INDIA'S DIVERSITY: FROM CONFLICT TO INNOVATION

India’s Diversity: From Conflicts to Innovation1 Vijay Kumar Kaul Department of Business Economics, South Campus University of Delhi, New Delhi New Dellhi-110021 [email protected] May 2014 1 Introduction India as a nation as well as civilization has been in evolution over the last 5000 years. India has survived a series of foreign aggressions, besides witnessing internal conflicts and battles, natural disasters, social tensions and conflicts. No surprises then, that there have been many changes in its geographical boundaries over historical time. Frequent religious and social reforms in India have been its key feature. Yet, it is remarkable how a vast geographical region ranging from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari has been home to a civilization and culture known as ‘Bharatvarsha’. It is this concept of “Bharatvarsha” that continues to give its people their sustenance and essential identity as Indians. India is known for its diversity that ranges over its natural environments and resources, rivers, lakes, seas, forests, agro-products and climates. As regards its people, India’s diversity ranges over their cultures and religions, their castes, languages, foods, dresses, arts and dances, musical traditions, across rural and urban regions, where the poor and rich live in harmony. There is an underlying linkage and interconnection among geographically, socially and economically diverse groups in India. This diversity has been recognized as the main strength of India. The most visible manifestation of this strength has been in the form of creative traditions such as music, dances, literary and philosophical traditions. India’s most vibrant constitutional democracy in itself reflects the strength of its diversity, and it also helps in managing this diversity. Whenever this diversity is not understood properly or is misinterpreted, there arise tensions, disputes or situations of conflict. However, the existence of India as a nation in its present form suggests some common cultural bonding, common identity and social mechanism that have helped it to resolve its tensions, disputes and conflicts, and these have also been pushing to shape and transform the Indian society. It is the aspirations of the people that shape a society. In pre-independence India, the aspiration of the people was to have self-rule, gain freedom and build the nation. In 1947, people achieved freedom and our national leaders embarked on the task of nation building. As a result, over the past 66 years India has achieved good economic progress, established a diversified industrial base, a strong service sector and also achieved self-sufficiency in agriculture. The people have been moving from 1 Author acknowledges with thank the contributions made by Prof G.L.Pandit(Professor of Philosophy, University of Delhi), Prof Surender Kumar(Department of Business Economics, University of Delhi), Dr. Padma Priyadarshini (Sri Venketeshar college, University of Delhi), Mr. Pramod Joshi(Educational Consultant), Mr.Shekhar Singh(Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi), Ms Rupali A Khanna(Kamla Nehru College, DU) by suggesting and making comments on the earlier version of this paper. 1 agriculture to industry (both in the manufacturing and services sectors) to earn higher incomes and attain better living standards. The number and size of cities have grown with large migration of population from villages and rural areas to urban regions. The country now has large cosmopolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Physical and soft infrastructure both in urban and rural areas have been created in large parts of the country. India is also strengthening its science and technology base to build an innovative and knowledge based society. Despite all these achievements, India is still inhabited by a large number of poor and illiterate people. Large sections of population are deprived of basic amenities like sanitation, water, basic health care and electricity. Global warming and climate change are likely to aggravate these problems in the coming decades. Frequent natural disasters in the country’s vulnerable regions have resulted in heavy losses of human lives, often due to the absence of effective disaster management systems. Economic and social disparities in all the states and regions of the country continue to grow. There are many instances of social tensions because of religion, caste and linguistic differences. Tribal uprisings, communal tensions and gender based problems are growing in number. In addition to these, growing educated population, increasing incomes, new technological developments - especially in information technology, communication and telecommunication (ICT), 24 by 7 television and internet access have changed the aspiration levels of the people. There is increased awareness about their self-identity, better understanding of aspirational living standards and increasing expectations. If not managed and fulfilled constructively, these aspirations of the younger generation may put Indian society in chaos. The basic aspiration of the people is to have a respectable, honorable and healthy living standard. In a country like India with such vast diversity, a developmental model cannot be borrowed from outside. It needs to be designed keeping in mind the diversity and abundance of its resources, people’s aspiration levels and the ecological limitations of nature. Persistence of several economic and social problems needs to be examined. To be specific, there is a need to examine the linkages between the geographic, social and economic diversity of India and the socio-economic problems that the country is facing. Further, there is a need to identify the state mechanisms, symbols and institutions, which have been used in the past to resolve these problems and that are still relevant. In general, there is an argument that diversity leads to conflict. However, modern literatures in management and economics have established the linkages between diversity and innovation. The present paper proposed a framework linking diversity to innovation. This chapter is structured around six sections including the Introduction. The following section – 2 explains the theory of diversity from conflict to innovation. The importance of diversity and its linkages with the current social and economic problems are also examined. Section 3 - presents nine recent cases covering natural and man-made crises as well as suggested solutions to them. Section 4 aims at examining diversity and its vulnerability. Section 5 identifies the cultural and civilizational bonding, and the role of the Constitution and its provisions in fostering unity in diversity. Section 6 identifies India’s potential role in the 21st century. 2 2. Diversity: Conflicts to Innovation Theory Geographic and socio-economic diversity as issues are ubiquitous in the todays’ world and India is no exception. There has been an explosion of debates and discussions on diversity related dilemmas owing to the complex dimensions that diversity has come to acquire in all arenas of our life – geographical, political, cultural, economic and the social. In fact, the future of the “Indian melting pot” is being subjected to a series of critical assessments today. This is so because we notice a wide gamut of activities occurring in our society due to our diverse geographical and socio-economic heritage. While on the one hand we notice communal riots at Muzzafarnagar and tribal uprisings in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa, on the other, we notice social and cultural bonding between diverse groups in terms of food, clothing and employment. There are numerous such instances. Diversity in the Indian context has become the focus of intense political debates because most scholars are grappling with the question whether diversity is a source of strength or whether it is leading to greater discomfort and discord? If it is a tendency that only “birds with the same feather flock together”, how cohesive a society are we because we are a multi-caste, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society? The paper is an endeavour to understand diversity in its various forms, how it manifests itself, what kind of consequences does it lead to, the institutional mechanisms in place that deal with diversity issues and in the process tries to assess the fundamental question about diversity - as a source of our strength or as a source of our weakness. Unlike noted Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam’s claims in his famous work on diversity issues in the United States titled as “Famous for Bowling Alone” (2001), where he claims that diversity and social cohesion are negatively correlated, and this paper attempts a different approach i . Like many other scholars of the discipline, Scott Page (2008) and others, the paper represents a curious case of a “diversity paradox”ii. The Indian experience of diversity shows that the “conflict theory” explanation, which claims that proximity with diverse groups, leads to tension and discord cannot adequately account for the varying forms in which diversity manifests itself. On the contrary, it believes in a “contact theory” explanation which claims that more time spent with people of varied backgrounds leads to greater understanding and harmony between groups. It asserts that increasing diversity is not only inevitable but ultimately valuable and enriching. The paper moves a step further and asserts that a capable and visionary governance system can direct diversity in developing different perspective to seek solution to socio-economic challenges before the country. These different perspective and solution will provide innovative solutions that ultimately result in social and economic prosperity of people. The reason for the conflict and tension are either not understanding the nature of