The Union Government imposed President’s rule upon Manipur on 13th February after the Chief Minister resigned. The state has been witnessing intense clashes between majority Meitai and minority Kuki communities since 2023, when the court suggested that economic benefits and job quotas granted to kukis should also be extended to Meitai communities. It should be noted that more than 250 people died and 60 thousand people have been displaced. After the President’s rule, the state government extended the armed forces special powers Act (AFSPA) for an additional six months to tackle the unrest in Manipur. The ongoing classes between the two communities has led to the growing mistrust among them. The displaced population are living in adequate condition and so it is required that Manipur achieves long lasting peace. The violence between Meitai and Zo-Kuki tribal communities erupted because both the communities wanted to scramble major resources of the state. The continued violence between the two ethnic communities for more than two years is a reflection of the weak status of national integration in India.
What is National Integration ?
1.National integration refers to the process of bringing together people from different political, social, cultural, religious, linguistic backgrounds within a nation to create a sense of unity, a feeling of oneness and collective identity. It promotes harmony and cooperation among citizens.
2. It fosters unity while respecting diversity. It encourages coexistence and preserves cultural plurality. It is opposed to assimilation which stands for absorption of one culture into another, thereby, reducing diversity. It is a process where a minority group adopts the culture of the dominant group, thereby losing its own original identity. Thus, assimilation stands for homogenisation. It may be voluntary or forced. It stands for one country, one religion, one language, one culture and one ideology. For example, in the Islamic state of the medieval period, people of other religious denominations were converted into Islam. Those who were left to pursue their religion were called Zimmies, that is, protected people, second class citizens.
In contrast National integration promotes unity in diversity whereby different religions, cultures, languages, ideologies coexist.
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Problems of National integration after independence ?
1.Partition, communal riots and problems of rehabilitation - India became independent in 1947 but it was also divided between two countries of India and Pakistan on the basis of two nations theory. The partition triggered communal riots in the country. Atleast, 10 lakh people were killed, 60 lakh people were uprooted. More than 20 lakh people were injured, maimed and mutilated. More than one lakh women were raped. The communal riots broke out in different parts of the country. Majority of Muslims were cleansed from eastern Punjab under India. Similarly, the majority of Hindus and Sikhs were cleansed from western Punjab under Pakistan.
2. Merger of Princely states - There were 562 princely states on the eve of Independence of India. These princely states were given the option to choose either India or Pakistan or to become independent. All princely states except Junagarh, Hyderabad and Jammu & Kashmir chose to merge either with Pakistan or India. Junagarh was a princely state situated in Kathiawar region of the present day Gujarat. Its king was a Muslim Nawab while more than 90% of its people were Hindus. The Nawab opted to merge with Pakistan. Hyderabad was a princely state in which the majority of people speaking Telugu, Marathi and Kannada were living but it was headed by a Muslim Nawab. It took the stand to remain independent. On the other hand, Jammu & Kashmir had more than 75% Muslims but it was headed by a Hindu King called Harisingh. He made a stand still treaty with Pakistan and wanted that India should also sign a stand still treaty with him. Thus, he wanted to remain an independent king. He contended that the state of Jammu & Kashmir should be provided neutrality by both India and Pakistan.
3.Prevalence of feudalism - The Britishers perpetuated feudalism in India by invoking permanent settlement in Bengal Presidency, Northern Madras presidency and Banaras. The Ryotwari system prevailed in the both Bombay and Madras presidency. The Mahalwari system was prevalent in the provinces of Agra, Awadh and Punjab. On the eve of independence, more than 70% of the lands belonged to zamindars, merchants, traders, contractors and high government officials. While the maximum benefits from agriculture were accrued by these elements, the maximum burden of more than 60% of the produce were exacted from peasants,marginal farmers and sharecroppers.
4. Reorganisation of administration - Because of the partition, the administration was also bifurcated on religious lines. And so it was incumbent to reorganise administration on an All India basis to control subversive elements.
5. Demands of states on linguistic basis - There was clamour to reorganise states on linguistic basis.
6. Formation of the constitution of India - The first sitting of the constituent assembly was held on 9th December 1946 in the undivided India. The mounting task for the constitution makers was to make the constitution which stood for all religious, linguistic, regional, ethnic, caste and creed groups.
7. Economic disparities - There were huge disparities between people. The wealth was concentrated in a few hands while 94% of the people were facing starvation.
8. Caste and social division - Society was fragmented on the basis of caste and religion. High caste hindus treated scheduled castes and scheduled tribes as untouchables.
9. Food scarcity - Because of the partition, there was acute food scarcity in India . Fertile lands of Punjab producing rice,wheat, cotton and jute went to Pakistan.
10. Political instability on account of secessionist forces active in North East and communist in Telangana. - The entire north eastern states were on the boil. Nagas, Mizos, Kukis were bent upon seceding from India.
