"great nationalism, little nationalism and problem of integration: a tentative view" by amalendu...

8/10/2019 "Great Nationalism, Little Nationalism and Problem of Integration: A Tentative View" by Amalendu Guha

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Great Nationalism, Little Nationalism and Problem of Integration: A Tentative ViewAuthor(s): Amalendu GuhaSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 14, No. 7/8, Annual Number: Class and Caste inIndia (Feb., 1979), pp. 455+457-458Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4367362 .Accessed: 29/05/2014 09:49

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r e a t Nationalism L i t t l e Nationalism

n d r o b l e m o ntegration

A Tentative ViewAmalendu Guha

Spatial political behaviour and probletns of inttegration in Northeast India have to be understood intheir specific historical cont,ext. The present short paper is an attempt at focusing on this context.

Part 1 of the paper traces the growth of nationalism in India in general and Part It examines its spe-cifics in Northeast India, with a view to explaining the political behaviour pattern as observed in thatregion.

I

A NATIONALITY is a stable commu-nity of culture, historically evolvedwithin a definite territory, on the basisof common economic ties and languageand, also often with one or more ofother such common factors. A nationa-lity, so defined, had, in some cases, itsrudimentary beginnings in consolidatedfeudal monarcbies. But its furtherdevelopments, and even its beginningsin most cases, were integrally linkedwith the rise of capitalism.

In Europe, the rising capitalistclasses found it convenient to emphasisethe separate cultural identities of theirrespective regions so that feudalismcould be pulled down by national de-mocratic movements, and their ownclass interests could be projected appa-i'ently as wider national interests,through newly formed bourgeois states.

Each of these capitalist classes poseditself as the exclusive spokesman forall members of the regional-culturalformation, i e, the nationality it belong-e(I to. This is how nationalism wasborn as a spiritual sentiment, shared incommon by members of the concernednationality. It was also a movementwith a definite ideology and programme.Basically anti-feudal in character, suchnational movements tended to culminateinto the establishment of bourgeoisdemocratic states so that there could beurnhindered development of capitalismon the basis of widened and protectednational markets.

It was through British colonialisationthat the ground for similar nationalmovements was prepared in India and,for that matter, also in its northeastregion. In the absence of a capitalistclass base, the emergence of nationa-lism before that was not possible.British rule unified disjointed and re-mote parts of the country through acentralised systenm of administration aswell as a network of railways andcommunications t built during the late

l9tk century. The purpose was tobring India into the orbit of worldcapitalism so that exploitation could beintensified.

Consequent upon these profoundchanges, new middle classes, oriented

to capitalism, were found operatingamongst India's varied linguistic com-munities at sub-regional, regional andall-India levels. These middle classeswere objectively opposed to foreigndomination over the home market.Hence, they looked forward to esta-blishing their own domination instead,so that indigenous capitalism couldthrive thereby. Protection of homemarket- against foreign competitionemerged as a slogan. To promote theirowr interests, these classes ralliedpopular support behind them, by ex-

ploitingspirituLal entiments based on a

community of culture. This happenedboth at the regional and the all-Indialevels. Alongside of Indian nationalismone often heard of Bengali or Marathior Assamese nationalism as well. Thesenationalisms sustained-and were inturn sustained by - Indian peoples'common struggle against British rule.The latter was increasingly identified asthe main obstacle on the way of furthergrowth of the Indian class society.

All parts of India and all Indiannationalities did not come under Britishrule at one and the same point of time.Nor were they at the same stage ofsocio-economic development when theydid. Moreover, even the degree ofBritish centralised control was not thesame all over India - some weredefinitely under-administered as com-pared to others. This unevenness wasbound to leave its imprint on the mani-festation of niationalism at the variouslevels, both in terms of chronology andin terms of the emotional content andidentity.

It was broadly along two tracks thatIndian nationalism was developing fronmits very beginnings in the mid-19thcentury -(i) great nationalism on an

all-India plane and (ii) little nationalismon a linguistic-regional plane. Greatnationalism emerged as the ideology ofthe nascent pan-Indian big bourgeoisiewho wanted an appropriate share ofthe growing India-wide bomre marketfor themselves to the exclusion of

(orin collaboration witb) foreign capita-lists. They also wanted an independentunitary state to secure it. This wasacceptable also to large sections of theprofessional middle classes of certainadvanced regions like coastal Bombayand Bengal. For they were confidentof seizing a large share of all the pro-fessional and other opportunities tocome up in such an India-wide compe-titive market, because of their early ini-tiation to English education and ad-ministration. The Indian National Con-gress represented great nationalism, inits original undiluted form, during theyears 1885-1917.

Little nationalism, on the other bancd,em(ierged s the ideology of the region-based small bourgeoisie (i e, theregional middle classes) who fearedcompetition from middle classes ofother regions as well as from the pan-Indian big bourgeoisie. Little natio-nalism, therefore, stood for an exclu-sive control of the regional markets bytheir respective middle classes.

The concept of a unitary national

state was not a suitable ideal for littlenationalism. It looked forward to amulti-national state with a federal set-up that would guaranktee substantialregional autonomy to each nationalidentity. In its extreme and late form(in exceptional cases) little nationalismstood, alternatively, even for secession,or dual citizenship and sovereign po-litical status.

