NCERT Book Class 12 Political Science (Politics In India Since Independence) Chapter 7 Regional Aspirations

In this chapter…
In the first chapter of this book we studied the
process of ‘nation-building’ in the first decade
after Independence. But nation-building is
not something that can be accomplished
once and for all times to come. In the course
of time new challenges came up. Some of the
old problems had never been fully resolved.
As democratic experiment unfolded, people
from different regions began to express
their aspirations for autonomy. Sometimes
these aspirations were expressed outside
the framework of the Indian union. These
involved long struggles and often aggressive
and armed assertions by the people.
This new challenge came to the fore in the
1980s, as the Janata experiment came to an
end and there was some political stability at
the centre. This decade will be remembered
for some major conflicts and accords in the
various regions of the country, especially
in Assam, the Punjab, Mizoram and the
developments in Jammu and Kashmir. In
this chapter we study these cases so as to
Regional aspirations
ask some general questions.
are usually expressed
in the language of the • Which factors contribute to the tensions
region and addressed arising out of regional aspirations?
to the local population
or the rulers. This • How has the Indian state responded to
unusual poster from these tensions and challenges?
Uttarakhand movement
appeals to all the • What kind of difficulties are faced in
Indian citizens in seven balancing democratic rights and national
different languages unity?
and thus underscores
the compatibility of the • What are the lessons here for achieving
regional aspirations with unity with diversity in a democracy?
nationalist sentiments.