geographic, socio-economic diversity or misinterpreting it to gain political advantage. The conflict may be either due to natural disasters or be man-made crisis. There is another categorization of domestic conflicts. The categorization can be linked with the objectives of the conflict. There can be of three such types of conflict: Territorial conflict, Developmental and Localised religion-and-caste-basediii . In reality, it is difficult to find conflicts strictly linked with one objective. Rather, it is found that in every cases of conflict, there may be multiple objective operating simultaneously. Many of these cases of conflict are linked identity issues. In Social sciences and sociology in particular, the conflict studies are related with identity and its linkages with concepts of community and ethnicity. Articulation and expression of identity 3 helps people make sense of their collective existence and experience. It is not only that individuals identify themselves with, or define themselves as belonging to, communities, but are so identified by others. The identity are not fixed, but rather are constantly being defined and redefined through interactions at all levels of state and societiesiv,v. Social identity and feelings of relative deprivation are interconnected and can strengthen each other. When identities are essentialised or aggrandised on one axis, people belonging to communities – be they caste-, clan-, religion-, language-, region-, or nation-based – develop antagonisms and tend to come into conflict with one another. Castells recognizes that a given individual or a collective actor may have plurality of identitiesvi. Such a plurality, he points out, is “a source of stress and contradiction in both self-representation and social action”. The “we and they” and “us and them” feelings integral to community and ethnic identities are often phrased in antagonistic/ belligerent terms and bring communities so articulated into conflict with each other.The play of community identities when resources and symbols are involved often results in conflict, not infrequently violent. Conflict between communities reinforces their identities and hardens community boundariesvii. Linking Diversity, Innovation Socio-economic and Environmental challenges and The above discussion leads us to believe as if the diversity always linked with some sort of tension and conflict. But this is not true. There is inherent diversity because of geographical and socio-economic factors. If this diversity is properly governed and directed may lead to socio-economic prosperity also. This linkage has been discussed in this section. In India, in addition to natural disasters, there are large number socioeconomic problems. Some of the old problems since independence are continuing especially the territorial conflict like Kashmir and North east states, development issues of poverty, underdevelopment of several regions. New problem after independence in the form of tribal uprising, underdevelopment of some regions, displacement and marginalization of some groups and community are also expanding. These issues are linked with sub-nationalities identities and new aspiration of development also,for instance, the recent case of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is not linked with linguistic identity, but linked with changed aspiration level because of lopsided development in comparison to other regions in Andhra Pradesh. People feel that they are not getting the benefits of development in comparison to others.These socio-economic problems many times turn out to be conflict like situations. In addition to these, one more important issue of environment has come up and has aggravated all the social and economic problems. This is affecting all the people irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, gender etc. Meeting these challenges need collective efforts of all. This can work as a one of the unifying factor in a multi-cultural, multi-religion and multi-lingual society like India. Economic liberalization, globalization and ICT based technological advancement and educations have increased the awareness among people that in turn has enhanced expectation and aspiration level. In addition, some religious and caste based tensions linked with seeking higher share in state resources. Simultaneously, it is also found that increased prosperity and materialistic pursuits have decreased the religion based and caste based clashes. Class based tension and conflicts are growing in number. Middle class which have been benefited from economic liberalization and 4 globalization process is interested in maintaining its new found prosperity and asserting more. As mentioned above, diversity leads to tension and problems when not properly understood and interpreted. Here, the role of Governance system, in terms of capabilities and vision of the national leaders is important. This also includes the values, institutions and linkages developed overtime to resolve the problems and direct the people and resources in constructive manner. This is what has been explained in the Figure 1. This figure explains the mechanism of leveraging diversity to solve socio-economic problems and attain a socially and economic prosperity. This, however, require a governance system which is capable and has a vision to use diversity in identifying and developing different perspective, that in turn leads to solutions and innovation. This ultimately leads to social and economic prosperity. Figure 1 explains that a good and visionary governance system use diversity of people, resources, and organizations as a strength to solve socio-economic and environmental problems. these problems work as a stimulus, diversity drive people to have different perspective, and governance system direct all these to seek and discover innovative solution. All these will lead to achieve social and economic prosperity. People in general have different ways of sensing problems and identifying solution. Diversity of people with diverse capabilities look at the problems with different perspective. A good and visionary governance system comprising of a system of institutions, is capable of this diversity as an assets to solve problems created by diversity itself. Smart people have better capabilities, interesting perspective, and many effective heuristic. A proper governance system should comprise of a system of institutions, which is capable of using this diversity as an asset and use it to solve problems created by diversity itself. Diversity in complex urban environments represents an advantage for 5 Figure 1 Leveraging Diversity to offer Innovative solutions to Socio-economic and Environmental problems Governances System Values, Institutions, and Linkages (Capabilities and Vision) Direction Diversity • • • Resources People Economic Organizations ( Finances, Technology, Firms etc. ) Drive Discovering & Developing different perspectives for solutions Solution & Innovation (Products, processes, models organization , and institutions) Social & Economic Prosperity stimulus Socio-economic and Environmental problems and Tension Job Creation, Rural & Urban linkages Food Security, Energy security, Water crisis Urbanization, infrastructure, transportation, sanitation Environmental and Public Health Literacy and education, gender dimension New problems come up creativity, innovation and growth. Institutions, values and governance mechanisms have an important role to play in shaping diversity to socio-economic outcomes relationships. The concept of governance come to the fore, as a broad notion that encompasses and transcends that of government, and allows for a pluralism of actors, including non-official organisations (profit and no profit) along government bodies, into the processes of making (and then managing) public policies and activities. The call is for more open and participatory democracy processes that allows other actors (civil society organisations, NGOs, grassroots movements) representing specific legitimate interests to have a voice. Sustainability of these structures - as a necessary condition for endurable development of heterogeneous communities - depends on widespread understanding of diversity as an asset, as a source of dynamism, innovation, creativity, and growth. The will of community members and city administrators to make necessary changes to meet the needs and requirements of a diverse population is another determinant of endurable development of diverse communities. But the tendency to frame diversity policies and practices in ethnic terms might results in reinforcing barriers and dividing society rather than fostering interconnections. There have been various religion-centred political approaches for building peace in troubled areas of the world. The stress on religion, by downplaying non-religious values and affiliations, has strengthened the position of the religious establishments and increased the sense of distance between communities. It is therefore important that diversity policies and practices acknowledge the multidimensional nature of diversity and use aethnic perspectives, going over and above ethnic boundaries. Overall, the social cohesion should help to prevent conflicts and violence, increase policy effectiveness and make the country attractive for people and investors alike. Diversity usually calls to mind differences in race, gender, ethnicity, physical capabilities, and sexual orientation—social or political differences. The key to 6 innovation, in economic terms, resides inside the heads of people, the more diverse the better. To appreciate the full potential of the power of difference, however, requires opening up of the minds. Innovation provides the seeds for economic growth, and for that innovation to happen depends as much on collective difference as on aggregate ability. If people think alike then no matter how smart they are they most likely will get stuck at the same locally