities.
Control of state machinery at various levels helps not only in getting better share of
economic surpluses but greater long term promotion of class interests. For this
purpose landed classes and indigenous bourgeoisie have been trying to increase their
influence within the legislature, executive and other organs of state machinery. They
have also created their class organizations outside the legislature and political parties
and control over them, within the legislature. The emerging contradictions between
the landed classes on hand and metropolitan and indigenous bourgeoisie on the other
is reflected in tensions over Centre-State relations too.
To enhance their authority and power and they didn’t hesitate propagating
regionalism among people. Narrow and sectarian instincts of the common masses
were at times stirred up by the politicians to serve there own narrow interests.
Increasing awareness of the people in the back ward parts of India that they were
neglected in the matter of education and job opportunities, in setting up of plants and
factories, in the construction of dams and bridges and above all, in the allocation of
central funds and grants. Apart from the sense of deprivation in the neglected states or
regions the developed efforts and benefits concentrated in certain areas or states have
also given birth to vested interests, particularly in the vested interests, particularly in
the rural parts of the developed states. In spite of agriculture having become quite
profitable they want subsides to continue even at cost of neglect of other areas.
Success of Akali Dal in Punjab, Lok Dal in Haryana and western parts of UP, to an
extent Telgy desan in Andhra Pradesh and movements like shetkari /sangathan in
Maharashtra etc. are pointers to this direction.
• Why regionalism?
The introduction of electoral politics under these conditions tended at the outset only
to reinforce the strategic position of the dominant land owning castes by enlarging
their role as intermediateries in relationship between the village and outside
authorities in the administration and government.
In spite of the complete domination of the party countrywide central power could not
be consolidated at the expense of the local authorities. Prior to 1967 elections feeling
that the congress policies were moving away from their interests these local dominant
classes left the congress to join some other parties or form their own regional parties.
Thus within the plural society the sudden arrival of the expanding activities of
government, the dispersion of power and democratisation of power have resulted in
the growth of popular participation in local, state and national politics.
This has caused the emergence of two political cultures operating at different levels in
the Indian society.
One culture is in the districts which can be characterized as emerging mass political
culture. It permeates local politics, both urban and rural, local party organization, and
local administration. Although it is permeated with traditional elements, it is not
wholly traditional, for it has many modern components.
a) Political motivation
b) Economic Interest
Regional parties with strong and emotional bases in their communities and/or regions
have been a feature of Indian politics since independence. By definition regional
parties are those which generally and exclusively operate within a limited
geographical area of a state or which represent primordial loyalties. These single state
parties are distinguished by their adoption of a regional autonomy of states in the
Indian union, for their focus on issues specific to their states or for their base within a
religious minority.
Broadly speaking the regional parties fall into two main categories.
Whereas regionalist parties are regional political parties promoting autonomy for its
region. They are mostly rebellious in their ideas or actions. It is very difficult to curb
their secessionist approach and bring back the nationalistic feeling. ULFA of Assam
is one of its kinds. Most of the regional parties existing in India, in the beginning were
formed as regionalist parties for example DMK of Tamil Nadu, Akali Dal of Punjab.
All regionalist parties are also regional, while only a portion of regional parties are
also regionalist. Because regional parties often cannot receive enough votes or
legislative seats to be politically powerful, they may join political alliances or seek to
be part of a coalition government.
a) Secession
b) Federalism
c) Parochialism
The word parochialism means being of a narrow view and working only for the
benefit of the local society. This may be both economic as well as social. In the Indian
context, this is seen very often. A prime example would be the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu
water dispute.
d) Decentralization
There are several examples when regionalist were supported world wide with a slogan
"right to live as a nation". When Bangladeshis expressed their anguish to Pakistanis
before their break up, they were dubbed anti-nationalists. The suppressed Bangladeshi
emotions erupted. The rest was history. Ironically it was same India that helped
Bangladesh to break from Pakistan. Then there is this recent story of Kosovo. Kosovo
tried to break away from Serbia. From being branded as rebels, regionalist etc,
Kosovo gathered world wide support to exist as a separate nation. The population of
Kosovo is 1/7th of Mumbai.
There may be nothing wrong in whatever has been projected by Thackeray but he
cannot afford to draw attention to the problems by creating a wedge between
communities and identities. True, the Centre may have failed in distribution of wealth
and resources to the Indian population, but here, the subject is of pure management.
Let politics be a healthy exercise to unite and not to divide. There is always a
provision to force the authorities to grant higher budgetary allocations for speedy
development and given the way, the investments are pooled in a proper environment
of security, able law and order, it can be safely presumed that locals can be
accommodated in jobs. And there is always provision for the people of the other states
also to earn their livelihood in any part of the country.
