Development of Regionalism in India:
Regionalism is not a new phenomenon in the
Indian political system. In the pre-independence days it was promoted by the British imperialists and they deliberately encouraged the people of various regions to think in terms of their region rather than the nation as a whole, with a view to maintain their hold over India during the national
movement. After Independence the leaders tried to foster a feeling among the people that they belonged to one single nation. The framers of the Constitution sought to achieve this by introducing single citizenship for all. With the same objective a unified judiciary , all Indian services, and a strong
Central government was provided. But in view of the vastness of the country and cultures regionalism soon made its appearance in India.
The first manifestation of regionalism was the
demand for reorganisation of states on linguistic basis, but the most effective play of regionalism as the victory of the DMK against Congress in Tamil Nadu in 1960s. Initially the central leadership felt that regionalism was a peripheral political factor confined to Tamil Nadu and hence did not pose any threat to national unity. However, that assessment was ill-founded. Soon in Punjab the Akali movement gained momentum, while in
Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah revived the National Conference. During these initial years all the Indian political parties continued to adjust with these regional forces on the plea that they would ultimately succeed in making inroads into the bases o f the regional parties and absorb them in their organisations.
The Indian National Congress which enjoyed
monopoly of power between 1947–1967 and
followed a policy of blowing hot and cold towards the regional forces, also contributed to the growth of regionalism in India. It accommodated the regional forces when it was convenient and raised a hue and cry against them when it was pitted against them. The
local Congress leaders also encouraged the growth of regionalism and strengthened their hold on local party organisation, with a view to increase their bargaining power with the central leaders. In fact a close link developed between central and regional leadership.
This close link between the central and regional leadership greatly encouraged the growth of regionalism.
Causes for Growth of Regionalism:-
In India a number of factors have constituted
to the growth of regionalism.
1. Regionalism made its appearance as a reaction
against the efforts of the national government
to impose a particular ideology, language or
cultural pattern on all people and groups. Thus
the States of South have resisted imposition of
Hindi as official language because they feared
this would lead to dominance of the North.
Similarly, in Assam anti-foreigner movement
was launched by the Assamese to preserve their
own culture.
2. 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 s@ons of soil theory has been put forth to promote
the interests of neglected groups or areas of the state.
3. 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. 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 Parishad etc.,
have encouraged regionalism to capture power.
4. The interaction between the forces of
modernisation and mass participation have also
largely contributed to the 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.
5. The growing awareness among the people of
backward areas that they are being
discriminated against has also promoted a
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
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