What is the issue?
- India is witnessing a rise in nationalism and subnationalism parallelly, as political ideas.
- At this juncture, it is essential to look at the various implications of this in a democratic India.
What is subnationalism?
- It is the idea of asserting the interest of one's own state/region/province, as separate from the interest of the nation and the common interest of all other states/regions/provinces.
- Ex: The recent demands from Karnataka for a separate State flag and widespread protest against the imposition of Hindi.
- This is not a new idea as many instances in the past and some provisions of the constitution did inherently promote this idea - These include:
- Demands for language-based provinces during the freedom movement.
- States Reorganisation Act, 1956 providing for linguistic States.
- The Official Languages Act, 1963 preventing the transition of India’s official language from English to Hindi.
- Presence of certain group-based fundamental rights such as in Articles 29 and 30.
- Special provisions for certain States and sub-State regions.
- Special institutional measures for the administration of areas of high Scheduled Tribe populations as provided in the 5th and 6th Schedules.
How does this promote a plural democracy?
- Subnationalism can be seen as a counter-narrative to the idea of aggressive nationalism that restricts any alternative ideas of self-identification.
- However, as long as it is not secessionist, subnationalism can be seen as a constitutive element of democracy.
- It works towards fostering a shared political community accommodating the multiple aspirations of a diverse population.
- It is in fact the idea of subnationalism that has sustained India as a nation state for 70 years, respecting “multiple but complementary” socio-cultural identities.
- It gives scope for expressing the linguistic and cultural rights in a plural society with a federal Constitution.
- Subnationalism promotes the idea of an Indian national identity that is not homogeneous and thus ensures a true plural Indian democracy.
Source: The Hindu