optimal solutions. Finding new and better solutions, innovating, requires thinking differently. That’s why diversity powers innovation. These innovations lead to prosperity of the economy. The question arises why India with lot of diversity has not been able to solve its problems and recurrences of tension and conflict. This is all linked with governance system that lacks understanding of using this diversity to be innovative society. There is no lack of capabilities; it is a lack of vision and willingness. There are some examples that can be given here. For instance, climate change as serious problems leads to announcement of ‘Action program on Climate change’. There are several initiatives have been announced and are being implemented.. However, there are no linkages of these to develop innovation momentums in the country. A collective challenges like climate change can be used to bring people, groups, organizations and institutions to use it an opportunity to come up with a new innovations and living style. A keen observer finds several individual and groups working in this direction. However, there is a need at the top level of administration to bring some sort of linkages in these efforts with a clear vision of developing innovative society. The society which has been coming up with innovative solution in terms of products, processes, new models, organization and institutions have been growing and prospering. This also provides a sense of better feeling to associate and identify with such society. As we find in case of India, the launch of The Mars orbiter, the GSLV missions, and the success of the inter-continental missile, Agni-V, are inspiring examples. Every citizen of the country feels proud ofthese developments. It involves the sense of belonging to India and being Indian.There is a need to keep on inventing new products, behavior and resource for achieving high growth and prosperity. Diversity in India give rise to different issues that can be used to offer different solution in terms of product, services and delivery system. Business people are using this to develop products, services and advertising plan. India with a huge population and different regions have lot of latent and capabilities of different types which if properly utilized and developed can be a greatsource of innovation. Given a proper environment, these talents can be used to offer creative solutions and managing diversity creatively for the benefits of all. One of the bases of innovative society is diversity of capabilities and talent. India has plenty of that. It requires to harness that with a clear vision and capabilities. 3 Diversity and Conflicts: Cases Studies This section is devoted to the cases that cover some of the recent mishaps and conflicts in India. The main purpose is to exhibit the diversity of India and to showcase the conflicts that sometimes arise out of it. 3.1 Case : Natural Disasters in Uttarakhand and Odisha The objective of this case is to focus on natural disasters leading to severe damage to property, life and livelihood on account of unscientific development activities 7 ignoring geographic realities in the region. Uttarakhand is a relatively new state created in the year 2000 out of the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is mainly a hilly state located at the foothills of the Himalayan mountain range. The state has an abundance of natural resources, especially water and forests, with many glaciers, rivers, green valleys and snow-clad mountain peaks. The four most sacred and revered Hindu temples of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri are located in the mighty mountains of this state. The state has attracted large numbers of pilgrims and ecotourists from all over India and abroad. In recent years, the number of pilgrims has been increasing, creating pressure for building new infrastructure such as hotels, parking spaces and tourist services. Thanks to the heavy rush of pilgrims during the season, hotels along the religious yatra route connecting these shrines earn their entire year’s revenue during the four months of the year that includes the monsoons. In the month of June 2013, a cloudburst caused devastating floods and landslides in Uttarakhand, especially in Kedarnath. Four days of continuous rains and melting snows aggravated the floods, wreaking widespread havoc. The warnings by the India Meteorological Department predicting heavy rains were not widely publicized. Residents, pilgrims and eco-tourists were caught unawares. This resulted in huge loss of life and property. Many died and many went missing in the swirling waters of enraged rivers. More than 5,700 people were "presumed dead.” Destruction of bridges and roads left about 100,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in the valleys. The Indian Air Force, the Indian Army, and paramilitary troops had to be called in toevacuate more than 110,000 people from the flood ravaged areas. Floods occur frequently in this region due to the steep slopes and shallow soils, and result in severe damage. A huge influx of people for the Yatra increases the impact of damage. Environmentalists have attributed the present unprecedented destruction to the rainfall to unscientific developmental activities undertaken in recent decades. The roads have been constructed in haphazard style. To earn from the religious and ecotourists large number of new resorts and hotels have been built on fragile river banks. More than 70 hydroelectric projects in the watersheds of the state have come up despite warning from environmentalists. The environmental experts have reported that the tunnels built and blasts undertaken for the 70 hydro electric projects contributed to the ecological imbalance in the state, with flows of river waters restricted and the streamside developmental activity contributing to a higher number of landslides and more flooding. In contrast to what happened in Uttarakhand, in October 2013, Odisha faced a severe cyclone storm, named Phailin. Coastal Odisha is a cyclone prone area. The state is located on the eastern part of India, abutting the Bay of Bengal. On 7th October 2013, the meteorological department warned that Cyclone Phailin would hit Odisha on 12th October. On 10th October, the prediction of a severe cyclone was converted to a “very severe cyclonic storm”. This was the festive period of Dussehra, when all government offices would be closed from 11th to 14th October. In the final analysis, the cylone affected 12 million people! The worst affected area was Gopalpur, a trading port, in Ganjam District. Fortunately, the Government of Odisha was well prepared and had identified 660 buildings as cyclone shelters. Its officials worked together and managed the biggest evacuation in 23 years as 550,000 people moved away from the danger areas. Accurate forecasting was helpful in managing the after affects of 8 Phailin, and adequate precautionary measures could be taken in time to minimise damage. The successful evacuation of people to safe places was a notable feature. This has been possible because of the officials who were engaged in this operation. The team spirit shown by various levels of officials supervised by the Special Relief Commissioner had a crucial role to play in the successful meeting of the challenges that Phailin threw up. The personal involvement of the Chief Minister in the entire episode also has to be acknowledged. 3.2 Case : Western Ghats - Environmental Crisis in the Making The purpose of this case is to examine a natural crisis in the making, efforts made by the government, and people involvement in protecting the environment. The Western Ghats or the Sahyādri constitute a mountain range along the western coastal side of India (see figure 2 and 3). The range starts near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra, south of the Tapti river, and runs approximately 1,600 km through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The western coastal area is very rich in natural resources, with many water bodies, forests and ecological reserves of biodiversity. These areas are also rich in iron, manganese and bauxite ores in some parts of their ranges. These resources are being extracted on a large scale and exported in ore form, especially from Goa. The area is one of the world's ten "Hottest biodiversity hotspots" and is home to over 5000 species of flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species and 179 amphibian species; yet it is likely that many undiscovered species live in the Western Ghats. At least 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats. A study in the southern region, comprising the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, showed that between 1920–1990 about 40% of the original vegetation cover was lost or converted to another form of land useviii. It is reported that loss of species and degradation of unique bio-diversities hotspots will affect rainfall patterns, river flows, water supply and climate across large swathes of the country. The recent natural disaster in Uttarakhand (in June 2013 as discussed in the previous case) demonstrates that reckless development can pose problems not just to the environment – but to a number of settlements, cities, residents and families, and thus to local economies of the concerned region .ix Map of Peninsular India showing Western Ghats region and origin of major rivers, with Tapti river as the northern boundary of Western Ghats. Figure 2: Strike in Kerala and Western Ghat - Natural Crisis in the making Source: Kasturirangan Report 2013 9 Figure 3 Western Ghats in India Western Ghats region showing Natural and Cultural Landscapes and water bodies. Source: Kasturirangan Report 2013 The people of the Western Ghats traditionally depended heavily on natural vegetation for meeting their requirement of shelter, fodder and fuel. They also derived much nutrition from hunted meat; consequently their quality