Class 12 POlitical chapter 8

Regional Aspirations 

Region and the nation 

• 1980s may be seen as a period of rising regional aspirations for autonomy , often outside the framework of the India Union .
• These movements frequently involved armed assertions by the people , their repression by the government , and a collapse of the political and electrol processes . 

Indian approach 

• The India nation shall not deny the rights of different regions and linguistic groups to retain their own culture .
• India adopted a democratic approach to the question of diversity.
• Democracy allows the political expressions of regional aspirations and does not look upon them as anti - national .
• Democratic politics allows parties and groups to address the people on the basis of their regional identity aspiration and specific regional problems  .
• Democratic politics also means that regional issues and problems will receive adequate attention and accommodation in the policy making process .

Jammu and Kashmir 

• Jammu and kashmir comprises three social and political regions ; Jammu , of the kashmir region is the Kashmir valley ; the people are kashmiri speaking and mostly Muslim with a small Kashmiri speaking Hindu minority . 
• Jammu region is a mix of foothills and plains , of Hindus , Muslims and Sikhs and speaker of various language . 
• The Ladakh region is mountainous , has very little population which id equally divided between Buddhists and Muslims.
• The ' Kashmir issue ' is not just a dispute between India and Pakistan . this issue has external and internal dimensions .

Roots of the problem

• Before 1947, Jammu and Kashmir was a princely state .
• Hindu ruler, Hari singh , did not want to merge with India and tried to negotiate with India and Pakistan to have an independent status for his state .
• The Pakistani leaders thought the kashmir region 'belonged ' to Pakistan , since majority population of the state was muslim .
• The Popular movement in the state , led by Sheikh Abdullah of the National Conference , wanted to get rid of the Maharaja , but was against joining Pakistan .
• In October 1947 , Pakistan sent tribal infiltrators forms its side to capture Kashmir .
• This forced the Maharaja to ask for Indian military help .
• India extended the military support and drove back the infiltrators from Kashmir valley , but only after the Maharaja had signed an ' Instrument of Accession ' with the government of India .
• It was also agreed that once the situation normalised , the views of the people of J and K will be ascertained about their future .
• Sheikh Abdullah took over as the Prime Minister of the state of J and K in March 1948.
• India agreed to maintain the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir .

External and internal disputes 

• Pakistan has always claimed that Kashmir valley should be part of pakistan .
• Pakistan sponsored a tribal invasion of the State in 1947 , as a consequence of which one part of the state come under Pakistani control .

The status of Kashmir within the India union .

• Kashmir was given a special status by Article 370 in our constitution .
• The special provisions under Articles 370 and 371 last year in India constitution at work .
• Article 370 gives greater autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir compared to other states of India .
• The State has its own constitution .
• There is a section of people outside of J and K that believes that the special status of the state conferred by Article 370 does no allow foll integration of the State with India .
• Mostly Kashmiris , believe that the autonomy conferred by Article 370 is not enough .
• Firstly , the promise that accession would be referred to the people of the State after the situation created by tribal invasion was normalised , has not been fulfilled .
• Secondly , there is a felling that the special federal status guaranteed by Article 370 , has been eroded in practice .
• Thirdly , it is felt that democracy which is practiced in the rest of India has not been similarly institutionalised in the state of Jammu and Kashmir .

Politics since 1948 

• After taking over as the Prime minister , Sheikh Abdullah initiated major land reforms and other policies which benefited ordinary people .
• The leadership that succeeded him did not enjoy as much popular support and was able to rule the state mainly due to the support of the centre .
• During most of the period between 1953 and 1974 , the Congress party exercised a lot of influence on the politics of the state .
• In the meanwhile , there were several attempts to reach an agreement between Sheikh Abdullah and the Government of Indira .
• In 1974 Indira Gandhi reached an agreement with Sheikh Abdullah and he became the Cheif Minister of the state .
• The dismissal of Farooq Abdullah's government due to the intervention of the Centre generate a feeling of resentment in Kashmir .
• The centre was intervening in politics of the state was further strengthened when the National Conference in 1986 agreed to have an electoral alliance with the congress , the ruling party in the centre .

Insurgency and after 

• 1987 Assembly election took place the official results showed a massive victory for the National conference - congress alliance and Farooq Abdullah returned as Cheif minister .
• Democratic processes were being undermined at the behest of the centre . this generated a political crisis in kashmir which became serve with the rise of Insurgency .
• By 1989. The state had come in the grip of a militant movement mobilized around the cause of a separate Kashmiri nation .
• The insurgents got moral , material and military support from pakistan .
• Election in the state were held only in 1996 in which the national conference led by Farooq Abdullah came to power with a demand for regional autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir .
• J and K experienced a very fair election in 2002 .
• The National Conference failed to win a majority and was replaced by people 's Democratic party (PDP) and congress coalition government . 

Separatism and beyond 

• Separatist politics which surfaced in Kashmir from 1989 has taken different forms and is made up of various strands .
• There is one strand of separatists who want a separate Kashmiri nation , independent of India and Pakistan .
• There are groups that want kashmir to merge with Pakistan .

Punjab 

• The decade of 1980s also witnessed major developments in the state of Punjab . 
• Punjab had to wait till 1966 for the creation of a Punjabi speaking state . 
• The Akali Dal , which was formed in 1920 as the political wing of the Sikhs , had led the movement for the formation of a Punjabi subba ' . 
• The Sikhs were now a majority in the truncated state of Punjab.

