In the past few decades, several multi-ethnic countries (Ethiopia,

Indonesia, Pakistan, the Soviet Union, Sudan, the Yugoslavia,

etc.) have witnessed secession or disintegration. However,
ethnically heterogeneous India has avoided dismemberment or
dissolution.
1. In your view, what best explains Indias political unity?
Globalization is the best reason - creates an indian
identity, that all within the country identify with, despite the
difference in ethnicity, language, caste, class and religion.
Cultural autonomy
Separate civil laws for each religion no uniform civil code
Linguistic states / reservations?
proportional representation

Equal representation from all groups
Grand coalition of major ethnic groups
Minority vote local government allowed to overrule federal
government in community specific cases
Having all these elements helps maintain peace between
different ethnic, religious, and social groups within the country.
INDIA UNDER NEHRU
http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/38480/W
P16_Suranjan_Das.pdf
^^^ for bibliography
Under Jawaharlal Nehrus rule, India was able to begin to step into the modern
age. Nehru built institutions to make India a modern state,
which involved central initiatives such as planning
commissions and five-year plans. He made it his mission to
transform society, brining it into the modern age, and to
promote economic development across the country (Das
2001). He instilled the Hindu Personal Laws of 1950s, which
defined who was a Hindu, and essentially set into motion the
criteria for The Hindu right, or 3 bhumis, know as Matribhumi
(motherland), Pitrubhumi (fatherland), and Punyabhumi
(holyland ). He also responded to certain areas, such as Tamil
Nadu, claiming linguistic statehood. State building was
something that Nehru became know for, paying no mind to
such things as ethnicity or historical divisions, but rather
focused on uniting the people of India in a nationalist effort (
Das 2001). These political freedoms, and steps in the direction
of modernization through instillation of public policy helped
to unify the nation, under the loose definition of what a
Hindu was. This unification helped to maintain Indias
political stability.


Problems: defined who was a hindu? ( Hindu Personal
Laws of 1950s)
Movement to linguistic reorganization of the state
Language policy - national language is English
unifying factor
Three types of states: directly ruled by Britain, such as
Bihar and Madras, ruled by local princes, such as
Hydrabad and Mysore and ruled by the Indian state ,
such as Delhi.
Remaining democracy
Political freedoms to make new parties that will appeal
to those ( such as the BJP) right to express these views
and have representation in congress allowed for
democracy in India to remain stable
Holding elections in time of crisis, such as in 2004 after
the Gujjarat riots
The Hindu Right 3 bhumis
o Matribhumi motherland
o Pitrubhumi fatherland,
o Punyabhumi holyland

o Unified the nation - loose definition as to what a
hindu was
2. Is this political unity threatened: (a) by the countrys recent
rapid economic growth?
Threatened by leaving people behind in its quest for
modernization
It doesnt threaten it
When a society reaches a point that it creates culture, it is in the
interest of the markets to remain homogenous
When it goes beyond products and brands and becomes
cultural
Both drinking coca-cola; English language; regional
differences, but these things to bond over
Tie into the American example; downside in being culturally
homogenous
Less fragmentation, more democracy
Globalization helps to create and cement the middle class due
to the new jobs and industries it creates; without the middle
class, the would be no democracy

Cannot site lecture notes : need actual sources for paper
Explore alternate thesis - but then explain why yours is the best