of life has rapidly eroded in recent decades with the depletion of natural vegetation and extermination of wild animals. The Western Ghats has a large tribal population only in a few pockets such as the Dangs and Thane districts north of Mumbai and Wynaad and Nilgiris tracts towards the south. The tribals have borne the brunt of the degradation of the Western Ghats environment and have received little benefits of the development that is responsible for this degradation. The government has, for the purpose of conservation of the Western Ghats and sustainable use of its resources, constituted two committees one after another. These Committees have submitted their reports in 2011 and 2013 respectively. The reports of these committees attracted protests from different sections of people and community, especially in Kerala. In November 2013, a strike led by a section of the Church and the Left Democratic Front was called in Kerala to reject two reports prepared by the Gadgil Committee and the Kasturirangan Committee. Supporters of the strike claimed that both these reports are anti-farmer, as these reports totally ignored concerns of farmers in the region and treated them as mere encroachers. It is claimed that most people in the area had migrated on a request from the government under schemes like ‘grow more food’ and ‘high range colonisation’. The government had once promoted migration of workers to work in cardamom plantations and engage in the construction of hydel projects. However, the possible reasons for this uproar may be the high population density in Kerala’s part of the Western Ghats, plus the vested interests of the quarrying lobby and the Church (which holds large tracts of land in the mountains). Some experts have suggested that more studies be carried out and a scientific approach be adopted in bringing about conservation strategies for Western Ghats.x The Gadgil report has suggested a completely new system of governance based on ecological limits and carrying capacity of a region, democratic decentralization and a futuristic perspective of inter-generational equity. However, the Kasturirangan report is a far milder version of the Gadgil report. It strikes a balance between development 10 and environment protection and brings down the level of environmental regulation suggested by the Gadgil Report. On the positive side, the Western Ghats region has some of the highest levels of literacy in the country, and a high level of environmental awareness. The democratic institutions are well entrenched, and Kerala leads the country in capacity building and empowering of Panchayati Raj Institutions. Evidently, the Western Ghats is an appropriate region of the country to attempt to make the transition towards an inclusive, caring and environment-friendly mode of development. There is need to involve the people of a region as diverse and ecologically significant as the Western Ghats by the Governments while introducing a new governance processxi. 3.3 Case : State with Cultural and Religious Diversity The objective of the case is to discuss as to how a region with cultural and religious diversity enters into a vicious cycle of persistence poverty, illiteracy and frequent social tension because of lack of a good governance system. Uttar Pradesh is India’s most populous state with cultural and religious diversity in its customs, systems and traditions. The state has an abundance of natural resources in terms of forest, flora and fauna, several species of trees, large and small mammals and reptiles. Medicinal plants are found in the wild and are also grown in plantations. The two major rivers of the state, the Ganga and the Yamuna, along with their tributaries make this state very fertile and agriculturally developed. Wheat is the state's principal food crop and sugarcane is the main commercial crop. There are several crafts and artisan based clusters of small and medium enterprises. Industries are localized in the Kanpur region and the Noida region. The state is politically very dominant in India as it contributes 80 seats to the Lok Sabha and 35 seats to the Rajya Sabha of the Indian Parliament. However, the state is also one of the poorest states in the country. Several reasons are given for its poor performance, one of which is its political culture and governance system. There is a large number of social tensions and conflicts reported in the state. In August-September 2013, riots among Jats and Muslims erupted in Muzaffarnagar in UP. The city is in the sugar belt of UP. Muzaffarnagar is a region that had not experienced communal violence even at the time of Partition. Especially in the rural areas no riots had been reported ever. The Jats and Muslims there were living together in harmony since centuries. They were enjoying cordial relations. However, this time the riots started with an untoward incident. Lack of proper administrative machinery helped in spreading its effects. The atmosphere in Muzaffarnagar has now been vitiated over several months through sustained communal mobilization. “Riots” usually start with a blame-game between conflicting parties. It is followed with the action-reaction theory. This inevitably results in loss of human life and property, rendering thousands of innocents homeless, and polarizing sections of society,often benefiting political parties. With the modern use of social media and mobile applications (“apps”), it is becoming easier for vile and vested interests to instigate more people and further aggravate the situation.xii Subhashini Ali, a social activist has written that ‘most Muslims here are conscious of the fact of their being converts and maintain close social links with the Hindu 11 communities to which they originally belonged. They are known as Muley Jat, Muley Rajput, Muley Tyagi, and so on. Their social mores are very similar too. Agriculture is the common factor that has further cemented close community relationships. The tallest political leader in the area, Chaudhary Charan Singh, built his political strength on the unity of the Hindu and Muslim peasantry, especially Jats. This was the springboard for his spectacular rise, first as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and later as Prime Minister of India. Mahendra Singh Tikait belonged to Muzaffarnagar too, and his successful struggle for remunerative prices for the peasantry, especially sugarcane growers, was also based on the unity of Hindu and Muslim peasants, which he consciously promoted in his speeches and mobilisations. In recent years, this unity has developed cracks. Many rich peasants have moved to towns and cities and are no longer primarily agriculturists’xiii. 3.4 Case : The Resources Rich New State of Chhattisgarh The aim of this case is to demonstrate the different perspectives of a development model in a region rich with natural resources, and how the presence of a large indigenous population not understood properly, may lead to social tensions. Chhattisgarh is a relatively new state - created out of Madhya Pradesh in the year 2000. This state is rich in forest wealth and minerals , including high-grade iron ore, limestone, dolomite and diamonds. The population of tribals in Chhattisgarh is over 30 per cent. The northern side of Chhattisgarh lies on the edge of the Indo-Gangetic plain. The eastern end of the Satpura mountain range and the western edge of the Chhota Nagpur plateau divide the Mahanadi river basin from the Indo-Gangetic plain. The middle portion of the area lies in the upper basin of the Mahanadi. The northern and southern parts of the state are hilly, while the central part is a fertile plain. It lies in the watershed of the Godavari river. Its tributary is the Indravati river. The chief river in the state is Mahanadi. Other rivers of the state are Hasdeo, Rihand, Indravati, Jonk and Arpa. Chhattisgarh is full of ancient monuments, exquisitely carved temples, Buddhist sites, palaces, caves, rock paintings, water falls, hill plateaus and rare wildlife. Most of these sites are untouched and unexplored. The green state of Chhattisgarh has 41.33% of its area under forests and is one of the richest bio-diversity areas in the country. Chhattisgarh is known for "Kosa silk" and "lost wax art". Besides sarees and salwar suits, the Kosa silk fabric is used to create lehengas, stoles, shawls and menswear including jackets, shirts, achkans and sherwanis. Chattisgarh is famous for its heritage of art and sculpture. In the month of May 2013 an extremist group consisting of rebel tribals attacked a convoy of Congress leaders in Darbha Valley in Sukma district. Around 27 people died in this well planned attack. The extremist groups there have been demanding the end of the ‘Operation Green Hunt’ and the withdrawal of the para military forces from the Dandakaranya region. The tribals feel that the government is unjustly allowing MNCs and Indian mining companies to operate from here. They have a feeling that the government has drawn up a plan to oust them from their land to make way for investments from these big companies. The problem of tribal uprisings is growing and needs to be resolved with a human touch, while fulfilling the developmental and aspirational needs of the local people. 