11. Low agricultural and industrial growth - There was a near absence of change in the technological and production base of Indian agriculture. Indian peasants continued to use the primitive implements. They had been used for centuries. The use of inorganic fertilisers was virtually unknown. As of 1938-39, only 11% of all cropped land was under improved seeds, their use being largely confined to non-food cash crops. There was hardly any investment in terracing, flood control, drainage and desalination of soil. By the 1940s only 27% of the total cultivated area was irrigated. There was a decline in per capita agricultural production by 14% between 1901 and 1941. The fall in per capita food grains was over 24%.
During British rule, Indian handicrafts and artisanal industries virtually collapsed on account of free trade imposed on India. Although modern industries developed in the second half of the 19th century but in terms of production and employment, the industrial development was stunted and paltry compared with that of the developed countries. The share of modern industries in national income at the end of the British rule was only 7.5%. There was a virtual absence of capital goods and machine industries. In 1950, India met about 90% of its needs for machine tools through imports. For want of industrial growth, most of the artisans crowded into agriculture as tenants sharecroppers and agricultural labourers. Moreover, industries were concentrated only in a few regions. This led to wide regional disparities in income.
12. Poor infrastructure - Although Britishers developed roads and railways to connect different parts of the country, it was meant to take away raw materials from hinterland and to send them to ports for exports. The railways also spread manufactured goods from Britain in the hinterland of India. Major parts of India were devoid of better infrastructure and so there was less connectivity.
13. Low level of literacy- On the eve of independence, only 18% people were literate. The female literacy rate was only 8%. If we bifurcate region wise, the illiteracy went more than 90% in the backward states of Bihar, UP, Odisha.
14. An independent foreign policy to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity - After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the world was divided into two warring camps, one led by the US and other led by the Soviet Union. The cold war ensued between both camps. Both camps wanted India on their side. But India wanted to safeguard its independence and so it did not oblige either of the camps. It pursued the policy of non-alignment in order to take decisions in international affairs on the basis of merit.
What measures were taken to solve it ?
1. The Government of India took stern action against the elements who perpetuated communal violence in India. Within two years, the government could control communal violence. Hooligans were brought to book. Bad elements were sternly dealt with.
2. About 60 lakh refugees were rehabilitated in different parts of India. They were provided necessary accommodation.
3. The princely state of Junagarh was merged with the Union by invoking plebiscite. Hyderabad was merged with India through police action. Jammu & Kashmir was annexed with India when Maharaja Harisingh signed over the annexation of Jammu & Kashmir with the Indian Union on 26th October 1947. All Princely States were provided a privy purse for their upkeep. However, the privy purse was abolished by Indira Gandhi in 1969.
4.India dismantled the prevalence of feudalism by the abolition of Zamindari Act, 1951. The security of tenure of peasants was provided. Ceilings of lands were invoked. More than 60 lakh hectares of surplus land were distributed among landless labourers and marginal farmers.
5. After independence, the administration was reorganised. All India services like Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and later Indian Forest Service (IFS) were created. In addition, several central services and provincial services were created to make the administration effective and efficient.
6. States were created on the basis of language. Andhra Pradesh was carved out from Madras Province in 1953 for Telugu speaking people. The State Reorganisation Commission headed by Justice Fazal Ali in 1956 recommended the reorganisation of provinces on the basis of language. It created 14 provinces and 6 Union Territories. Thus, Madhya Pradesh was created for Hindi speaking people by carving out Mahakoshal, Madhya Bharat, Rewa and Bundelkhand. Bombay province was divided into Marathi speaking Maharashtra and Gujarati speaking Gujarat states. In 1963, a separate state of Nagaland was carved out from the state of Assam to appease Nagas. In 1966, Punjab was divided into Haryana and Punjab on the basis of language. Similarly, on the basis of ethnicity, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura were created.
7. Constituent assembly made the constitution of India which professed secularism, socialism, democracy and sovereign republic. Secularism was meant to promote religious harmony among people. Under article 25 of our constitution, every citizen of our country was given the right to promote, profess and propagate their religions. No religious teachings can be done in the government institutions or institutions added by the government. It prohibits the use of state funds for religious purposes. The government cannot impose taxes for promoting any particular religion. It allows religious denominations to manage their own religious affairs. Moreover, in the case of Kesavananda Bharati vs Union of India (1973), the Supreme Court held secularism as the basic structure of the constitution. Socialism meant for reduction of concentration of wealth and provision for the equitable distribution of the wealth under article 39 B and C. However, government failed to tackle the concentration of wealth so much so that top 1% people have 22% of the national income and 44% of the national wealth of India.
8. The government launched Five year plans to promote all round development of the economy, to reduce income disparity, to promote growth in the economy by boosting agricultural, industrial and infrastructural growth. In 1991, the government opened the economy because of the crisis of foreign exchange. It reduced tariffs from 80% to 25% on imported goods. Public sector undertakings were disinvested. Foreign Direct Investments were invited. All these efforts led to higher growth in the economy.
