DEFINITION
OF REGIONALISM
The
term ‘regionalism’ has two connotations. In the negative sense, it implies
excessive attachment to one’s region is preference to the country or the state.
In the positive sense it is a political attribute associated with people’s love
for their region, culture, language, etc. with a view to maintain their
independent identity. While positive regionalism is a welcome thing in so far
maintaining as it encourages the people to develop a sense of brotherhood and
commonness on the basis of common language, religion or historical background.
The negative sense, regionalism is a great threat to the unity and integrity of
the country. In the Indian context generally the term regionalism has been used
in the negative sense. In India Regionalism is a feeling or an ideology among a
section of people residing in a particular geographical space characterized by
unique language, culture etc. that they are the sons of the soil and every
opportunity that exists in their land must be accorded to them first but not to
the outsiders. It is a sort of Parochialism. In most of the cases it is raised
for expedient political gains but not necessarily.
The feeling of
regionalism may arise either due to the continuous neglect of a particular area
or region by the ruling authorities or it may spring up as a result of
increasing political awareness of backward people that have been discriminated
against. Quite often some political leaders encourage the feeling of
regionalism to maintain their hold over a particular area or group of people.
REGIONALISM IN INDIA.
India has faced the
problem of regionalism, even before Independence.Regionalism in India can be
traced back to Dravida Movement started in Tamil Nadu. The movement initially
focused on empowering Dalits, non-Brahmins, and poor people. Later it turned
against imposition of Hindi as sole official language on non-Hindi speaking
areas. Finally, the movement for some time focused on seceding from India to
carve out their own Dravidastan or Dravida Nadu. The movement slowly declined
and today they have become prominent regional parties after many splits and
factionalism.
But the incidents
like the recent attacks on Bihari labourers by the United Liberation Front of
Asom, uproar created by the MNS in Maharashtra, the dispute over Hogenakal
drinking project, the Jammu and Kashmir issue, in Punjab against non-Punjabis
that gave rise to Khalistan Movement and earlier Akali Movement; in North-East
against other Indians, in Andhra, Telangana issue and likes make sure that
still the issue of regionalism persists in India. These issues have been
highlighting the sharp divide among regional states of India, which point that
the overall national interest has been reduced to a secondary status.
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 for political
dividends.
Forms of Regionalism in
India.
Regionalism in India
has assumed various forms like:
Regionalism, properly so
called.
It is the first and
most legitimate kind of regionalism which is often in the form of the demand of
a separate space or state of one's own, for the purpose of resting securely
within the Union of India. This was spearheaded by the Telugu-speaking residents
of the erstwhile Madras Presidency. The forms of protest it involved were
attacks on state property, and the hunger-fast, and as a result of this, the
creation of the state of Andhra Pradesh and, later redrawing of the map of
India on linguistic lines took place. With the same token, some of such
protests for the creation of a separate state gave birth to leading regional
parties like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Madras, which was later emulated
by the Akali Dal in Punjab, the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh, and the
Asom Gana Parishad in Assam.
This category also
includes sub-regionalism, which pertains to the groups, which are in
minority within the states based on language, who also occupy a definite
territory within these states, and by virtue of language or ethnicity, they
have enough to bring them together and to bind them against the majority
community in that state.The successful protests include those which were raised
by the hill people of Uttar Pradesh, which delivered to them a new state called
Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand), and the tribal and other residents of the
Chhotanagpur Plateau, whose claim from a reluctant Bihar was the state of
Jharkhand for which they had been fighting from well before Independence.
Secessionism.
It can be classified as the most violent and dangerous
form of regionalism as it is based on the desire, or hope, or fantasy, to
divide the Republic of India and form a separate nation of one’s own. This form
of regionalism evolved with A. Z. Phizo's Naga National Council, and T.
Muivah’s National Socialist Council of Nagaland. In the similar way, militants
in Kashmir can also be said to follow this form of regionalism as they are
persistently committing bloodbath in pursuit of their dream of a separate separate.
The movemment of Khalistan, spearheaded by the Sikh extremists during 1980s
also hoped to form their own nation-state. In fact, even the Dravidian movement
for many years demanded a separate nation out of India, which fialed due to the
jingoism unleashed by China's war with India.
Parochialism.
Another form of regionalism has been termed
as parochialism. This can be benevolent, as in evident in form or pretensions
of the Bengali bhadralok, who claim that their literature, music, dress
and cuisine are superior to others in India. However, sometimes it has also
taken the form of bloodshade, as evident in the attacks on Bihari labourers by
the Ulfa cadre, in which the belief rests that only Assamese speakers have the
right to live in Assam. This kind of bloodshade was committed by the Shiv Sena
goons in mid-sixties, who in Bombay began to attack South Indians entitling
them as ‘outsiders’ to the city. Even Udupi restaurants were torched, and offices
and factories threatened not to employ south Indians in their establishments.