12 The Hindu Newspaper in its editorial had written at the time that ‘there are many Maoists (extremists) who feel trapped in the movement and the cycle of attacks and reprisals, but who are unable to gather the courage to make the transition from the fringe to the mainstream. However, rehabilitation of erstwhile militants can only be a small part of the larger strategy of containing extremist violence. The administrative response of deploying specially trained security personnel in the violence-affected areas should be accompanied by a developmental strategy to enhance livelihood opportunities in tribal and forest regions. When rural wages remain low, the youth in India’s deprived interior areas can easily be lured into believing that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. If it is not to be an isolated instance, the surrender should not be projected as a vindication of harsh measures in the face of extremist threat but should prompt a reworking of the strategy of countering political violence, and the putting in place of a comprehensive, equitable development programme for India’s tribal areas’xiv. 3.5 Case : Andhra Pradesh - Bifurcation of State and New State Formation The objective of this case is to examine the role of shift in aspiration level and identity with changed context and time, and its impact on social harmony. After independence, the national leaders in India had a task of integrating and reorganizing 560 princely states in India. Dr Rajendra Prasad, the Chairman of Constitution Committee, constituted a Committee under the chairmanship of Justice S. K. Dhar to suggest reorganization of the new country. In December 1948, Justice Dhar submitted a Report in which he stated that reorganization of states only on the basis of language would endanger Independent India’s national unity. Hence, geographical, cultural and economic dimensions should also be taken into consideration. Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedakar, however, suggested that the state can be formed on the basis of language provided the official language remains the same as the official language of the Central government. As a result of these differences, the reorganization of states was postponed. By 1952, the Telugu speaking regions in Madras residency started demanding a separate Andhra Pradesh. This was followed by protests all over India for reorganization of states on the basis of language. In 1956, 15 states and 3 union territories were constituted. Andhra Pradesh has three regions, namely, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Seemandhra, as shown in Figure 1.8. The people from Telangana were against a merger with Andhra as they feared job losses. That is because education levels and development in Andhra were better than in Telangana. ‘Telangana has been backward for centuries. It never came under the British but was ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad. The Nizam did set up a few factories and a textile mill in Warangal in collaboration with the French. However, avenues of employment were few and exploitation abounded, owing to the nature of feudalism in the region. The most crucial infrastructure element in such a land - an irrigation system - was never developed systematically in Telangana, although both the Krishna and Godavari flowed through it. By contrast, the coastal Andhra region aggressively lobbied for and got garland of canals that took river waters deep into the east and west Godavari 13 districts’xv. There has been a continuous demand and several protests for a separate state of Telangana. In 2013, the central government in consultation with the principal opposition party decided to have a separate, new state of Telangana. A Bill was passed in the Parliament and sent to the President of India. On 4th March 2014 the President of India signed the Bill for the formation of Telangana, the 29th State of the Indian Federation formed by splitting the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh. This is a case of shifting linguistic and regional identities to sub-regional and sublinguistic identities. Since the first state reorganization in 1956, now the very concept of the creation of states based on linguistic lines has been questioned. This shows the changed aspiration levels of its people and the backlash caused by the lack of appropriate development. This is also an expression of new emerging sub-linguistic and sub-regional identities from existing linguistic and regional identities. These new aspirations are rooted in the expectation of a better tomorrow and greater respect for its peoplexvi. This also suggests the need to look for fresh parameters for the creation of states, such that these are based on holistic development along economic and social lines, for better administration and management of the state’s residents. Many scholars are suggesting that a country of India’s size in terms of population should have at least 50 states for better and balanced development, as well as for a decent standard of living of its people. 3.6 Case : Bombay to Mumbai - Evolution of a City This case explores the evolution of a place to a city, and then on to a Mega city as a result of commercialization, industrialization, migration, urbanization and globalization. Further, it looks at the impact of these trends on shifting livelihood options and associated social tensions. On 19th March 2014, a Mumbai session court held guilty five men who had gangraped a 22 year old photojournalist from a city magazine in the Shakti Mills Compound at Mahalaxmi in Mumbai on August 22, 2013. The journalist and one of her male colleagues were visiting the ruins of the Mills in Central Mumbai as a part of their assignment. Finding them alone, the accused initially offered to help them navigate the Mill compound but later threatened to book them for trespassing a railway property. The accused then tied the male friend with a belt and took turns raping the journalist. This is a recent case of crime against women and their insecurity in Megacity Mumbai. Mumbai, also known by its former name Bombay, is well-known for India’s Cinema industry. It is also the Financial Capital of India. It is the most populous city in the country. Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. It is also the wealthiest city in India. During the last 200 years, Mumbai has transformed itself from an area inhabited by fishermen communities to a most modern international cosmopolitan city of the country. Its population has been growing through migration of people from villages to the city. The occupation and nature of jobs has also changed from fishing to working in textile factories, at the ports and in the service sectors. It has been building and renewing its infrastructure. It boasts of some of the most modern real estate buildings, hotels, airports, etc. The old textiles mills have now been closed and new malls, residential and commercial complexes have come up on the same real estate. A new modern transportation system in the form of the Mumbai Monorail has started operating. A Metro system is also being developed. The city has a large cluster of 14 slum areas that signify the existence of urban poor, areas that have also been providing human resources for the city’s organized crime and mafia activities. The economic life of Mumbai has shifted since 1990 due to the advancement of technology. Because of over-production and increased competition, the textile sector needed either immediate upgradation or faced closure. Mill owners opted for closure as it was more profitable for them to shut operations and use the land for real estates and commercial complexes. This single event killed the very essence of Bombay and has had far-reaching effects on all aspects of social life. Now all mills have changed into malls, offices, hotels, business parks housing outsourcing firms and IT parks. In the old Bombay, a major transformation took place in its economic life and the new Mumbai city now looks more alien to its own peoplexvii. Mumbai’s population is clearly divided and visible in terms of economic classes. The ruling economic elite represent 5-7 % of the population, the middle class number around 20 % and the lower income groups the remaining around 75%. The rich segment consists of industrialists, members of corporate houses, MNC heads, etc. The middle class includes high ranking executives, government officers, senior employees of private companies, owners of small businesses, traders, artists – a section of society that is mostly mobile, fluid and under pressure. The lower class consists of those working in the unorganized sector, and includes broad categories of workers, both skilled and unskilled, lower level employees of government and private companies, drivers, office assistants, construction workers, waiters, street vendors, etc. The social life of Mumbai’s working class is representative of a mini India. People from every part of the country are constantly coming to Mumbai in search of a livelihood and with dreams of a better life. They make this city vibrant. But this remains the most troublesome place as far as living conditions are concerned. The life of the working class was earlier relatively safe when textile mills were functioning. The city was safer for women to live and work in. After the disappearance of the textile workers from the social and economic scene, Mumbai slowly turned into a centre for the services industry, which brought along its own state of anarchy and chaos. Many riots have occurred in Mumbai after 1990s. Still the city celebrates the traditional Hindu festivals like Dahi Handi, Ganesh Puja, Chhat Puja, Diwali, Navratri on a grand scale without any bias of castes and regions. Similarly, the festivities of other religions – Id for Muslims, Christmas for Christians, Navroz for Parsis - are celebrated in a healthy way and the city demonstrates a great culture of tolerance, coexistence and mutual acceptance. Be it in the slums or in the poorer residential areas of the city, under normal circumstances there is a sense of co-operation. Only by provocation or outside interference, do some of these residential clusters lose their existing calm, succumbing to mutual mistrust and hostility. It is a dynamic economic class in flow, under pressure of routine living conditions and the daily struggle of life.xviii . 