Chapter 7 — Regional Aspirations

The chapter examines how India managed demands for regional autonomy and separation from the 1980s onward. It explains the Indian approach — that the nation need not mean the negation of the region — and studies cases in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, the North-East, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, and Goa. The core argument is that democracy allows political expression of regional aspirations without treating them as anti-national.

Kashmiriyat refers to the distinct regional identity of the people of Kashmir valley, who saw themselves as Kashmiris above all. Before 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh did not want to merge with either India or Pakistan, while Pakistani leaders claimed Kashmir on the basis of its Muslim majority. The people of the state, however, identified primarily as Kashmiris, which is what the term captures.

In October 1947, Pakistan sent tribal infiltrators to capture Kashmir, forcing Maharaja Hari Singh to seek Indian military help. India provided military support after the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession. Pakistan retained control of a part of the state, so the issue was taken to the United Nations, which on 21 April 1948 recommended a three-step process: Pakistan withdraw its nationals, India progressively reduce its forces, and a plebiscite be held. However, no progress was achieved under this resolution.

The Anandpur Sahib Resolution was passed at an Akali Dal conference in 1973. It asserted regional autonomy for Punjab and sought to redefine the centre-state relationship. It also spoke of the aspirations of the Sikh qaum (community or nation) and declared the goal of attaining the bolbala (dominance or hegemony) of the Sikhs. The resolution was a plea for strengthening federalism but was seen by some as challenging national unity, making it controversial.

In June 1984, the Government of India carried out Operation Blue Star — army action inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar — to flush out militants who had made the Sikh holy shrine their armed headquarters. The operation succeeded in removing the militants but also damaged the historic temple and deeply hurt Sikh sentiments. A large proportion of Sikhs in India and abroad saw it as an attack on their faith, which gave further impetus to militant and extremist groups.

In July 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi reached an agreement with Harchand Singh Longowal, then President of the Akali Dal. The accord provided that Chandigarh would be transferred to Punjab, a separate commission would resolve the border dispute between Punjab and Haryana, and a tribunal would decide the sharing of Ravi-Beas river waters among Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. It also provided for compensation to those affected by militancy and the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Punjab.

The Mizo National Front (MNF) was formed under the leadership of Laldenga after the Assam government failed to respond adequately to the great famine of 1959 in Mizo hills. In 1966 the MNF started an armed campaign for independence, supported by Pakistan and sheltered in then East Pakistan. After two decades of insurgency, negotiations led to a peace agreement in 1986 between Rajiv Gandhi and Laldenga. Mizoram was granted full-fledged statehood with special powers, the MNF gave up its secessionist struggle, and Laldenga became Chief Minister.

From 1979 to 1985, the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) led a movement against illegal migrants, especially Bengali Muslim settlers from Bangladesh. The movement demanded that all outsiders who had entered after 1951 be deported and challenged a faulty voters' register. After six years of turmoil, the Rajiv Gandhi-led government signed an accord with AASU in 1985 stipulating that foreigners who migrated during and after the Bangladesh war would be identified and deported. The AASU then formed a regional party, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which came to power in 1985.

At Independence, Sikkim was a protectorate of India — not fully sovereign but not fully part of India either. The Chogyal (monarch) held internal power but could not meet the democratic aspirations of the majority Nepali population. The first democratic elections to the Sikkim assembly in 1974 were swept by the Sikkim Congress, which stood for greater integration with India. The assembly first sought associate-state status, then in April 1975 passed a resolution for full integration. A referendum endorsed this, the Indian Parliament accepted it, and Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian union.

On 5 August 2019, Article 370 was abolished by the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019. The state was constituted into two Union Territories — Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. The text notes that J&K and Ladakh are living examples of plural society in India, with diversities of religious, cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and tribal kinds, as well as divergent political and developmental aspirations.

The Dravidian movement was led by E.V. Ramasami 'Periyar' through the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), which strongly opposed Brahmin dominance and affirmed regional pride against north Indian political, economic, and cultural domination. The DK split and its political legacy passed to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The DMK's anti-Hindi agitation success in 1965 boosted its popularity, and sustained political agitations brought the DMK to power in the 1967 Assembly elections. Since then Dravidian parties — DMK and AIADMK — have dominated Tamil Nadu politics.

First, regional aspirations are a normal part of democratic politics and not an aberration — even large democracies like India must deal with them regularly. Second, democratic negotiation is more effective than suppression; Mizoram is cited as proof that political settlement can resolve separatism. Third, power-sharing is essential — groups from the region need a share in power at both the state and national level. Fourth, regional imbalance in economic development contributes to feelings of discrimination and alienation, fuelling regional movements.

Portugal refused to withdraw from Goa, Diu, and Daman after 1947. After patient diplomacy failed and a strong popular movement for freedom grew within Goa (strengthened by socialist satyagrahis from Maharashtra), the Government of India sent the army in December 1961 and liberated these territories in barely two days. Goa, Diu, and Daman became a Union Territory. After an opinion poll in January 1967 showed the majority preferred to stay separate from Maharashtra, Goa remained a Union Territory and finally became a state of the Indian Union in 1987.

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