Recently, the Shiv Sena has kept the Bengalis and Biharis at its target.
Following the same, the MNS has made the North Indians its target.
CAUSES FOR GROWTH OF REGIONALISM
In India a number of
factors have galvanized the movements of regionalism:
1.
The
efforts of the national government to impose a particular ideology, language or
cultural pattern on all people and groups compelled the regionalism movements
to crop up. With the same effect, the states of the South began to resist the
imposition of Hindi as an official language as they feared this would lead to
dominance of the North. Emulating the same the Assam anti-foreigner movement
was launched by the Assamese to preserve their own culture.
2.
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.
3.
Continuous neglect of an area or region by the
ruling parties and concentration of administrative and political power has
given rise to demand for decentralization of authority and bifurcate of
unilingual states. On occasions sons of soil theory has been put forth to
promote the interests of neglected groups or areas of the state.
4.
The
desire of regional elites to capture power has also led to rise of regionalism.
It is well known that political parties like DMK, AIADMK, Akali Dal, Telugu
Desam Asom Gana
4.Parishad etc., have encouraged regionalism to
capture power.
5.
The
desire of the various units of the Indian federal system to maintain their sub
cultural regions and greater degree of self-government has promoted regionalism
and given rise to demand for greater autonomy.
6.
The
interaction between the forces of modernisation and mass participation have
also paved the way for growth of regionalism in India. As the country is still
away from realising the goal of a nation state, the various groups have failed
to identify their group interests with national interests, hence the feeling of
regionalism has persisted. The growing awareness among the people of backward areas
that they are being discriminated against has also promoted feeling of
regionalism. The local political leaders have fully exploited this factor and
tried to feed the people with the idea that the Central Government was
deliberately trying to maintain regional imbalances by neglecting social and
economic development of certain areas.
7.
Regionalism
has also emerged because of the attempts made by the government to improve a
particular or ideology on people who desire to follow a different path.
Determinants of Regionalism in
India.
While the cultural factors, real or
imagined, focus upon the symbolic dimension, the socioeconomic and political
disparities highlight the instrumental dimension. The major determinants of
regionalism in India are examines as under:
Political Factor: -
In a sense, all regionalism is a form of
politics, i.e. politics of natives. In political sphere, regionalism is against
centralization of power and administration. It stands for more power and
administration.
Historical
Factor: -
Common historical experience often buttresses
regionalism by way of creating differences in social heritage, attitude, myths
and regionalism.
Socio-Economic Factor: -
Socio-economic
imbalance between regions is the crux of regionalism in India. Regional
imbalance is also inherent in the pattern of capital investment and
distribution. The uneven nature of capital investment is bequeathed to India by
the colonial government.
Geographical Factor: -
The
geographical distinctiveness gives a symbolic identity which needs economic and
political props for its resurgence from time to time. For example, the old
geographical boundaries of the ex-princely states still haunt and are implied
in defining regional identity in India.
Socio-cultural Factor: -
Socio-cultural differences between regions fan
regional feeling to some extent. Socio-cultural symbols often provide the
necessary inputs for identity –formation for a people living in a particular
region. Regional caste, sub caste and kinship differences motivate regional
feeling within a broad socio-linguistic area.
HOW
TO COMBAT REGIONALISM.
Regionalism has been an important aspect of
Indian politics. Sometimes, it has posed threat to the unity of the country.
Hence it is necessary to take steps to reduce such tendencies. Some such
measures can be
1.
To promote even development of the nation. The neglected areas must be given
more importance so that they feel a part of the national mainstream.
2.
A proper law should be passed to execute the political leaders supporting
regionalism just to gain political attention like Uddhav Thackrey and Raj Thackrey
or they should be treated under the laws of sedition.
3.
The central government must not interfere in the affairs of the State unless it
is unavoidable for national interest.
4.
Problems of people must be solved in a peaceful and constitutional manner.
Politicians must not be allowed to misuse the issue of regional demands.
5.
Except for issues of national
importance, the states should be given freedom to run their own affairs.
6. Changes are
necessary in the Central-State relations in favour of the states, and for
introducing a system of national education that would help people to overcome
regional feelings and develop an attachment towards the nation.
7. The different
departments for different states can be constituted at central government level
so that that specific department can look upon state critically and suggest the
ways to government for the upliftment of the state.
8. There should be a
nominal participation of all the states at central level government. The
leaders of the deprived states should come forward to participate in the
central government and raise their concern rather than sitting in the state and
demanding the new state.