Political context 

• The Akalis came to power in 1967 and then in 1977 .
• On both the occasions it was a coalition government.
• The Akalis discovered that despite the redrawing of the boundaries , their political position remained precarious .
• Firstly , their government was dismissed by the centre mid - way through its term.
• Secondly , they did not enjoy strong support among the Hindus .
• Thirdly , the Sikh community , like all other religious communities ,was internally differentiated on caste and class lines .
• The Congress got more support among the Dalits , whether Hindu or Sikh , than the Akalis .
• During the 1970s a section of Akalis began to demand political autonomy for the region .
• The Sahib Resolution asserted regional autonomy and wanted to redefine centre - state relationship in the country 
• The resolution spoke of the aspirations of the Sikh qaum and declared its goal as attaining the bolbala of the Sikhs  .
• The resolution was a plea for a strengthening federalism . 
• The Akali government had been dismissed in 1980 . 
• The Akali Dal launched a movement on the question of the distribution of water between Punjab and its neighbouring states.
• A section of the religious leaders raised the question of autonomous Sikh identity .

Cycle of Violence 

• The leadership of the movement passed from the moderate Akalis to the extremist elements and took the form of armed insurgency . 
• These militants made their headquarters inside the Sikh holy shrine , the Gold Temple in Amritsar , and turned it into an armed fortress .
• In June 1984, the Government of India carried out Operation Blue star ' , code name for army action in the Golden Temple .
• In this operation , the government could successfully flush out the militants , but it also damaged the historic temple and deeply hurt the sentiments of the Sikhs .
• Prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984 outside her residence by her bodyguards .
• Sikhs mot was that the government took a long time in restoring normalcy and that the perpetrators of this violence. were not effectively punished .
• In July 1985 , he reached an agreement with Harchand Singh Longowal , then the president of the Akali Dal .This agreement , known as the Rajiv Gandhi - Longowal Accord or the Punjab Accord , was a step towards bringing normalcy to Punjab .
• Chandigarh would be transferred to punjab , a separate commission would be appointed to resolve the border dispute between Punjab and Haryana .
• A tribunal would be set up to decide the sharing of Ravi - Beas river water among Punjab , Haryana and Rajasthan . 
• The alliance of Akali Dal and the BJP scored a major victory in 1997, in the first normal elections in the state in the post - militancy era .
• The state is once again preoccupied with questions of economic development and social change .

The North - East 

• In the North - East , regional aspirations reached a turning point in 1980s.
• The region now consists of seven states , also referred to as the 'seven sisters '. 
• The region has only 4 per cent of the country 's population but about twice as much share of its area .
• A small corridor of about 22 kilometres connects the region to the rest of the country .
• Tripura , Manipura and Khasi Hills of Meghalaya were erstwhile Princely states which merged with India after Independence .
• Nagaland state was created in 1963 ; Manipura, Tripura and Meghalaya in 1972 while Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh became separate states only in 1987 .
• The isolation of the region , its complex social character and its backwardness compared to other parts of the country .
• The vast international border and weak communication between the north -east and the rest of India have further added to the delicate nature of politics there .

Demands for autonomy

• Manipur and Tripura comprised the state of Assam .
• Leaders of the major tribal communities wanted to separate from Assam .
• The reorganisation of the North - East was completed by 1972.
• They worked for this demand by mobilising public opinion and popular movement as well as through insurgency .

Secessionist movements 

• The Mizo Hills area was made an autonomous district within Assam .
• Some mizos believed that they were never a part of british India and therefore did not belong to the Indian union .
• The Mizos' anger led to the formation of the Mizo National Front (MNF) under the leadership of Laldenga . 
• In 1966 the MNF stated an armed camping for independence . thus , started a two decade long battle between mizo insurgents and the Indian army .
• The MNF fought a guerilla war, got support from Pakistani government and secured shelter in the then East Pakistan .
• The Indian security forces countered t with a series of repressive measures of which the common people were the victims .
• Laldenga came back fro exile in pakistan and stated negotiations with the Indian government . Rajiv Gandhi steered these negotiations to a positive conclusion .
• In 1986 a peace agreement was signed between Rajiv Gandhi and Laldenga .
• The MNF agreed to give up secessionist struggle . Ladenga took over as the Cheif minister .

Nagaland 

• Led by Angami Zaphu Phizo , a section of the Nagas declared independence from India way back in 1951. 
• Phizo turned down many offeres of negatiated settlement. 
• The Naga NAtional Council launched an armed struggle for sovereignty of Nagas .
• After a period of violent insurgency a section of the Nagas signed an agreement with the government of India .

Movements against outsiders 

• The Assam movement from 1979 to 1985 is the best example of such movements against ' outsiders '. 
• The Assamese suspected that there were huge numbers of illegal Bengali muslim settlers from Bangladesh .
• They felt that unless these foreign nationals are detected and deported they would reduce the indigenous Assamese into a minority .
• In 1979 the all Assam students Union (AASU), a students ' group not affiliated to any party , led an anti - foreigner movement .
• The movement demanded that all outsiders who had entered the state after 1951 should be sent back .
• After six years of turmoil, the Rajiv Gandhi - led government entered into negotiations with the AASU leaders , leading to the signing of an accord in 1985 .
• The AASU and the Asom Gana Sangram Parishad organised themselves as a regional political party called Asom Gana parishad  (AGP). 
• It came to power in 1985 with the promise of resolving the foreign national problem as well as to build a ' Golden Assam '.

Accommodation and National Integration 

1 . First and the most elementary lesson is that regional aspirations          are very much a part of democratic politics.

• Expression of regional issues is not an aberration or an abnormal phenomenon .
• A large and diverse democracy like India must deal with regional aspirations on a regular basis .

2 . The Second lesson is that the best way to respond to regional              aspirations is through democratic negotiations rather than                  through suppression.

• The government of India reached negatiated settlement with regional movements .

3 . The third lesson is about the significance of power sharing .

• It is not sufficient to have a formal democratic structure .

4 . The fourth lesson is that regional imbalance economic                       development contributes to the feeling of regional discrimination .