India was fragmented into more than 500 princely territories and the provinces of British India at the time of independence. After accession into the Union, there came the sticky issue of integrating the kingdoms and provinces into feasible administrative units.
First the Dhar commission, and then the JVP commission rejected the reorganization of states on linguistic basis despite clamour for the same. Fazl Ali commission or States Reorganization Commission, in 1953, allowed that in principle, while giving primacy to administrative convenience.
Linguistic reorganization has strengthened the cause of Indian unity as:
- It put an end to fissiparous tendencies that would’ve balkanized the country on the basis of language.
2. It fulfilled the aspirations of people to have autonomous political units for governance.
3. Led to development of vernacular languages and imparting of education in them, thus facilitating literacy.
4. Development and adoption of vernacular language also enabled political participation by the common man and enabled the common man to voice issues of concern in a familiar language.
5. Enabled the preservation of local customs, culture, and festivals. Over time, the people of India have come to cherish the myriad customs of different states. E.g: Chhath celebrations have become popular in Gujarat.
6. It did not lead to complaints regarding discrimination in the matter of distribution of resources on the basis of language, nor did it affect the federal structure of the country.
However, linguistic reorganization also led to several unintended consequences such as regionalism, linguistic chauvinism and foundation of the “Sons of the soil” doctrine.
There are several issues that are a threat to India’s integrity – ethnic clashes in the North East, demand for new states on the basis of backwardness such as Marathwada and Saurashtra, militancy in Jammu and Kashmir etc. Inter-state water disputes are another troublesome issue.
But the political leadership of newly independent India had the foresight to visualize the consequences of not acquiescing to popular aspirations. Their decision to linguistically reorganize the states has therefore removed one important factor that would’ve jeopardized India’s integrity and thus strengthened the cause of Indian unity.