3.7 Case: A Story of Modern Delhi This is another case on evolution of a traditional city to Mega city as a result of migration and commercialization increasing livelihood options. The case shows social tensions and infrastructure problems associated with urbanization. This emphasizes the need for developing accommodative and tolerant attitudes and to respect diversity and plurality. Delhi has a very long history and is associated with the site of ancient 15 Indraprastha, a city known during the Mahabharat. Delhi reemerged as a major political, cultural and commercial city along the trade routes between northwest India and the Gangetic plain during the Delhi sultanates. In 1912 the British moved to the Delhi region and built a new capital city, named New Delhi, to the south of the old city during the 1920s. When the British left India in 1947, New Delhi became its national capital and the seat of the Union government. In January 2014, a young college student hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, died of possible internal injuries after being thrashed by shopkeepers at a busy market in South Delhi. His dyed hair seems to have invited some gratuitous remarks, possibly a racist slur, from those present at a shop. The remarks provoked an angry reaction from the youth, and the result was the death of the boy. While racism occasionally manifests itself in the form of hate crimes with such tragic consequences, it is felt most acutely as an everyday phenomenon in the form of snide remarks, smirks, racial slurs or casual references to someone being “chinki”, and sometimes as morally upright judgments about clothing and sexuality. There can be no excuse for saying that cultural ignorance and stereotypical prejudices have always existed in India, citing the familiar example of how all South Indians are “Madrasis” and those living North of the Vindhyas are clubbed “Punjabis.” Yet it is important to recognize one crucial difference in the way that people from the Northeast are treated. While a North Indian may be called a Punjabi or a South Indian a Madrasi, the markers are still within the rubric of Indian nationhood, whereas it is not uncommon for Northeastern Indians to be hailed as Chinese, Japanese, Nepali or Korean. This is not expected in a national capital region that aspires to be a Global City of cosmopolitan character. Delhi with its roots in the history of India has evolved to be one of the largest cities in the country and the world. People migrating from all over India have made Delhi their home. However, Delhi needs to evolve socially to being more tolerant and accommodative, if it seeks to be truly representative of India. Just improvement in physical infrastructure like transport systems, sanitation, electricity and water is not enough. Delhi is the wealthiest region in terms of per capita income and along with National Capital Region (NCR) receives the highest foreign direct investment. It is also the highest job generator. For now it boasts India’s best civic facilities. However, it is also associated with several controversies that range from power shortages to insecurity of citizens’ lives, from the abominable conditions of its slums to the huge number of jobless in the region. Migration tinto the city has led to enormous pressure of is exploding population on its infrastructure. Among other things, Delhi is primarily a centre of agricultural trade with several important Mandies serving as a model location for exchange of goods with northern parts of the country, because of good connectivity and supporting infrastructure. The business decisions in the region are also being taken from a social point of view, keeping the environment, commute to work, work life balance and such other issues in mind. Thus, the industrial policy for Delhi 2010-2024 seeks to make Delhi a hub of clean, high-technology and skilled economic activities by 2021- not just by promoting 16 infrastructure development and de-congestion but also promoting the ‘walk to work’ concept. The city of Delhi has developed a diverse skill base among its cosmopolitan citizens that makes it eminently suitable for knowledge based economic activities, such as IT/ITES, fashion designing, R&D, financial services and others. There is present another category of human resources that provides the support structure at various levels beginning with unskilled, semi skilled and skilled workers. World class centres of higher learning such as Delhi University, JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia, AIIMS, IGNOU, IIT, NIFT, IIFT, IIIT, DTU, IARI, ISI, GGSIPU, etc - have ensured a reasonable pool of manpower to meet demands from all the three sectors of the economy. This region also has the best health infrastructure in the country. However, it is still insufficient keeping in view the growing population of the city. 3.8 Case : Industrialization and Land Acquisition This case aims at examining the industrialization process, its links with land acquisition, livelihood of people in the area and their fears of losing their livelihood due to political uncertainty. Tata Nano, a small car manufactured by the Tata Group, has brought the issue of land acquisition in the limelight. Tata Motors had planned to set up its car assembly plant in Singur, West Bengal. However, due to protests from the local people, the whole plant had to be shifted to Sanad, Gujarat, causing loss of skilled and semi-skilled jobs at Singur. Similarly, there have been a large number of protests by tribals, peasants and local populations in different parts of the country, but often these protests have not had much impact on the concerned state governments. The case of Tata Motors and the Singur land acquisition has brought the issue to the centrestage of India’s political and social environment. On the other hand, the movement to oppose this land acquisition has brought about a change in the state’s political power. The centre has realized the importance of the issue to industrial development and brought out a bill to better regulate land acquisition and change a 100 year old law relating to it. India Sanad Singur Figure 4 Singur to Sanad Tata Nano 17 Singur in Hoogly district of West Bengal is 34 km from the Howrah station. Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, former chief Minister of West Bengal planned to make Singur an industrial hub for the state. Tata Motors wanted to start a low cost small car project and was looking for a place to locate its plant. They were offered six sites by the State Government. Tata Motors selected the site in Singur. The government started acquiring land from the farmers to give it to the company. This created a controversy and generated lot of protests from some farmers and some opposition parties. During the last 60 years, the rapid rise in the population of West Bengal has not been accompanied by significant economic growth. Local politicians gained power by promising agricultural land to landless farmers, but given West Bengal’s population density, the land holdings were small and the yields insufficient to sustain poor families. The site offered to Tata Motors was the most fertile one in the whole of Singur. Almost the entire local population depends on agriculture, with approximately 15,000 making their livelihoods directly from it. The new plant was expected to create around 1000 jobs, many of which were expected to go to skilled outsiders. The local populace felt threatened about their livelihood. In addition, environmental degradation was also a cause for worry. The project faced massive opposition from the displaced farmers and other activists, and soon opposition parties joined the protest. Faced with delays and political uncertainty, the Tata Group decided to leave Singur in September 2008. The company got an offer from the Gujarat Government to locate the plant in Sanad. As a result of this decision of the Tatas, many other automobile and ancillary manufacturers decided to set up their units in Sanad. Sanad has now emerged as a new Auto based industrial cluster in India. This also shows how different regions grow and develop as industrial hubs. 3.9 Case : Society, Science and Technology Development The purpose of this case is to demonstrate the role of Science and Technology (S&T) in the development of a country. The achievements in S&T also benefit from the diversity in a country and bring a sense of pride and belongingness to the nation. This way it also serves as a unifying force. In the year 2013, India launched Mangalyan, followed by the successful GSLV rocket launch and the maiden flight of the indigenously designed and built Tejas Light Commercial Aircraft. These are just a few of the recent technology demonstrations by India. The southern part of the country, especially in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, has some big centres of ‘science and technology’ and institutions of higher learning. There is also a concentration of large and small high tech enterprises in these states. Bengaluru (erstwhile Bangalore) in Karnataka is recognized as the Silicon Valley of India because of the presence of top software companies and technology firms in the city. One of the main objectives of the first Indian mission to Mars is to develop the technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission. The successful launch of the GSLV-DF rocket, powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine will make one of the cutting edge technological breakthroughs — manned mission to space — a distinct possibility. With this, India has become the sixth spacefarer after US, Russia, the European Space Agency, China and Japan to develop a cryogenic engine — a prerequisite for interplanetary probes and manned space missions. 