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9NATIONAL INTEGRATION

Man is a social being. He cannot even think of having anindependent existence. What Aristotle said centuries ago was thesame: "Man lives in family, villages and cities. Not as an isolatedbeing." We have studied about the social life of man.

All people are members of one or other group. Just think aboutthe various groups which you belong to. The following may besome of these groups.

• Family • Peer group

• Society • Community

•

• Family is the smallest and the most basic group of man. Familyprotects us. It helps socialisation. It maintains emotionalrelationship among members.

• We have seen that society means social relations. We arerelated to those who are around us directly and indirectly.

• We usually use the terms like Hindu Community, MuslimCommunity, Christian Community etc. But what the‘community’ means according to sociology is a group ofpeople who inhabit a region by mingling with each other.There is no territorial limit in community. That is the majordifference between society and community.

A village or town is formed by a number of families. Villagesor towns have specific boundaries. Hence a village or towncan be considered as a community (village community/ towncommunity).

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• Nation, State

A nation is said to be born when a groupof people living in a particular territorydevelop a political form with a sense ofunity and determine their politicalfuture. For example, in India there existsa political form based on democracy. Thepeople of India decide their politicalfortune through elections. The conceptof nation arises when nationalconsciousness emerges amongindividuals. Nation state is a politicalassociation. It has certain features.

• Definite boundary

• Membership

• Set of rules

• Citizenship

•

Nation includes people, territory andgovernment.

• Nation as a community

Each nation has its own boundary andset of rules. Therefore, a nation can betreated as a community. Nationconstitutes the largest community amongall the groups of man.

India as a stateOn 15th August 1947, India became a freestate.

India remains as a multicultural stateconsisting of different languages, religions,races and castes. This caused the rise ofdifferent cultures within India.

CultureEach group of people follows its ownculture. By culture is meant the sum total ofwhat exists in a society with regard to dress,

Wagah Border

language, customs, practices and beliefs. Theculture which exists in India is multicentric.But, it is these elements of culture that uniteIndia. That is the reason why the principle"unity in diversity" suits Indian society andculture.

In the words of Nehru the Indian state isbased on the principle of unity indiversity.

LanguageIn the schedule of the Indian constitutiontwenty one approved languages areincluded. But there are several otherlanguages and about two thousand dialectsin India. The languages recognised by theIndian constitution, those which are not andthe variety of dialects can be categorised asIndo Aryan, Dravidian and Mundalanguages.

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Complete the chart by finding out more examples.

In the north Indian regions there existedPrakrit with local variations. In south Indiathere exists regional languages belonging tothe Dravidian family. India's continuousrelations with west Asia brought Arabic andPersian languages. As a result of this relationthere originated a new language calledUrdu.

already studied about the origin of castesystem. There are about three thousandcastes and sub castes among the Hindus.Similar kinds of divisions can be seen withinother religions also. The caste like divisionsamong the Muslims of Laceadives are theKoya, Melecheri and Malmi.

RacesThe social scientists consider India as anethnological museum. Several races likeNegrito, Mongloid, Mediterranean etc hadinhabited in our country. The western limitof the migration of the Mongloid race whichinhabited the far East and South East Asiawas India. Those who migrated from thewest include the Aryan language speakingpeople and the Mediterranean races.Present-day Indians are the descendents ofthose who have migrated from different partsof the world and also the earliest inhabitantsof India. It is very difficult to identify as towho descended from which race or group.In Kerala there are the Irular, Kadar,Malappoularas etc, who belong to the Proto-Astroloid race. The human groups haveintermingled with each one another somuch that it is difficult for any group toclaim racial purity.

Indo Aryan Dravidian MundaSanskrit Malayalam Chatisgarh

Assamese Tamil SanthaliHindi .................. ..................

.................. .................. ..................

.................. .................. ..................

CastesThe distinct feature of Indian society is theexistence of a variety of castes. We have

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Let us see what are the factors whichcontribute to this unity.

NationalismIs nationalism an emotional attachment tothe nation? Many definitions can be givento describe nationalism. Let us examinesome of them.

Religions

Demographic statistics based on religion

80.5% ˛ Hindus

13.4% ˛ Muslims

2.3% ˛ Christians

3.8% ˛ Others

(Census Report, 2001)

There are many people in Indiawho cannot be included in theabove category. Prepare a listof them.

