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The Rediff Special/K R Narayanan

'What is obstructing the the emotional integration of India is the atomisation of our society into numerous castes, sub-castes and tribes

K R Narayanan The problems of regionalism and linguism and of the relations between the Centre and the states are important factors affecting the unity of the country. I do not propose to discuss them here, as there have been recently very detailed discussions in the country on these issues. I think that great and difficult as these problems are, they are not likely to lead to the splintering of India.

I believe that the facts of geography, culture and the compulsions of economic development will in course of time blunt the edge of these differences. It is possible that even the apparently fundamental ideological differences prevailing in politics will be digested and accommodated through the historic genius of India to bring about a co-existence of opposites.

As regards the language question unless the fanatics of Hindi try to push it down the throats of others, it is not likely to affect adversely the unity of India in any fundamental manner. There is, however, no doubt that greater linguistic tolerance and patience and a more realistic appreciation of English as a working all-India language will contribute to the climate of unity in the country.

I should like to add a word on the question of Centre-state relations which have been under strain and on the demand for decentralisation of federal power. While decentralisation is desirable, to concede it in any big way to the present giant-sized states might not be in the interests of the unity of the country. While it may help economic development in the states, socially its consequences could be retrogressive.

The lower you go on the scale of India's social and political system, the more enormous and obstinate are the inequalities and injustices that prevail. Therefore, decentralisation without radical socio-economic reforms and changes and without redrawing the federal map of India say into fifty odd states, might spell less unity and more dissensions.

What is obstructing the unity and the emotional integration of India is not so much the larger divisions into regions, languages and religions, but the atomisation of our society into numerous castes, sub-castes and tribes.The process of modernisation and democracy launched since Independence has had the effect of accentuating all these differences.

A well known sociologist Clifford Geertz has argued that modernisation quickens the primordial sentiments and attachments in society and that it was important that intellectuals and politicians saw these as a sign of the modernising process and not as a throwback into barbarism. Geertz also argued that 'an increasing degree of national unity is maintained not by calls of blood and land but by vague, intermittent and routine allegiances to a civil State supported by governmental use of police power and ideological exhortation.'

Dalit riots This method is not unknown to us in India. It was part of the Nehru technique of ruling through an audacious use of legislative power, a judicious use of police power and a ceaseless torrent of exhortation. One disappointing feature of our current society is that 'the routine allegiances' to the civil State have become loose and slender and exhortation has been robbed of much of its convincing appeal.

In such circumstances it is no consolation to be told that the resurgence of primordial and traditional feelings and attachments in society is part of the modernisation phenomenon. Unless civil politics is able to tame and control these primitive forces, social explosions will be inevitable, especially in a country like India.

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K R Narayanan, continued
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