How were great and little national-isms inter-related? In the course oftheir historical evolution, they ingeneral moved in unison, continuallytending to mergo with earh other; buton occasions, hey also tended to dash

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ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY Annual Number February 1979

headlong against each other in oppo.site directions. On the whole, duringthe period of our anti-imperialiststruggles, they moved in the samedir ection, and overlapped with eachother. They thus got intertwined.Indian national movement since 1917involved a series of compromises bet-ween great and little nationalisms sothat all nationalist forces could btoconsolidated to achieve the comtnonobjective. Gandhi with his concept oflinguistic provinces ushered in thispiocess. The dominant class view onthe national question, as a result, under-went substantial changes, in favour ofand towards recognition of multi-na-tional interests, both before and afterotur Independence.

It was in this process, as worked outabove, that castes, tribes and local com-munities were being absorbed intolarger entities along either of the twoalbove-mentioned tracks. The littlenationalities, too, were imperceptivelygetting integrated with a still largernational entity - the Indian nation-hood in the making.

In the Indian context, there was andis also a growing understanding thatonly by eliminating bourgeois distor-tions couild a basis for tnre nationalismbe found-also that one's loyalty toregional culture is quite compatiblewith true nationalism and intemational-ism, once class exploitation is removedfiom the scene.

II

For economy in administration, theBritish rulers organised the conquerednortheastern territories into a multi-lingual, composite province. OnlyBengali of all languages of the provincehad some official recognition for limitedpurposes during the years 1837-73. Itwas with this background that Assameselittle nationalism had. its beginnings,alongside of great nationalism. Through-out the 19th century, regional and all-India consciousness co-existed peace-fully all over the plains of NortheastIndia. In the hills areas, however,nationalism - great or little - wasconspicuously absent du-ring the cen-tury. There it is a 20th century pheno-menon, associated with the rise oflocal, educated middle classes duringtht inter-war and World War II period.

The people of the plains of Assamwere associated with a provinciallegislature since 1906; and the peopleof the partially excluided hills areas,ie, the Khasi, Garo and Mikir Hills,

since 1937. 1Hnwever, n the latter case,

the degree of political participationwas perfunctory. Nagaland, Mizoram,Arcnachal (Nefa) and the N C Hillswere totally excluded from any kindof constitutional reforms until 1947.This uneven constitutional and adminis-trative development, as much as the

uneven economic progress, also contri-buted to the belatedness of nationalismiri the northeastern Indian society.Different segments of it came underthEl spell of nationalism at differenttimes. Another point to note is thatgreat nationalism had only marginalinmpact on the hills peoples; and theleast or little impact on Nagaland andlMizoram, in particular. There aregeographical and historical reasons forthat.

'T e Khasi (and Puar) people werefouind already organised into rudimen-tary state formations, when they cameunder the British. Conscious of theirlocal privileges, the Khasi chiefs be-gari organising themselves into voluntaryassociations since 1900. This factor andthe location of the provincial capital inShillong since 1874 largely accountedfor the early politicisation of theKhasis, relatively to other hills people.It was only during World War II thatthe Garos, the Mizos and the Nagashad their first nationality-wide politicalorganisations formed. This process ofpoliticisation was essentially linked

with little nationalism.

The formation of an educated,Chlristian middle class helped the pro-cess. In 1901 there were only 26Clhristians in Mizoram. By 1951, theyconstituted 90 per cent of the Mizorampopulation. Similar progress of Chris-tianity, though not equally spectacular,was there in other hills areas as well.In the matter of literacy, too, the levelachieved in the hills compared favour-ably with the all-India average. Insome cases, it was even much higher,

as in Mizoram where the male literacyrate was 46.2 per cent and femaleliteracy rate 16.7 per cent in 1951.Christianity contributed not only tothe literacy movement, but also to thedevelopment of tribal dialects aswritten languages in Roman script.

Thus, the language became inter-alia a unifying and modernising factorin the hills, finally leading to thegrowth of hills r;ationalities and theirlittle nationalisms. In Mizoram, from thevery beginning, Mizo nationalism hadan anti-feudal content. It was directed

priimarily against the autocratic chiefs.This anti-feudeal content is present, toa lesser extent, in the national move-

ments of other hills districts as well,dependibg upon the degree of auto-cracy their chiefs exhibited. The basiccontent of the little nationalisms ofthe hills areas however was and stillis anti-tribal, in the sense that it standsfor the transformation of a tribe or agroup of tribes, within a well-definedterritory, into a distinct nationality.Tribes, like castes, are expected to getdissolved in that process to make roomfor nationalism, in the same way as,ittle nationalities in the Indian context

are expected to get dissolved to makeroom for an all-India nationalism.

