The Factors for the growth of regionalism in India.
Regionalism is a political ideology that focuses on the
national or normative interests of a particular region, group of regions or
other subnational entity. These may be delineated by political divisions,
administrative divisions, cultural boundaries, linguistic regions, and
religious geography, among others. India is a country of unity in diversity,
where the power of unity is strong in spite of diversities in area, population
and human-cultural factors. This power helped to develop Indian Federation. The
rise of regionalism in India is due to diversity and variation in the India
economic and social culture. Reasons behind the birth of Regionalism in India.
There are various
reasons for its emergence of Regionalism in Indian Politics such as:
1. Language
It is an important factor of integrating people and
emotional attachments are developed, consequently, the demand of linguistic
states started. Although, the intensity of the demand of linguistic states has
been decreased now, yet the regional conflicts keep rising in the interest of
language. Therefore, the problem of determining the national language of India
has been an issue for a long time. The movement for linguistic states: Before
Independence- Orissa Province became the first Indian state (pre-independence)
organized on a linguistic basis due to the effort of Madhusudan Das who is
considered as the Father of Oriya nationalism. Post-independence, the first
state created on a linguistic basis was Andhra in 1953, created out of the
Telugu-speaking northern parts of Madras State.
2. Religion
It is also one of the major factors of the regionalism. For
Example: The demand of three autonomous states in Jammu & Kashmir is based
on religion. The bases for their demands are- Kashmir for Muslim dominated,
Jammu for Hindu dominated and laddakh for Buddhism dominated region.
3. Regional Culture
In Indian context the historical or regional culture
considered the prime components of regionalism. The historical and cultural
components interpret regionalism by way of cultural heritage, folklore, myths,
symbolism and historical traditions. The North-east states were created on the
basis of cultural aspect. Besides the economic issues, the regional culture
played significant role in the formation of Jharkhand as a state (Formation
Day: 15 November 2000).
4. Economic
Backwardness
It is also major factors for the regionalism in India
because the uneven pattern of socioeconomic development has created regional
disparities. The categorization and sub-categorization of the states on the
basis of socioeconomic indicators have generated resentment against the central
leadership. For Example: Under Gadgil Formula (amended), the states like Jammu
& Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are given special status and
received 90% Central Financial Assistance. On the other hand, backward state
likes Bihar getting only 30% waiver. Under the planned development, the
differences between agriculture, industry and other infrastructural development
encourage the regionalism.
5. Rise of Political
Parties
The elitist character of leadership and unwarranted
intervention by the centre in the affairs of the state has rendered the state
vulnerable to regional forces. Sometimes, regional parties ignore the national
interests and promote the regional interest only. Sometimes the regionalism
helps to safeguard the minority interests. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the TYC
etc. belong to this category of the regional political parties.
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