$

$

$

Thus independent India came into being asa country of diverse castes, races, languages,religions etc. In spite of this, how does Indiaexist as a state with unity?

• Nationalism is the membership in a stateand its identification.

• Nationalism is the unity of the peopleconstituted by certain factors like class,language, religion and culture.

• Nationalism is an idelogical feelingamong people based on certain commonidentities.

You have learnt that nationalism can beclassified as aggressive nationalism anddefensive nationalism. Aggressivenationalism existed in imperialist nations.Indian nationalism developed as defensivenationalism.

Indian nationalism is different from that ofother countries.

Indian nationalism developed not on thebasis of religion, caste, regionalism or race.It came into being as a result of the peculiarcircumstances of the 19th century. Severalfactors have contributed to it. Le us examinethem.

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Historical FactorsIndia consisted of several princely states,both big and small, before the advent ofEuropeans. Though there were somecultural similarities, the advent ofEuropeans, especially the British, hadhelped India to become a nation state. Indiannationalism emerged out of opposition tothe British in the 19th century. According toA.R. Desai, the eminent sociologist, twofactors had contributed to the emergence ofIndian nationalism.

(1) British administration(2) Cultural unity

Geographical Factors

The role of geographical features is great inthe emergence of Indian nationalism. Bharatis the territory which lies within the limitsof the Himalayas in the north, the Bay ofBengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the westand the Indian ocean in the south.

The geographical factors of India havehelped to save the country from unrestrainedforeign aggressions and at the same timeenabled interaction with other cultures.

Nature has provided the country enoughresources to lead a contented life. Thedivergent natural features and climate havecreated a feeling among the people torespect and recognise the culturaldiversities.

Cultural FactorsThough there were diversities, the peoplelearnt to co-exist for the necessities of life.Idealism and materialism developed as partof Indian philosophy. India was able toassimilate the religions which originated inIndia and those which came from abroadowing to these features. The various cultureswhich reached India have contributed muchto Indian society. Indian culture is the sumtotal of the essence of the different culturesof the world.

Social Factors

Indian society has grown out of the mutualdependence of various groups. Casteoriginated out of division of labour.Division of labour helped the growth ofsociety. The Jajmani system is an exampleof this. Jajmani is the system of co-operationamong the various castes.

In this system the service provider iscalled 'Kameen' and the recipient is called'Jajman'.

VassalageVassalage is the practice of servility to a landlord family and supervision of theagricultural activities of the lord. Vassalageis not slavery. But the people serve theirmaster like a slave. Vassalage was practisedas a tradition.

Prepare a note of the vassalage system which prevailed in Kerala.

Struggle for Independence

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SecularismIndia is a secular state. India has no statereligion as in the case of many othercountries. Each religion has the freedom tofollow its rites and propagate them. Allreligions are considered equal and arerespected.

What are the things that can be done to foster secularism?

Indian Constitution

The ideological base of Indian constitutionis secularism. All citizens are equal beforelaw. Privileges based on birth have beenabolished. No consideration is given toreligion, language, caste, race or religion.The constitution recognised that thediversities in India are to be maintained andfor that decentralisation is necessary.

Indian nationalism is rooted in the principleof unity in diversity which is beyond theconsiderations of caste, religion andlanguage.

Discuss how days of national significance can be observed by maintainingsecularism.

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Expression of Nationalism

We express our patriotism and nationalismby commemorating the heroic deeds of thefreedom fighters and other martyrs whoworked hard for the sake of our country.

In which other occasions do we express ournationalism? Think it over. Find out thesituations.

National Symbols

The national symbols of India invokenational consciousness and the sense of

Secularism• Gives primary importance to humanism• Secularism is not against values or

ethics.• It is an ingredient of modernism.

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unity. The national symbols are to berespected and protected. Disrespect to themis punishable!

Excessive Nationalism

Human history teaches us that no nation andno people can exist in isolation. Excessivenationalism will lead to hatred towardsother countries and to conflicts. We haveseen in history that Hitler and Mussoliniexploited used this feeling. Money which isto be spent for development is misused bywaging war. One cannot ignore the horrorsthrust upon posterity by the world wars.

National IntegrationIndian society which is filled with diversitiesis unified by certain emotional forces. Thisis the process of national integration. Themain objective of national integration is toencounter all fissiparious forces.

National integration is a complex concept.It has social, political, religious, regional andeconomic dimensions.

