Contributions of Anthropology: Regionalism | Anthropology Optional for UPSC PDF Download

Introduction

• Regionalism in the context of Indian Society is simply the lack of a commonality of ideals and aspirations, of shared emotional bonds and values. It is the anti-thesis of nationalism i.e. a feeling of nation against communalism, Iinguistism, regionalism and other disintegrative forces. In this perspective, nationalism is not seen as a force for the good of all nor is there a positive valuation to the idea of nationalism.
• Regionalism in India is rooted in the structure of its society and geography. The factors within the structure of Indian society and geography, which have aided the development of regionalism, can be analyzed at different levels. A brief analysis is attempted below.

Human Diversity

• India is characterized by a plurality of people divided in terms of caste, religion, race and class. The plural society of India is organized into a hierarchical social order comprising of groups and individuals with unequal status with somewhat varied backgrounds. People are therefore grouped into primordial categories based on religion, language, caste etc. This kind of grouping helps the people within a group to exploit the group ties to get the largest share of whatever resources available that are available in the country. Besides, the material benefits accruing out of groupings into primordial categories, the individuals within a particular group derive some form of common identity and emotional security. Thus, there is supposed to be a feeling of oneness within the group, however narrowly it may be defined.
  In addition, even within the apparently large homogeneous groups, there is clear stratification. For e.g., the Hindus are a majority in India constituting around 82% of the population but the scheduled castes enumerated as Hindus, do not share the Hindu identity in the true sense of the term. National integration in India is generally seen in terms of the problems and aspirations of the minority groups but there is no agreed definition of the term minority. Even within the Hindu society, it is difficult to designate precisely a caste or community as a majority or a minority.
• The Parsis and Jains are very small minorities but they enjoy certain economic and social privileges, which even caste Hindus, the Scheduled, Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, arid Muslims do not Minorities therefore, cannot be defined in terms of numbers since communities are differentiated socially; economically and politically. In fact, it is these differences, which are causes for the violence and conflict in the village community. Thus, even a particular religion cannot be a vehicle for fostering brotherhood among its believers. Hence, in a multi- religious, multi-caste and multi-lingual society like India, it is not possible to formulate/common values for people of all religions, especially because of the fact that the majority community tends to overshadow other religions. Thus, multiplicity of religions and the hierarchy of organization on the basis of religion, and caste is a material factor in the Indian society for the development of regionalism.
• Language, a product of religion and ethnicity is a major factor for the growth of the regional sentiment In a multi-lingual society like India, linguistic diversity in terms of regional and national languages and dialects tends to divide the country into areas, sub-areas and sub-sub-areas. The peculiar problem of language in India is that even national languages are regional in scope. Language is a sensitive issue since it is a source of identity and a means of expressing one's ideas. Accepting Hindi as a national language is perceived as suppression of Dravidian and other languages or, is seen as the cultural hegemony of Hindi speakers of the North. The growth of regional sentiment based on language and culture is clearly seen in the formation of regional parties like the D.M.K., T.D.P., Shiv Sena, whose declared aim is to protect the regional culture and, who attempts to establish the supremacy of regional cultures over national values. Formation of new states has even been demanded on the basis of such cultural and ethnic identities as for example, the demand for Bodoland in the Northeast.

