Sub-nationalism: Meaning and Issues in India

The demand of a separate state flag purported by the state of Karnataka has raised the issue of subnationalism in the country. As the rhetoric of nationalism engulfs the nation, the demand of a state neither ruled by a regional party nor having a past of separatist tendencies of a separate flag raises important questions regarding regionalism, its meaning and threats if any.

Meaning

Sub nationalism in the context of India as seen in Karnataka can be defined as the aspirations of a particular community within a nation to express their identity in different forms rather than only being Indian. As the demand of a state flag is raised apart from having a national flag represents that the people also identify themselves as exclusively the people of Karnataka too rather than only being identified as Indian. How much it distance itself from the identity of an Indian cannot yet be evaluated. It allows them to represent the interests of their state or province as separate from the nation’s collective interests.

How did it arise?

It started to come into picture when there was seen great opposition from the people of Karnataka upon the usage of Hindi on the boards of Namma metro station. They took it as forceful imposition of Hindi on the majorly Kannada speaking population and demanded it to be removed. It was furthered by a demand of red and yellow flag to be the state’s official flag being the first of its kind.

A pluralist society

India from the time of its freedom struggle has been a pluralist society. It has given the freedom to all its different ethnic, religious or linguistic group to express their aspirations in whichever way possible. The partition on the basis of religion, the reorganisation of states on the basis of language (State Reorganisation Act, 1956) from the very start of nation making reflects its accommodative nature. The special rights provided to tribal people to preserve their own culture and traditions in the fifth and sixth schedules, the prevention of Hindi becoming the national language by the Official Language act of 1963 all signify the spirit India carries. The less arduous nature of carving out new states displays the heterogeneous character of the Indian society. Therefore, it is rightly argued that India is maybe classified as a ‘state nation’ which respects ‘multiple but complementary’ sociocultural identities and provide constitutional mechanisms to protect and express their identity aspirations.

Issues surrounding subnationalism

Firstly, it can be argued that subnationalism if emphasises aggressively on its regional identities then it can break the sensitive thread through which India remains a nation. As much as it is a matter of pride it also remains a matter of concern when regional aspirations become too strong. As a country who has faced partition due to rising religious motives and who has been plagued by secessionist movements in Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland based on regional identities, great efforts and sacrifices have been made on both sides to keep the nation intact. Therefore the fears of political leaders in granting a state flag to a particular state are not completely unfounded.

Secondly, it is also to see if the expression of one community or region is at the cost of the other community. It should be critically studied that whether the state’s assertions are to freely exercise their own culture and language or to belittle and suppress others.

However, a third and a rather optimistic view emerges which characterises subnationalism as the strength of a multi cultural nation such as India. Prerna Singh in her work, ‘How Solidarity Works?’ has mentioned that subnationalism encourage social development. She demonstrates through her multiple research works that if the the level of solidarity is high in a state, so is the state’s commitment towards its social welfare. It means that a region becomes more and more dedicated to its work in the state if it is able to freely express, profess and promote its cultural and linguistic identity within its country. She uses the case studies of Kerela and Tamil Nadu against that of Uttar Pradesh to prove her point.

Comment

As long as subnationalism is not secessionist in nature or is aimed towards othering of any community, it might become a positive force in India. It will help in re-establishing the nature of pluralistic society of India amidst the growing manufactured rhetoric of nationalism being falsely related exclusively with Hindu nationality. The conventional nationalism may place a singular identity over the others but the pluralist nationalism followed by India celebrates its sociocultural diversity.