The three basic factors of nationalintegration

1. Structural equality2. Cultural unity3. Ideological unity

Structural Equality

Equal opportunity must be provided for allespecially those who are socially andeconomically backward.

Cultural Unity

Caste discriminations like untouchabilityand inapproachability should be eradicated.

Ideological Unity

Awareness about 'national objectives'should be created among the people whohold divergent views on political andreligious and similar other fields.

Towards National IntegrationNational integration is the creation of afeeling of oneness where the diversities arerecognised and respected by imbibing asense of nationhood.

Certain questions may come up when wethink of national integration.

Can we achieve national integration byattaining economic equality? Aren't thereantinational feelings among economicallywell off people?

Can socio-economic changes and nationalintegration be achieved through rightplanning alone?

Can it be achieved only by propagating theideas of religious cooperation and harmony?When these factors are taken intoconsideration, it can be seen that nationalintegration is a complex problem andpolitical integration is only one part of it. Atthe same time socio-economic and culturaldifferences are to be avoided also.

Challenges of Indian NationalIntegrationCertain factors stand against the all roundintegration of our nation.

Regionalism

Regionalism gives more importance to one’sown region than to one’s nation. Whenregionalism is linked with language andreligion it creates regional interests ratherthan national interests. This createsparochialism among the people.

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Casteism

Casteism is a divisive force. One sectionconsiders another section as inferior. Theyare exploited. Positions and opportunitiesare monopolised by a particular section. Itcreates enmity among the other castes. Casteorganisations interfere in politics. Theyfunction as pressure groups and obtainbenefits undeservedly. These factors preventnational integration.

Communalism

Communalism is not believing in anyparticular religion or observing its rites.Excessive affinity to one's own religiontransforms into hatred towards otherreligions. Thus religious fanaticism arises.When religion, caste and race are used tomake social and political gains, it is calledcommunalism.

The real cause of communalism lies inpolitical and economic factors. The partitionof India is an instance for the intervention ofreligion in politics.

Linguistic claims

We have seen that the Indian constitutionrecognises 22 languages. Hindi is the officiallanguage and English is the link language.

About 2000 languages are spoken by thevarious sections of the Indian people. WhenIndia became free the decision to makeHindi the national language was opposedby people of many other languages. Therewas an anti- Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu.

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Another problem faced by Indiawas the linguistic reorganisation ofthe states. In 1956 the states werereorganised on linguistic basis.Agitations are going on in manyparts of India demanding statereorganisation. Linguistic jingoismhas become an important factorwhich hinders national integration.

Let us discuss the various means to face communalism whichhinders social progress.

• Secularism • Progressive education

• •

Three Language Formula

The three language formula was put forwardfor promoting national integration andexchange among states. The formula was thatin Hindi speaking areas Hindi, English and anyone of the mother tongues shall be included inthe school curriculum. In non Hindi speakingareas the mother tongue, Hindi and Englishshall be used.

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Extremism

Extremism is the act of spreading fear bythreatening the people through illegalmeans to obtain selfish interests. It ignoreshuman values. The feeling that they do notget what they deserved, unemployment, lackof proper education and inadequate meansof livelihood lead to extremism.

National integration fosters nationalism. Itis opposed to communalism, linguisticjingoism, regionalism and similarfissiparous forces.

National Integration Day

India observes 19th

November, thebirthday of formerPrime Minister, IndiraGandhi, as NationalIntegration Day. Itsmain aim is to promote

among the peoples unity, peace, affection andbrotherhood. On 31st October 1984, IndiraGandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards. She was the victim of the demand forthe separation of Khalistan.

Activities

• What are your suggestions for improving Indiansecularism?

• Find out the factors in our daily life which hindernational integration. Eg: Dress, language etc.

• Organise a seminar on the factors which hamper nationalintegration.

• Design and organise programmes which promotenational integration.

• National flag, Asoka Chakra etc are our importantnational symbols. Prepare an album of nationalsymbols.

• On the basis of Jawaharlal Nehru remark that “Communalism in the Indian editionof fascism,” Compare communalism and fascism.

• Several literary works have been produced on the theme of nationalism. Prepare anedition of such works.

• Find out some of the instances of extremism faced by our nation. Discuss how tosolve them.

Eg: • Kashmir problems

• Bodo problems

• Khalistan demand

•