18 Tejas is a lightweight multi-role jet fighter developed by India. It came from the LCA programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's aging MiG-21 fighters. Tejas is also a brave effort to break the monopoly of a select few countries in making fighter jets. It takes India at least part of the way towards the goal of indigenization of military hardware, and has provided the country with valuable experience that can be put to good use for the development of the planned fifth generation fighter aircraft and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft. India has shown its prowess in the Science and Technology domain of Space and Defence technology. There is a spillover effect of these technologies in the use of public services. The spread of the communication revolution in the country is thanks to these S&T developments. India’s emergence in software technology and the spread of internet is spawning the ICT revolution (Information, Communication and Telecommunication) and helping the spread of education and healthcare services also. The use of ICT technologies in the Governance system is improving the delivery of other public services. The widespread use of mobile phones is leading a mobile commerce revolution extending the e-commerce activities in the country. In order to improve the benefits of subsidies designed to provide relief to poor people, and in spreading of banking services to the remote corners of the country, mobile phone services have been a boon for the poor and other people at the bottom of the pyramid. The use of cloud computing technology, mobile payment services and other medical innovations are likely to have a significant impact on healthcare delivery in the country’s remote and rural areas. All these things are a positive result of the country’s investments in Science and Technology over the past few decades. 4. Diversity: Its Vulnerabilities and Importance The cases discussed above exhibit the very rich diversity of India in terms of its geography, people, religion, castes, languages, regions, agricultural produces, livelihoods, crafts, small, medium and large industries. Further, it has been argued that if this diversity is not properly understood and interpreted, it may lead to tensions, losses and conflicts. A summary of cases showing geographical, socioeconomic characteristics, conflicts and solutions is given in Table 1.1. However, it must be emphasized that this diversity of India is not new. It has been there for over last 2000 years. This diversity has not hurt Indian society. The society has been resolving the differences and contradictions to evolve and survive. History of India is full of instances when people from outside entered and adopted this country as their own. They assimilated their culture, ideas and talents with India’s, and made India’s diversity richer. India’s diversity is its strength. It was the British who used this diversity to ‘divide and rule’. This is what our national leaders in the pre independence period observed. Simultaneously, during the last 300 years there have been some new developments in Europe in the form of the industrial revolution, the French revolution, and other developments about the governance system and emergence of the nation state as a concept. Our national leaders used their own understanding of India, its history, culture and other geo-political developments to develop India as a new nation state 19 Table 1 Diversity, Conflicts and Solution- A Summary of Cases Cases Geographic, Social and Economic characteristics Consequences Nature of Conflict Solution 1: Natural Disaster in Uttrakhand & Odisha Himalayan Mountains to Bay of Bengal Ocean; Different food habits, dresses and Music; Different source of livelihood, Similarity in terms of Eco- religious tourism in both the state, different language and and tribal populations Destruction of Property and Human Loss, livelihood, Ecoreligious tourism affected Development and environment Issue Inclusive environmental friendly development 2 : Western GhatEnvironmental Crisis in the making Six states involved, different languages, food and dresses, Presence of tribals in limited pockets, Sources of rivers, water bodies, minerals and forests, eco-tourism, Likely ecological and biodiversity destruction and loss of livelihood Development , Livelihood, and environmental issues Bringing balance between Development and environmental protection. Protect old/proven methods of Preserving biodiversity 3 State with Culturally and religious diversity Plain, sugar belt of UP, warm whether, culturally rich, Religious diversity, rural poverty, Sacred River Network, fertile Land Huge Population Poverty, inequality, Tension among community leading to Loss of life, livelihood, and Properties Localized- religion and caste based Strengthening social environment by reviving intercommunity meets, strengthening Law and order 4: Resource Rich, New State Natural Resources rich area, Tribal dominated in forests, fight for resources, Livelihood and human dignity issue, Killing of people Development conflict Inclusive growth and increased participation of Tribal in development Same Language, three different regions in Andhra Pradesh, Unequal development of regions, Highly concentrated urban development in Hyderabad with not much spill over effect, Resentment on resources sharing, Historical neglect of Teleagana region, Destruction of property, peace and development Territorial conflict Development issue Proper sharing of resources and provision of livelihood, and participation in development, Governance 6: Bombay to Mumbai- Evolution of a City Coastal area, Most urbanized and developed city, with urban slums, Closure of textile plants, shifting of plants, livelihood affected, increased social tension, Emergence of Service sector, Clearly visible class division with Very Rich class, middle class and lower class , Most modern infrastructure developing Social tension, Migration and burden on infrastructure, urban poverty, Development and localized Inclusive growth, provision of infrastructure, Increased tolerance to migrating people 7: A Story of Modern Delhi Capital city, Centre of education and service sector, continuous migration from all of the country, urban slums growing, infrastructure burden, Traffic Jams, Lack of tolerance among the people, Lack of infrastructure, migration and social tension Development and localized problem Infrastructure development, Developing tolerance towards other fellow Indian and 8:Industrialisation and Land Acquisition Eastern and the western part of the country, One Industrial advanced and Other industrial deficit sates, Acquisition of fertile land, hurting livelihood, No alternative loss of livelihood, social tension Development, Livelihood issue Provision of employment and livelihood and fair price and consent for land acquisition 9:Society, Science and Technology Development South India major centre of Space and Defence Research, Existence of Higher institutes of learning, Big Public Sector units, Existence of Private sector in and around south and Western India. Innovation and solution to economic and social problem, Unifying force Development issue Part of solution S&T infrastructure, Innovative culture, Ecosystem Unifying forces 5: AP: Formation and Bifurcation Source: Authors using its diversity, and incorporated thisown as formulation a leading guiding principle of its Constitutional Democratic system. Defining Diversity: Table 1 shows the geographic, social and economic characteristics of all nine cases, the nature of conflict, its consequences and possible solutions. Geographical diversities: All these cases reveal the geographical diversities of India in terms of three broad areas, namely Mountains of North India dominated by the Himalayan range, the Indo-Ganges-Brahmaputra low lands, and peninsular India consisting of Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats. The great mountain chain of the Himalayas in the north is the most important inheritance from Mother Nature, without which the low lands to its south would be little more than a desert. The nation’s geographical diversity has been presented in Table 2 in the form of monsoon climate, physical geography, drainage and river systems, population, migration, settlements and urbanization. 20 The movements of the monsoon in India bring some unity and interconnectivity among different regions and states. The monsoon originates from the south of India and spreads over to the whole of India in a systematic way. It brings rainwater to a wide landscape across the country. This is followed by the conservation and sharing Table 2 Geographic Diversity of India Dimensions Diversity characteristics Monsoon Climates • Northern Hemisphere’s winter- cold and dry winds flow outward from continental interior, over the Himalays and down across India• Heat over South and Southwest Asia produces low presssure cell- cause a shift in wind direction so that warm, moist air from Indian Ocean moves toward the continental interior- signals the onset of the warm and rainy season of the southwest monsoon Physical Geography • Mountains of the North- dominated by the Himalayan range including world’s highest mountains- Sources of major river system • Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra Lowlands- three major river systems building alluvial plains of fertile and easily farmed soils • Peninsular India- Extending southward – familiar shape of peninsular India, made up of Decca Plateau, which is bordered on each sides by narrow coastal plain backed by north-south mountain range consisting of Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats Drainage (Rivers System) • • • • Population • 1.2 billion people, Internal migration from villages to city and one city to another • Densely settled areas coincide with areas of fertile soils and dependable water supplies Migration and the Settlement • Majority of people reside in rural villages • Rapid migration from villages to large cities occurring in search of employment Agriculture Regions • • • • Urbanization • Changes in agriculture leads to migration and expanding urbanization • More than 30 cities with over one million population, Problems of Homelessness, Poverty, congestion, water shortages, air pollution, sewages and sanitation. • Major cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkotta, Banglore, Hyderabad, Chennai Rivers with their