7. Schools of Regionalism
This school feels that the quest of a regional identity is not essentially antithetical to
the urge for a national identity and the two can co-exist in a situation of mutually
rewarded partnership. The followers of the regionalist school believe that to stand for
one and decentralization is the natural instincts of humans.
Continuous large scale arrival of industrial labour from south India and other parts of
India and other parts to Bombay, from Bihar and Orissa to Calcutta and agricultural
labour from eastern UP and Bihar to Punjab. Of the movements the most virulent has
been Shiv Sena, founded in 1966 in Bombay. Exploiting Maharashtrian grievances
and economic frustration, the Shiv Sena under the banner of ‘Maharashtra for the
Maharashtrians’ has directed its attack, both verbal and physical, primarily at south
and north Indian immigrants.On the one hand it affects the cultural harmony of those
areas by creating apprehensions among the linguistic and cultural groups about their
position. Second it generates ill-feeling in the local work force, who either are unable
to get jobs or in view of migratory labour’s willingness to work at lower rates become
Submitted on behalf of ninth group Page 23
Regionalism: A Hindrance to Social Human
Development
unable to bargain effectively with the local employees. This gives birth to the
sectional organizations and the sons of soil agitations. The phenomenon of Shiv Sena
is a glaring example of this.
The United Liberation Front of Assam is a terrorist group from Assam, among many
other such groups in North-East India. It seeks to establish a sovereign Assam via an
armed struggle in the Assam Conflict. The Government of India had banned the
organization in 1990 and classifies it as a terrorist group, while the US State
Department lists it under "Other groups of concern"5.
It initiated major violent activities in 1990. Military operations against it by the Indian
Army that began in 1990 continue till present. In the past two decades some 10,000
people have died in the clash between the rebels and the government. After 1985 and
before it was banned in 1990, ULFA was credited in the media with many public
activities. Soon after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, the ULFA was
reported to have stopped Hindu-Muslim riots in the Hojai region of Nagaon district by
displaying arms openly.
It has continued a public discourse of sorts through the local media (newspapers),
occasionally publishing its position on political issues centred on the nationality
question. It has participated in public debates with public personalities from Assam.
During the last two local elections the ULFA had called for boycotts, though media
reports suggest that it had intimidated activists of the then ruling parties (Congress
and AGP respectively).
Some of the major assassinations by ULFA include that of Surendra Paul in May
1990, the brother of businessman Lord Swraj Paul, that precipitated a situation
5
“United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) - Terrorist Group of Assam”, South Asian Terrorism Portal
Retrieved on 17:19 hrs April 16th 2009
<http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/terrorist_outfits/Ulfa.htm>
leading to the sacking of the Government of Assam under Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
and the beginning of Operation Bajrang.
In 1991 a Russian engineer was kidnapped along with others and killed. In 1997,
Sanjay Ghose, a social activist and a relative of a high ranking Indian diplomat, was
kidnapped and killed. The highest government officer assassinated by the group was
local AGP minister Nagen Sharma in 2000. An unsuccessful assassination attempt
was made on AGP Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta in 1997. A mass grave,
discovered at a destroyed ULFA camp in Lakhipathar forest, showed evidence of
executions committed by ULFA.
On August 15, 2004, an explosion occurred in Assam in which 10-15 people died,
including some school children. This explosion was reportedly carried out by ULFA.
The ULFA has obliquely accepted responsibility for the blast.[7] This appears to be the
first instance of ULFA admitting to public killings with an incendiary device.
In January 2007, the ULFA once again struck in Assam killing approximately 62
Hindi speaking migrant workers mostly from Bihar. On March 15, 2007, ULFA
triggered a blast in Guwahati, injuring six persons as it celebrated its 'army day'.
The ULFA has put forward a set of three pre-conditions for talks and negotiations
with the Indian government. The government has rejected these pre-conditions. The
pre-conditions are:
As early as 1960s the DMK and the Nan Tamil organised a joint campaign through
out madras state demanding its secession from India and making it an independent
sovereign state of Tamiland. DMK proposed that the states of madras, Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala and Mysore should secede from the Indian union and form an
independent ‘Republic of Dravida Nadu’.
1962: C.N Annadurai maintained that the people of South India were of different
stock from that of the north. He alleged that the south has been ignored and neglected
by union government in plans of India’s industrial development.
1963: Constitution bill which enabled it to make laws providing penalties for any
person questioning the sovereignty and integrity of Indian union.
