Regional Aspirations and Conflicts

About this unit

India is a land of great regional diversity. This unit looks at how regional aspirations have been expressed and how the Indian state has responded to them. It covers the rise of regional parties, the Dravidian movement, the Punjab crisis of the 1980s, the conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir, the movements in the North-East, and the cases of Goa and Sikkim. The key idea is that democracy allows regional aspirations to be expressed and accommodated through negotiation, federal arrangements and elections.

Key ideas

• India's approach accepts diversity and regional aspirations rather than seeing them as anti-national.
• The Dravidian movement and the DMK shaped politics in Tamil Nadu.
• The Akali Dal led the movement for Punjabi Suba; the Anandpur Sahib Resolution (1973) called for regional autonomy.
• Jammu and Kashmir saw both external disputes and internal demands for autonomy.
• Accords such as the Punjab Accord (1985), Assam Accord (1985) and Mizoram Accord (1986) showed the role of negotiation.
• Sikkim became a state of India in 1975, and Goa became a state in 1987.

How to prepare

Make a list of each regional movement with its leaders, demands and the accord or outcome. Remember the years of the important accords. Expect questions that ask about lessons from regional movements, such as the value of negotiation and power-sharing.