{"id":1371,"date":"2026-08-09T19:11:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/psir-pyq\/ethnicity-is-the-underlying-cause-which-poses-a-great-challenge-upsc-psir-2022-2406\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T21:24:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:54:20","slug":"ethnicity-is-the-underlying-cause-which-poses-a-great-challenge-upsc-psir-2022-2406","status":"publish","type":"psir_pyq","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/psir-pyq\/ethnicity-is-the-underlying-cause-which-poses-a-great-challenge-upsc-psir-2022-2406\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethnicity is the underlying cause which poses a great challenge in the resolution of the problems in the North- East region of India. Comment."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pq-flow\">\n<div class=\"pq-flow-h\">Flow snapshot <em>\u2014 how the answer moves<\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p1\"><span>Intro routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> NE = India\u2019s most ethnically diverse region <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Weber<\/b>: ethnicity as a subjective belief in common descent <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> the claim is partly right, <i>but<\/i> ethnicity is the language of conflict, not its root<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> the statement overstates ethnicity as \u201cthe underlying cause\u201d <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> ethnic assertion is visible on the surface, deprivation + neglect lie beneath<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p2\"><span>Body flow<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p>four forms: autonomy \/ secession \/ insurgency \/ identity riots <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> NE cases: Nagaland (sovereignty, Greater Nagalim), Assam (Bodo, migrant), Manipur (Meitei\u2013Kuki\u2013Naga) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> overlapping, zero-sum claims <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> resolution hard <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <i>but<\/i> ethnicity rarely erupts alone <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> instrumentalist view: elites activate identity <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Muni<\/b>: creation of vested political interests <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> deeper cause = deprivation + neglect <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Gurr<\/b>: relative deprivation (\u2018ought\u2019 vs \u2018is\u2019, \u201cdisposes men to violence\u201d); NE insurgencies = neglect + weak development <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> federation-building (<b class=\"pq-sc\">Baruah<\/b>): central neglect + lost autonomy, <i>not<\/i> ethnicity <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> shift from nation-state building to genuine federation-building <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> India\u2019s record: managed better than many post-colonial states (Sixth Schedule, Article 371, statehood, accords) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Kohli<\/b>: accommodation best in a multicultural democracy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p3\"><span>Counter-view<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p>primordial reading (ethnicity as given root; overlapping identities make conflict intractable) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2194<\/span> instrumentalist + relative-deprivation reading (ethnicity as a mobilised symptom of neglect and denied autonomy)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p4\"><span>Conclusion routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> ethnicity is a real challenge, but a demand for recognition, not a fixed cause <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> remedy: more democracy, not less<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> conflict deepens only when accommodation is delayed and coercion replaces it <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> genuine federation-building achieves what coercion cannot<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"pyq_year":[47],"pyq_marks":[31],"pyq_topic":[65],"pyq_paper":[33],"class_list":["post-1371","psir_pyq","type-psir_pyq","status-publish","hentry","pyq_year-47","pyq_marks-20-marks","pyq_topic-caste-religion-and-ethnicity-in-indian-politics","pyq_paper-paper-1"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_pyq"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4783,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1371\/revisions\/4783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"pyq_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_year?post=1371"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_marks","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_marks?post=1371"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_topic?post=1371"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_paper","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_paper?post=1371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}