The Bodo agitation is led by the Assam Bodo Students Union which is demanding a
separate state and has resorted to wide scale violence and series of crippling bandhs to
pursue their demand. One of the basic reason Assam agitations is because of the
expansion of education, particularly higher education, but not industrialisation and
other job creating institutions is increasing the army of educated youths in the
backward regions. These frustrated young men are allured by the movements against
the inflow of people from other countries ands states. On the other hand these
unemployed youths are also attracted by the caste, communal and other sectional
agitations fighting for the protection of rights on sectarian lines.
The concerns about Telangana were manifold. The region had a less developed
economy than Andhra, but a larger revenue base (mostly because it taxed rather than
prohibited alcoholic beverages), which Telanganas feared might be diverted for use in
Andhra. They also feared that planned dam projects on the Krishna and Godavari
rivers would not benefit Telangana proportionately even though Telanganas
controlled the headwaters of the rivers. Telanganas feared too that the people of
Andhra would have the advantage in jobs, particularly in government and education.
In the following years, however, the Telangana people had a number of complaints
about how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. The deputy chief
minister position was never filled. Education institutions in the region were greatly
expanded, but Telanganas felt that their enrollment was not proportionate to their
numbers. The selection of the city of Hyderabad as the state capital led to massive
migration of people from Andhra into Telangana. Telanganas felt discriminated
against in education employment but were told by the state government that most
non-Telanganas had been hired on the grounds that qualified local people were
unavailable. In addition, the unification of pay scales between the two regions
appeared to disadvantage Telangana civil servants. In the atmosphere of discontent,
professional associations that earlier had amalgamated broke apart by region.
Discontent with the 1956 gentlemen's agreement intensified in January 1969 when the
guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse. Student agitation for the
continuation of the agreement began at Osmania University in Hyderabad and spread
to other parts of the region. Government employees and opposition members of the
state legislative assembly swiftly threatened "direct action" in support of the students.
The Telangana movement grew out of a sense of regional identity as such, rather than
out of a sense of ethnic identity, language, religion, or caste. The movement
demanded redress for economic grievances, the writing of a separate history, and
establishment of a sense of cultural distinctness. The emotions and forces generated
by the movement were not strong enough, however, for a continuing drive for a
separate state. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the People's War Group, an element
of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), renewed violence in Andhra
Pradesh but were dealt with by state police forces. The Telangana movement was
never directed against the territorial integrity of India, unlike the insurrections in
Jammu and Kashmir and some of the unrest in northeastern India6.
Another form of regionalism in India has found expression in the form of inter state
disputes. There is a dispute over Chandigarh over Punjab and Haryana. There are
disputes boundary disputes for example between Karnataka and Maharashtra on
Belgaum where Marathi speaking population is surrounded by Kannada speaking
people, between Kerala and Karnataka on Kasargod, between Assam and Nagaland
on Rengma reserved forests.
The first important dispute regarding the use of water source was over the use of
water resources of three rivers mainly Narmada, Krishna and Cauvery in which states
of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra were involved. Another
dispute arose among the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh over
the use and distribution of waters of the Krishna river. Disputes also arose between
use of Cauvery waters among the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
Disputes between Punjab, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh overt the use of waters of
Ravi river. The Electricity sharing issue between Punjab and Delhi is another example
of this.
6
“Regionalism”, Country Studies. Retrieved from <http://www.country-studies.com/india/regionalism.html> on
April 16th 18:26 hrs
Khalistan is the name given to the proposed nation-state encompassing the present
Indian state of Punjab and all Punjabi-speaking areas contiguous to its borders. A
movement for Khalistan precipitated when the Indian Army attacked the Darbar Sahib
(Golden Temple) in June 1984. The attack, which was planned several months
beforehand and was timed for an important anniversary in the Sikh calendar, sought to
maximize Sikh casualties. The army operation was followed by wholesale killings of
Sikh males between the ages of 15 and 35 in Punjab’s villages. These events, together
with organized massacre of Sikhs in India’s major cities in November 1984, and daily
terror families subsequently experienced in Punjab’s villages gave rise to resistance. A
Sarbat Khalsa (general congregation of the Sikh people) was convened at the Akal
Takht, the Sikh seat of temporal authority in Amritsar, on January 26, 1986. The
gathering passed a resolution favoring the independence of Punjab (Khalistan).
Khalistan is envisaged as a secular state, rejecting theocracy and espousing a liberal
form of nationalism in which all communities may live as equals7.
March 1981: Chief Khalsa Diwan in Sikh Education Conference passed a resolution
demanding Khalistan and seeking associate membership in united nations.
June 1981: Demand for Khalistan was originally voiced by a former member of akali
dal, which was taken up in various milder forms by Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak
Committiee.
15thAugust 1981: Khalsa voulenteers gathered in a Gurudwara and saluted their flag
which had the map of proposed khalistan state inscribed in the centre.