9. As much as
possible, public policies depicting the idea of nationalism should be
introduced and there should be uniformity in schemes and policies for all the
states.
10. Election
Commission should lay down some norms for regional parties against regionalism.
Election Commission should define that any party who will be found in promoting
unnecessary
regionalism will be banned.
REGIONAL ISSUES IN INDIA
Linguistic Reorganization
of States
It was the demand of
Potti Sriramulu, a freedom fighter and a devoted follower of Mahatma Gandhi,
that led to the creation of Andhra Pradesh state and linguistic recognition of
the states in India. To achieve this end, he died in 1952 after not eating for
52 days in support of a Telugu-speaking state. Sriramulu’s death forced Jawahar
Lal Nehru to accede to the various demands from other parts of the country with
similar demands. Consequently, in 1954, a States Reorganisation 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.
Demand for Dravida Nadu
Going back to the journey of Regionalism in
India, it is well noticeable that it emerged with Dravidian Movement, which
started in Tamil Nadu in 1925. This movement, also known as ‘Self-Respect
Movement’ initially focused on empowering Dalits, non-Brahmins, and poor
people. Later it stood against imposition of Hindi as sole official language on
non-Hindi speaking areas8. But it was the demand of carving out their own
Dravidastan or Dravida Nadu, which made it a secessionist movement.. As early
as 1960s the DMK and the Nan Tamil organized a joint campaign throughout 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.
DMK dropped its
demand for separate nation Dravida nation.
1974: Anti-Malayali
demonstration in Madras city by Tamil Protection Organization demanding
to give employment to
Tamilians alone
Telangana Movement.
In the years after
the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, people of Telangana expressed
dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented.
Discontent with the 1956 Gentleman'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 threatened "direct
action" in support of the students.
Shiv Sena against
Kannadigas.
In 1966, Shiv Sena,
in Maharashtra, launched its agitation against Kannadigas in the name of
Marathi pride. The first targets of its agitation were South Indians who the
Udupi hotels in Mumbai. This agitation was labeled to be a retaliation of the
lathi-charge on Marathi speaking people in the border areas.
Bodoland
Demand Within Assam.
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
industrialization 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.
Khalistan Movement.
It was during the era of 1980s that Khalistan
movement with its aim to create a Sikh homeland, often called Khālistān,
cropped up in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. The vision was to
include the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, New Delhi,
parts of the Kashmir, parts of Rajasthan, and parts of Gujarat. Thus this
movement falls more in the category of a separatist movement, imbibing the
characteristics of regionalism. Apart from this, there have been several other
secessionist movements namely, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
Attacks on
Bihar Laborers by the ULFA.
ULFA continues to
attempt ambushes and sporadic attacks on government security forces. In 2003,
the ULFA was accused of killing laborers from Bihar in response to molestation
and raping of many Assamese girls in a train in Bihar. This incident sparked
off anti-Bihar sentiment in Assam, which withered away after some months
though. 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. 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 MNS Targeting North
Indians.
It was in 2008 that Maharashtra Navnirman
Sena (MNS) workers began their violent agitation against North Indians.
Bhojpuri films were not allowed to run on theatres in Maharashtra. The targets
were vendors and shopkeepers from North India in various parts of Maharashtra.
Inter-State
Disputes.
Another form of regionalism in India has
found expression in the form of interstate disputes. 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. There is a dispute over Chandigarh over Punjab and Haryana.
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.
Disputes also arose between use of Cauvery waters among the states of Tamil
Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. Another dispute arose among the states of
Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh over the use and distribution of
waters of the Krishna River.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.
Creation of new States in
2000.
In 2000, the
Government of India, pursuant to legislation passed by Parliament during the
summer, created three new states, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, and Jharkhand,
reconstituting Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, respectively. Both the
ruling BJP and the opposition Congress party supported the formation of the
states. The basis for creating the new states is socio-political and not
linguistic. With the new states, the Indian Union now has 28 states.
CONCLUSION.
According to the
Constitution of India, an Indian citizen is free to move around and settle down
peacefully any part of the country. So they go to places where jobs are
available, and get them on the basis of merit. This gives the political parties
absolutely no reason to accuse them of stealing anything, or criticizing their
language and culture, or for that matter, instigating violence against them.
Their want for limelight and votes ends up being a nightmare for the common
man. This is not the solution to the problem of excessive migration. It can
only be solved by development and creation of jobs in other states, and
tackling the issue of overpopulation. If this unnecessary propagation of hatred
continues, it will solve nothing, and only divide the people more. Today it is
the division of states. Tomorrow it will be the division of districts, and so
on.