In oaLr view, great nationalism andlittle nationalism are compatible, butnot necessarily and always within a classsociety. The middle class of a late-developing, small nationality is neces-sarily weak. This explains why thegrowing middle classes of the hillsareas were less involved in the modernphase of the anti-imperialist strugglesthan their counterparts in the plains.These very middle classes, after inde-pendence, were nevertheless able toforce changes into the Indian consti-tution to create new autonomous natio-nal states within the Indian Union.Helwever, the lopsidedness of the eco-nomic development, in the interests ofthe Indian monopoly houses, poses anew danger that of these little auto-nomous segments being swamped bvfloods of immigration. To avoid this,Northeast India needs a different pat-tern of economic development, withemphasis on maximum utilisatioin oflocal manpower, even if that meanislowing down of the pace of moderndevelopment in the conventional sense.Otherxvise, little nationalism will pro-bably take the Naga-Mizo path toseparatism.

There is no admllinistrative r militaryshort-cut to achievement of nationhood.Indian nationalismai nd the associated

process of state formations are still inthce making. Today the only way to de-emphasise the tribal exclusiveness aswell as differences in religion, castesand ethnicity is to realise the import-ance of cohesion of respective regionalcommunities. In the very process ofthis being achieved, regional commu-nities will also feel to be themselvesparts of the bigger Indian societies.Meanwhile the Centre-state relationsneed a thorough reshuffling to makesuch voluntary emotional integrationpossible.

To conclude, India is a multi-natio-nal state which is not dlominated byany particullar nationality. No single



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Annual Number February 1979 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY

nationality has an absolute majority inIndia, so far as the numeric-al trengthis concerned. No single nationalitydominates all facets of power and in-fluence either. Besides, all the natio-nalities developed a historic sense ofunity in course of their common

struggles against the British rule, andthey were found keen to retain thissense of unity even after Independence.In the process of economic transition,hundreds ancl thousands of workersfrom different linguistic groups becameintermingled. The Indian workingclass, therefore, stands as much aboveparochial little nationalism as aboveaggressive great nationalism. In itsconception, true nationalism, can absorbwhat is good in little nationalism andstands also for internationalism. Itstands for Indian unity within themultinational state of India. It looks'forward to a United India organised onthe basis of (i) the recognition uFIndian multinationality, (ii) federalprinciples of state organisation withsingle citizenship and (iii) protectionof the democratic rights of all nationalminorities and their languages all overInidia, including the right of self-determination.

[An earlier draft on this paper waspresented at a Seminar held at Shillong,

ndcer the auispices of the North EastHills University on 1 Sept-2 Oct 1978.]

Railway FinancesA GENERAL examination of thefinarncial positionl of Indian Railwaysby the Rail Tariff Enquiry Commmitteehas come to the conclusion that thefinancial position of the Railways hasnot been satisfactory .

At present the railways are requjir-ed to pay divid-lnd at 5.5 per cent oncapital invested upto March 1964 and6 per cent on fresh investment there-after. In the Draft Sixth Plan, thePlanning Commnission has sugge.sted

that the. retlurn from investment inCentral and state enterprises shouldbe raised by econom-lies anid priceadjustments to a post-tax levelof about 10 per cent . Actually,Railways have not been able to meettheir obligations even under theexisting Convention. The working ofthe Railways has resulted in a deficit,after payment of dividend, almost con-tinuously since 1966 67. Consequently,the Railways have had to take loansfrom the General Revenues to meetthe dividend liability when the net re-venue was not sufficient for the pur-pose (Rs 309 clrores) and to meet theexpenditure on development wforks

which are required to be financed fromsurplus revenues (Rs 153 crcres). Thetemporary borrowings on this accountoutstanding at the end of 1976-77amounted to Rs 463 crores. Further,these deficits have been incurred inspite of the fact that the provision

made for depreciation has not beenadequate resulting in considerablearrears in renewals and replacements,and the provision made for pensionaryliability has also been less than warrant-edl.

The Rail Tariff Committee is of theview that, among other factors, the

fact that the increase in the fares andfreight charges have not kept pace withincrease in the price levels is mainlyresponsible for the unhealthy finanicialposition of the Railways. In this con-nection, it has been brought out that,during the period 1950-51 to 1976-77,

while the average cost per Railway em-ployee has increased by 400 per cent,the price of coal by 370 per cent andthat of mineral oils by 443 per cent, theaverage earnings per passenger kilo-metre and per tinne kilometre ofgoods have increased only by 134 percent and 180 per cent, respectively.

Visvesvaraya Iron

&k Steel LimitedBhadravati 577 301(KARNATAKA)

Manufacturers f Alloy & High Grade steels,Mild and Tor Steel, Pig IronSteel Castings, C. I. Castings,Spun Pipes (Cast Iron) FerroAlloys, Cement, Ferro Sili-con, Refractories etc.

Regd, Office & Bhadravati-577 01Factory

Bratnch Offices:

Bangalore 'Bhadravati', 812 6th Floor,J. C. Road,Bauigaloi-e-560 02.

Bombay 4, Asha Mahal,

46, Pedder Road,Bombay-400 026.

Calcutta VI Floor, Everest House, 46,Chowringhee,Calcutta-700 016.

Delhi - Prakash Deep Buildiig,C-9, II Floor,S. D. A. Hauz Khas,New Delhi-11O 016

Madras 1 Floor, Mysore Bank Building,N. S. C. Bose Road,Madras-600 001.

AQg


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