Extremist Sikh movements such as the demand for Khalisatan are purely urban
middle class phenomenon. The urban Sikh has been unable to convert his economic
power into political power-the way the rural Sikh has. And his insecurity is further
aggravated by the fact that the 75% of Hindu population in Punjab is concentrated in
towns. This causes urban Sikh to resist being overwhelmed by Hindu values.
7
Dr Awatar Singh Sekhon and Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, “KHALISTAN: The Struggle To Regain Lost
Sovereignty” Retrieved from < http://www.khalistan.net/sov-one.htm> on April 14th 10:28 hrs
In Great Britain the term North-South divide refers to the economic and cultural
differences between southern England - the South East, Greater London, South West
and parts of East - and the rest of the United Kingdom, generally including Scotland,
Wales, North East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber. The
status of the Midlands is often disputed, although the region tends to have had
historically more in common with the North than the South, even though
geographically most areas of the Midlands are more Southern than Northern; this
ambiguity also applies to South Wales and to East Anglia. In political terms, the
North is generally more left-wing and supports the Labour Party whereas the South is
more right wing and supports the Conservative Party8.
Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities, three regions, and four
language areas. For each of these subdivision types, the sum of their circumscribed
surfaces composes the entire country; in other words, the types overlap9.
The language areas were established by the Second Gilson Act, which entered into
force on August 2, 1963. The division into language areas was included in to the
Belgian Constitution in 1970. Through constitutional reforms in the 1970s and 1980s,
8
Bland, J Martin (3 July 2004). "North-south divide in social inequalities in Great Britain". British Medical
Journal.< http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7456/52>. Retrieved on 2009-03-10.
9
“Politics — State structure”, Flanders.be. Flemish Government. Retrieved on 2007-05-24
<http://www.flanders.be/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?
pagename=MVG_FL/Template/MVG_FL_Html_Detail&cid=1072097196838&enablelasturl=1&p=105396321
1306>.
10.Conclusion
Vision 2020
It can be traced that regionalism slowly turned from non violent means to violent
means to achieve their goals. From Potti Sriramulu’s non violent means of fatsing to
Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) and ULFA’s violent means, regionalism has
come a long way. Regionalism in present day India is readily used for political gains
by petty politicians and secessionist organizations. Economic reasons are exploited
10
Glenn V. Stephenson, Cultural Regionalism and the Unitary State Idea in Belgium, Geographical Review,
Vol. 62, American Geographical Society, 1972
11
For further details visit <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=List_of_active_autonomist_and_secessionist_movements&oldid=284187680> Retrieved at 18:31 hrs
April 16th 2009
for political dividends. When violence is used against people in the name of
regionalism it is a criminal act and is punishable. Article 19 of the Constitution of
India provides a citizen of India to move freely throughout the territory of India, to
reside and settle in any part, and to practice any profession, or to carry on any
occupation, trade or business. When ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam)
militants or MNS(Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) activists used violence against poor
migrant workers, they clearly violated law of the land and also the Constitution which
is above all, even above the Parliament.
No. Regionalism in India is only a short cut to attain the political ambitions by
emotionally exploiting the sentiments of the people. The fear of Balkanization is void
of any logic. India is bound by a common culture that has flourished on this land
many thousand years ago. The states which fought for complete independence are
now part of Indian Union and they have renounced for some extent violence; they
include Mizoram, Nagaland, Kashmir, Bodoland, Tamli Nadu. India is too big for
these states to fight against and win.
Today regional parties define how the governments are formed and conducted both at
the centre and the state level. Indeed it is a good development as some political
entities such as RJD, BSP, LJP, DMK, AIADMK, BJD have to some extent
represented those people who were neglected in the political process for long time. As
long as they thrive for regional development without discriminating against outsiders,
regionalism is good for India.
I may be Kannadiga or Tamil but I am an Indian first. My identity outside India is that
of an Indian.Every Indian in India is a son of soil. Soil of Maharashtra is no different
than the soil of Bihar in its essence and of origin.
1. Is the optimism of the positive school logical or the pessimism of the negative school
mistaken?
2. With the increasing political and social awareness among all the levels of the people,
it is not difficult to mobilize masses for demand a piece of land under the sun.
3. Problems can be suppressed for long or put down with firm hands.
4. The gulf between “them” and “us” has to be bridged by through accommodation and
compromises.
6. Regionalization, if sensibly handled will not disintegrate India. As such the demand
for new states has to be effectively scotched and conceded after only after careful
scrutiny of each case on the basis of economic development and administrative
convenience.
Bibliography
Online sources
1. “MLA Citation Style”, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition,
April 16 2009 09:14 hrs < http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm>