Regionalism in India | Essay | PDF Download
Regionalism is the practice of different systems of administration and economical, cultural and political affiliation instead off a centralized system which is followed by everyone in the country.
Now region is a fixed or a classified area. But the concept of regions is dynamic and is subject to change according to people’s interests. It is elastic in government. This might be on the basis of different parameters taken into consideration.
Regionalism is a good thing when kept at competitive and healthy levels. Like, for e.g., if some regions are competing with each other on the basis of goal achievement; it can actually benefit them. Healthy competition goes a long way in the development of these regions.
But the problem arises when issues of regionalism goes out of hand and take a nasty turn. When a region wants to develop even on the cost of other regions, it is seen that the problems of regionalism sprouts up even more.
Regionalism is bound to be practiced in a country like India. India has a plethora of religious groups, castes and people from different backgrounds. India’s cultural diversity is its largest asset. But some people have started terming it as a liability.
This is because they can’t seem to accept other’s ideologies and viewpoints. India is bound to have regionalism to some extent. Because different mindsets will come forward for their own benefit and voice their opinions. So for that purpose many regional parties and interest groups have come up in the previous years.
They aim to safeguard the interests of their people. But then people begin attacking each other’s sentiments. And the real reason for which the groups were ideally formed takes a backseat.
It is obvious that one should fight for his own rights to keep his viewpoints forward. But belittling other communities and other interest groups is wrong.
Regionalism is a strong indicator of national, regional and individual identity as well. But when the national identity takes a backseat and interests for the regions takes over minds, it becomes a major problem for the country.
Be loyal but show your loyalty towards the nation also. Because our country gives us everything we actually have. Without a national identity we can’t have a regional identity. As a citizen of the country one should think about upliftment of all instead of himself.
It also happens that they want all the benefits for themselves. They don’t want to consider the impact of their actions on other people. People there demand autonomy in administration. Autonomy in administration is a good sign as then the government will have to take care of less problems.
But they demand freedom more than the system can give them. Because their needs to be a uniform centralized structure. This structure should be able to manage the entire country as one unit. That system should be above these autonomous units. This is necessary to coordinate the functioning of all the regions. This also entails seeing that no region is left behind in the rat race of development.
Regionalism creates a sense of hostility among the people towards other religious groups. They don’t let the people settle in their regions. Also they do not entertain them for any other purposes other than their own selfish interest. Regionalism also indicates some very strong changes in the country.
This is generally seen when two or more regions come together to help the people of their own area. This way they maintain their own regional identity. But they also come together for a common cause to fight against. They cooperate with each other for the goals to be achieved. But still we notice that there is some tension felt between them.
Many causes trigger the feeling of regionalism. These causes can be as trivial as historical reasons or as major as economical, political, geographical and administrative reasons.
If we take historical reasons, we see that some regions were more developed than others. Major centers of trade and commerce were more developed than the other regions. Some of the prominent names are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Surat. But regions like Bihar, UP were left behind in this race.
A look at economical reasons tells us that the more resources and funds a region is exposed to, the more developed it is. This creates a sense of inferiority complex among the less developed regions. On geographical basis we see that the people of Nagaland are more excluded from the country.
This is due to their location. They feel excluded from the rest of India. And this created cultural hostility in their hearts. Thus, we should not work in disputes which appear on surface time-to-time. But actually we should use our brains to ponder over the roots from where these problems emerge.
Regionalism to a certain extent is okay but when it goes out of hand, it undermines the unity of nation as a one. It divides the country inwardly and increases tension and animosity among the areas. Our country was divided into states to ensure efficient administration.
It’s very difficult to administer such a large landmass. India has so many people from different backgrounds. So, the state, were created to ensure smooth running of the country’s administration. But the states are now being used to destroy the country’s unity.
We have often heard the quote ’Unity in diversity’. It is especially applicable to a country like India. It is heartening to see that when a disaster strikes any place in our country, the complete country comes forward to help them. But matters other than that of national emergency are dealt with hostility towards other regions concerns.
Also, people of that particular area repose their faith in regional groups. They feel that their interests will be better represented by regional vested interests.
But their leaders misuse the faith reposed in them for their own interests. Regionalism thus is healthy for the society but if it is prolonged to a larger extent, it becomes a threat to the well being of a society. This is because of the narrow mindsets who play this game to meet their own needs and wants.
