Regionalism

Regionalism literally means connected with or specific to a geographical region. In politics, it means a political ideology focused on the interests of a particular region. India is a large and diverse country. Different languages and cultures have flourished in its different parts which were supported by regional kingdoms which came up in these regions. These factors gave each region a separate linguistic and cultural identity resulting in growth of a feeling of regional nationalism. This feeling coupled with the disparity in economic development resulted in development of politics on regional basis and consequently led to growth of regional political parties. While growth of regionalism and regional politics should be welcomed for the purpose of bringing same levels of economic development in all parts of the country and for preserving its cultural diversity due care should be taken so that the regional identity does not overshadow national identity.

Growth of regional politics

           Earliest political movement having regional traits was the demand for a separate “Dravid Nadu” in 1920s which was raised by non Brahman Tamil politicians. Although, the demand for separate Dravid Nadu was later dropped, the movement resulted in growth of Dravid Munnetra Kazhgam (DMK) as the major political force in Tamilnadu. However, regional affiliations were not so strong in the pre-independence era and during the freedom struggle. This was because the freedom fighters had a common enemy in the British rule which was supposedly responsible for all the problems of the people and it was felt that all the problems can be solved if the British leave the country.  During this period, even the Indian National Congress was in support of formation of states on linguistic basis. In Nagpur session in 1920, the Indian National Congress accepted in principle the creation of linguistic states and provincial committees of the Congress were formed on linguistic basis. However, after independence, the Congress government started having second thoughts about the idea considering it to have adverse impact on national integration.

            After independence, the first demand for creating a state on linguistic basis came from erstwhile Madras Presidency where the Telugu speaking people started an agitation for creation of a separate state. Potti Sreeramlu lost his life on 15^th December, 1952, after 52 days of a fast-unto-death in support of this demand. This led mass protests which forced the Government to accede to the demand. Later a State Reorganization Commission was appointed. On the basis of its recommendations, 14 states and 3 Union territories were created, mostly on linguistic considerations. Since then, many more states have been created from time to time. The considerations have been either linguistic; cultural; economic or a combination of these. Recently, the Union Government has taken a decision to create a separate state of Telengana out of the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Increase in consciousness of regional identities has led to growth of regional political parties and regionalism has firmly entrenched itself as a political reality in Indian scenario. While some of these parties have clearly pronounced their regional ideology, others though not so explicit have modeled their policies and programmes so as to suit a particular state or geographical region. In the last few decades, regional parties have considerably strengthened their position. A number of states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Punjab are either being ruled by regional parties or by coalitions in which the regional party is the major partner. Growth of these parties has seriously dented the prospects of the national parties. In the last two decades none of the national parties has been able to form a national government on its own and has to resort to alliances and coalitions. This has brought in the era of coalition politics. National parties have accepted the situation and now attach great importance to their coalition partners who at times appear to have an upper hand.

Reasons for growth of regional tendencies

• Regionalism is inherent in India because of its cultural and linguistic diversity. Each region has its own history and culture. People of these regions take pride in their culture and language and want to preserve and support it. 
• National political parties have failed to understand the aspirations of people. Their leaders laid stress on nationalism and national integration without integrating these concepts with the cultural diversity of the country. This alienated those people who wanted their language and culture to prosper.
• National parties have not given due considerations to their state units.  Usually, state leadership is selected keeping in view the politics at the national level. Most of the times, election of the leader by MLAs is a mere formality, the decision having already been made by the central leadership.
• Even after that, the state units of these parties do not have reasonable independence. Regional interests are sometimes compromised for political expediency in some other part of the country. This projects state leaders of national parties in poor light vis-à-vis the leaders of regional parties who are not subject to any control and also do not have any political compulsion arising out of political expediency in other areas.
• Sometimes policies of the National government fuel regionalism. People in Southern states have been apprehensive of Hindi being imposed upon them. This was one of the factors for the growth of regional parties in these regions.
• During the course of development, some areas got preference, while others got neglected. People from these areas felt that the situation can improve if people from their region are at the helm of affairs.
• There has been inter-region movement of people. Sometimes the original inhabitants of the region feel that their domination is being threatened by the immigrants from other regions.
• Some of the local leaders have exploited the feelings of the people to gain political power. Being localized, these people also have advantage of taking up the issue of only a particular region and hence can be more vocal in their tirades.

 Positive impacts

•  By way of supporting local language and culture, it helps to preserve the cultural diversity of the country.
• Its greatest benefit is in the field of education. Imparting primary education in the local language has greatly helped in increasing literacy levels.
• States have also adopted their local language in their functioning which has made the common man more comfortable and the administration more people friendly.
• People from less developed regions have always alleged that they are being discriminated against in the matters related to development. This grudge is      removed when local people govern the region.

Negative impacts

• The world in which we presently live has considerably changed in the last few decades. Improvements in technology and liberalization have opened up communities and regions. Inter region interactions have substantially increased and no region can survive in isolation. Regionalism, while laying stress on regional aspects tends to overlook this important factor.
• There is a very thin line between respect for one’s culture and belief in superiority of one’s culture over the other. Experience has shown that this thin line has often been violated due to exhortations from various groups having a narrow and sectarian approach.
• In its extreme form, ideology of regionalism has resulted in separatist movements like ULFA movement in Assam, Khalistan movement in Punjab and other separatist movements in north east.
• At the political front, growth of regionalism has brought in coalition politics. This has diluted the ideological base of the political parties and also affected the functioning of the Government.
• Sphere of influence of some of the regional parties is coterminous with the areas of domination of a particular caste. In such cases the ideology of these parties becomes casteist in nature and is not conducive to social integration.
• Regionalism increases the magnitude of disputes between states because of the emotive aspect which comes with regional nationalism.

Conclusion

       Every concept is as good or as bad as the people implementing it. Regionalism can play a vital role in preserving the cultural diversity of the country and can also be of great help in removing regional disparities in development. However, if uncontrolled, it can also become the cause of national disintegration. The best way would be to keep a balanced approach in such matters so that there is minimal conflict of interests between the region and the nation.