Economic Roots of Regionalism 

• The growth and development of regional sentiment is clearly related to the scare resources in context of growing numbers, a situation which makes people to resort to primordial group identities to corner more benefits. A major factor for the growth of the regional sentiment is the level of economic development achieved in different regions. The demand for Jharkhand is the manifestation of economic underdevelopment of the tribal tract of Santhal Paraganas and Chotanagpur region of Bihar. The tribals constitute only 30% of the population and the remaining 70% are non-tribals locally called Dikkus. This tribal region accounts for nearly 70% of the revenue of Bihar because of its mineral wealth. However, the tribal region is itself underdeveloped with poor power supply, poor infrastructure and inadequate education of the tribals. 
• The region contributing nearly 70 % to Bihar's treasury gets only 10% of funds for development and even this is misused. The funds for the tribal sub-plan are misused. Thus, the tribals feel that they are being exploited and are hence demanding a separate Jharkhand State carved out of the region. On the contrary; the separatist and even secessionist movement in Punjab is because of the overdevelopment of the region. The result is that the dominantly Sikh population of Punjab is-reluctant to share the prosperity with other regions of the country. Thus, inadequate development and exploitation of tribals are at the root of development of regional sentiment as manifest in Gorkhaland, Bodoland, and the 'foreigners' problem in Assam.

Social Roots

• The growth of regional sentiment has to do with the so-called "identity-crisis", being faced by some communities. Identity crises is a feeling of alienness in a particular society. However, identity crisis is a inequity between people. Thus, a feeling of inferiority, smallness and repression creeps into some communities because of poor economic condition, backwardness of education and other spheres while at the same time, other communities may have a feeling of being dominant on several counts such as numerical strength, economic standing or political power. 
• Thus, the feeling of alienness leads to the growth of a strong regional sentiment and can manifest in "sons of soil" movement in Telangana region of A. P., Assam, Bengal and Karnataka. A good example of conflict due to identity crisis is that of killing of Marwaris in Bolangir district of Orissa by champions of sons of soil.

Political and Administrative Factors

• The political and administrative trends have also contributed to the growth of division in the society. Political parties and politicians divide the society and mobilise the people by appealing to pre-modern units like caste and religion for narrow political purposes. For e.g. the B.J.P. is seeking to enlarge its space by embarking upon consolidation of Hindus. In India, the election results are determined to a lesser or greater extent by mobilising people on caste and communal lines. Sectarian, religious, communal leaders influence the voting pattern. 
• A good example in the recent past is the call given by Imam Bukhari, the religious head of Muslims in India to vote for the Janata Dal in the 1990 elections. There is a leadership crisis and clear or absence of enlightened leadership; leaders articulate economic and social problems as cultural and religious problems to consolidate their parties that further divide the country. Administrative problems like boundary disputes, riparian disputes, and language policies lend strength to regional forces.

Geographic Roots

• In a small way, geographic features of India have fostered the growth of regional sentiment The inaccessibility of the northeast, its hilly terrain has made economic development of the region a little difficult Even though blessed with abundant waters of the Brahmaputra, the region cannot harness it for developmental activity because of geographic limitation; consequently, the economic development has been relatively slowed down. 
• In addition, the shelter afforded by the region with its hilly terrain has led to the preservation of the regional ethnicity for a long period of time. As a result, isolated from mainstream India the region has come to have its own regional personality and hence the development of a strong regional sentiment. Similarly, the underdevelopment of Kashmir is partly because of its geographic setting. Thus, a peculiar feature of Indian society is the territorial grouping of certain ethnic groups leading to regionalism.

Historical Factors

• The colonial policy of dividing the people is yet another contributory factor for the continued division of Indian society. The British, in order to consolidate their imperial hold, were able to create cleavages between Hindus and Muslims by exaggerating the linguistic, regional, cultural and historical differences. The British sowed the seed of unequal development of the two communities leading to disintegration of the subcontinent The division of the country in 1947 was not the end of the problem as the two communities have been at loggerheads from time to time even at the slightest provocation on either side. 
• Ahmedabad, Bhiwandi, Ranchi, Aligarh, Meerut, Surat, Ahmedabad are a testimony to this continued acrimony. In addition to their policy of divide and rule, the colonial government followed the "policy of isolation". This policy involves the isolation of some parts of the subcontinent either to maintain the cuItural, identity of the area or for a special governance of the area because of the primitive level of the people's thinking. This policy eventually led to a feeling of being neglected and later on developed into numerous revitalization movements, especially in the tribal population, with sub-nationalistic overtones.