9.An effort was made to bridge the gap of social division by making untouchability an offence. In 1955, the government made a Civil Protection Act whereby untouchability in any form was made a punishable Act. Later on, in 1989, the government enacted Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act whereby both these vulnerable communities were empowered. Residential schools were opened for the education of the children of SCs/STs. Scholarships were provided. To bring them into the mainstream, they were provided 15% and 7.5% reservation respectively in government jobs. Similarly, 84 seats were reserved for SCs and 47 seats were reserved for STs in the Lok Sabha. Similar reservations were provided in state assemblies.
10.The government took steps to tackle food scarcity in India arising out of partition. It made a treaty with the US under PL 480 whereby cheap foods were imported from the US to feed the masses. In addition, the government launched the Green Revolution in the state of Punjab, Haryana and Western UP by introducing high yielding varieties of seeds, massive use of fertilisers and pesticides, provisions of irrigation, mechanisation of farming, consolidation of holdings , provisions of markets for the sale of agricultural produce and minimum support price. These measures transformed a food deficit India into a food exporting one.
11. By the mix of military action and peace talks, the secessionist forces in the north east were subdued. Similarly, communists in Telangana were brought into the mainstream by participating in parliamentary elections. They shunned violence.
12.In the First Five Year Plan, the focus was on the growth of agriculture. Agricultural sector grew by 4%. In the Second Plan, the emphasis was upon heavy industries. India established steel plants at Bokaro, Bhilai, Durgapur, Rourkela and Salem. Now it is the second largest steel producing country in the world after China.
13.The government launched Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (Universalisation of Education) in 2001. Earlier, the National Literacy Mission was launched in 1988 to achieve 75% literacy. The Mid day meal scheme was launched in 1995 which provided free lunches in school to improve enrollment and nutritions. The government enacted the right to education as a fundamental right for children aged between 6 to 14 years. In 2015, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was launched to focus upon improving girl child education. The national education policy 2020 aimed at mother tongue education, vocational training and digital learning. Digital India education initiative was launched in 2015 to promote online education and digital literacy. Efforts of the government bore fruit. Literacy rates increased from 18.3% in 1951 to 77.7% in 2022. The female literacy of 8.9% in 1951 went to 70% in 2022. Gross enrollment ratio in primary education is now over 95% . However, there is a regional disparity in the literacy rate. While Kerala has the highest literacy rate of 96%, Bihar has only 61.8%. There is a gender gap in female literacy while male literacy is 84%, female literacy is 70%. Moreover, dropout rates are very much prevalent in SCs/STs students in secondary and higher secondary schools.
14. The government initiated non-alignment in matters relating to foreign affairs. It did not align with either of the blocks and embarked upon an independent policy based upon merit. The basis of India’s foreign policy is Panchsheel which comprises mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence. India stands for multipolar world order instead of aligning with one block. It supports multilateralism through the UN, WTO, BRICS, G-20, SCO and QUAD. In short, India aims to become a dominant power in the 21st century.
Conclusion
1. Primordial loyalties like caste based social hierarchy, religious divisions, regional disparities, linguistic chauvinism , ethnic strife, and stiff competition among sects are stumbling blocks to national integration. In spite of the government efforts, the caste system did not weaken. While the vertical caste system dismantled, horizontal caste solidarity is on the rise. Different Plans and NITI Ayog so far failed to curb regional disparities so much so that the per capita income of Bihar is ten times less than that of Goa. While, southern and western states have progressed at fast speed, the northern and eastern states like Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and North Eastern states are lagging far behind. The government has been successful by carving out linguistic states but still there are certain pockets in India which clamour again for separate states on the basis of language. Moreover, Southern states are dead against the imposition of Hindi and three language formulas. The ethnic striving is still on the rise. An example is the ongoing violence between Meitei and Kuki tribes. Similarly, Bodos are at loggerheads with Assamese.
2. Religious divisions between Hindus and Muslims are on the rise. Mob lynching of Muslim religious community has become the frequent occurrences . Political participation of minority communities and specially Muslims are on the wane because of the rise of Hindutva ideology.
2.Different sects have no love lost among them. So Shia, Sunni, Ahmadiya, Barelvi, Deobandi, Bohras are jockeying for power and prestige within their religious denominations. Similarly, Vaishnavas Shaivas, Shaktas, Smarths and Nathpanthis are trying to get upper hand in power, pelf and prestige within the Hindu religion. It is therefore imperative that religious harmony and ethos of secularism are strengthened. Regional imbalances are reduced. Cultural tolerance and multilingualism are promoted. Awareness programmes should be launched to combat fake news propaganda, hate speech, rumours meant to divide the society. Stringent actions should be taken against hooligans and bad elements who are bent upon perpetuating disinformation in the society.
