Border regions are often perceived to have inherent vulnerabilities and sensitivities, which are exploitable by the forces across. In addit...
Border regions are often perceived to have inherent vulnerabilities and sensitivities, which are exploitable by the forces across. In addition, the people living in these regions or outlying territories are often home to populations that are seen to have greater linguistic, ethnic, cultural or religious similarities with neighbouring countries than perhaps with the “rest of India”. These qualities are the foundation of the wise principle of “unity in diversity” that underlies the idea of India.
Any attempt to shortchange the liberties of the residents of these regions or to nudge them towards “cultural assimilation” is fraught with incalculable risks. Such political acts can have dangerous, long-term psychological consequences. An ancient civilisation is given to historical perceptions that are naturally neither uniformly agreed upon nor uniformly felt.
However, the functional urgencies of democracy and its electoral process could spark simplistic passions that posit majoritarian communalism to willy-nilly represent the entirety of the sovereign. This may work for nations based on a single religion, language or ethnicity. But it falls terribly short in spirit for the expansive, accommodative and generous tenets of the idea of India.
Breakdown of trust
Almost all separatist insurgencies in India’s 74 years of independence have occurred in border areas with active support from across, almost...