tributary systems the main channels of drainage of the land surface Chief Agents of land erosion and the main lines for the transportation of the products of the waste of the land to sea. Two Drainage system are linked with Peninsular India and Himalayan Major Rivers: Ganga, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Narmada, Cauvery Three distinct agricultural region based on production of subsistence crops: rice, wheat, and millet Rice: main crops and foodstuff in the lower Ganges Valley, Eastern and Western Coastes Wheat: Main crop in Northern region and Western half of India’s Ganges Valley Millet and Sorghum: Crop in less fertile area of Central India. Source: Authors own formulation of water by cultivators. The whole process is an important factor in the life of India. One of the main responsibilities of all governments in India has been to provide irrigation facilities to its farmers. The failure of the monsoon creates a lot of difficulties for the whole country. It is well recognized that ‘in the past, whenever the rains have been inadequate, there has been famine; whenever a local government has lost grip and become ineffective, irrigation has been neglected, dams have broken, canals have been choked with mud and weed, and great hardship has resulted. Thus villagers have learnt to co-operate independently of their rules, by forming their own village government, under a committee of locally respected leaders - the panchayat to care for matters of common concern such as irrigation and settle disputes as far as possible outside the royal courts’xix. South of the Himalayas lie the great plains of the subcontinent, the centres from which civilization expanded in ancient times. These areas are enriched by the existence of Sindhu and Ganga Rivers. South of the Ganga are the Vindhya Mountains and River Narmada, dividing the north from the plateau region of Maharashtra, generally called the Deccan. The Deccan plateau becomes steadily less rugged and more fertile as one proceeds south and south east. India is blessed with a wide network of rivers that works as a drainage system and provides fertile land and water for living. Areas around this river system are densely populated. The impact of nature on the Indian characteristics and attitude has been captured by Bashamxx. He says that ‘in fact the climate of the subcontinent tends to extremes, and possibly this too has influenced the Indian character and attitude to life, because, 21 though one of the greatest of India’s teachers counseled the Middle Way, succeeding generations have not always taken this course, and the extremes of rigorous asceticism and abandoned luxury have often gone hand in hand’. A detailed discussion on the geographical diversity has been given in Chapter 2 of this book. Economic Diversity: People have been the strength of India. India now has a population of over 1.2 billion. A majority of Indians lives in its villages. However, over time the urbanization process has been accelerated. In comparison to other countries, India is less urbanized. The migration of people from villages to city in search of better living and livelihoods has given a big boost to the urbanization process. Cities in India have grown into megacities and other cosmopolitan cities as found in Case Numbers 6 and 7 on Mumbai and Delhi. There is good balance and complementarity between cities and rural areas. Rural areas are primarily in agricultural and allied activities. Whereas cities are either dominated by some specialized economic activities or diversified economic activities depending on the size of the city. There are large number industrial hubs and clusters that have grown Figure 5 Workforce in Different Economic Activities and their Productivity level Source: Mckinsey Global Institutes, From Poverty to empowerment: India’s imperative for jobs, growth, and effective basic services, February, 2014 over time from crafts and artisan based agglomeration to diversified Industrial centers. Majority of these industries use the raw materials, natural resources, minerals provided by its rich geographical diversity. Large population across the country is providing workforce for these industries. The major economic activities and their contribution to the economy are presented in figure 5. There are wide varieties of economic organizations engaged in these activities. There are tiny, small, medium size and very large enterprises specializing in different activities. There are big enterprises owned and managed by the state or central government especially in financial sector, capital goods infrastructure and defense activities. There are large numbers of other enterprises that are of different sizes and specialized in wide variety of economic activities. Some of the enterprises are owned and managed by foreign companies also. 22 The people employed in the agriculture and allied activities are very large because of historical reasons. However, their overall productivity level is low. The productivity level in other industrial and services sector is high. This all linked with poverty level also. India in comparison to other countries has larger number of poor. The number of poor has reduced overtime, but still it is very large in comparison to others. Figure 6 to 7 have presented the poverty in India, rural and urban poverty, and comparison of Figure: 6Proportion of India’s Population below the official poverty Line Number of Poor (in Millions) 1400 1230 1190 1200 India's Population below the OfSicial Poverty Line 1090 1000 890 800 600 407 404 354 400 270 Total Population in India 200 0 1994‐95 2004‐05 2009‐10 2011‐12 Year Source: Mckinsy Global Institute Report, February 2014 Figure: 7 Population below the official poverty line India Poverty Headcount Ratio at OfKicial Poverty Line (% of population) 45.3 37.8 Percentage of Poor 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 29.8 21.9 1994‐95 2004‐05 2009‐10 2011‐12 Year Source: Mckinsy Report 2014 & World Bank data base 23 poverty across states and other developing countries( see figure 8) .Though the share of agriculture in the aggregate economy has declined rapidly during the planned development of the country; it assumes a pivotal role in the rural economy. Nevertheless in rural India the growth rate of productivity/employment in the nonagricultural sector has been far short of the increase in the rural workforce. The labour Figure 8 State wise Urban and Rural Poverty Ratio (%) showing percentage of people below Poverty line in 2011‐12 70 Percentage 60 Poverty Ratio in Urban Area (%) 50 40 30 Poverty Ratio in Rural Area (%) 20 10 0 States of india Source: Press Report on Poverty Estimates by Planning Commission, 2013, India productivity is not only low, this has also decreased over time. In the figure 1.13, we can see that it is one-third to half the levels in unregistered manufacturing and construction, which are themselves among the lowest-performing sectors in the economy. India created just 65 million non-farm jobs in the past decade. This was just enough to keep pace with growth in India’s labour force, but not enough to move workers out ofagriculture. The sectors depicting highest productivity sectors are banking and insurance followed by real estate, registered manufacturing and mining. The labour productivity drips in the transport storage & communications sector and hotel industry is not far behind. The difference between the high productivity of labour in banking, insurance and real estate as compared to lower labour productivity in the manufacturing sector can be explained by various reasons like: Low capital intensity in the firms, extraordinarily small scale of manufacturing units, low firm turnover, poor market integration and slow re-allocation of resources from low productive sectors to potentially high productive sectors. All these factors lead to less productivity in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, in the agriculture sector, low productivity (leading to low income) is due to several reasons like, a large proportion of farmers are engaged in subsistence agricultural practice and hence they cannot afford to undertake the risks associated with higher productivity; lack of availability of modern inputs and technologies; agricultural education & extension services; and research and development in agriculture. Nevertheless, a large chunk is still employed 24 in the agricultural sector hence bringing stagnancy to overall productivity and bringing down the average productivity of the economy. On the basis of income, people in India are divided into Rich, Middle class and lower income category (see in Table 3 class wise diversity). There is dynamism in this class division where people keep on moving from one category to another. There are wide regional inequalities among different states in the country. The regions not so rich in natural resources are relatively better off in comparison to those blessed with natural resources. This difference is linked with the governance system in the states. However, all these make the economic diversity of India also very rich and worth understanding. All these diversity in geographical and regional economies also leads to some differences and tension as observed in section 2 and summarized in table 1.1. Chapter 5 has given a detailed description of poverty, food security and sustainability issues and possible solutions. Social Diversity :The social diversity in India characterized with people speaking several diverse languages, following several major religions, enjoying varieties of foods habits and dresses, enjoying different forms of dances and music make India’s cultural heritage unique and rich (see Table 3).People are grouped on caste basis. This is unique in the world over. The origin of caste system was linked with division of labour. However, it has become very rigid over time and created many social tension Table 3 Social Diversity in India Social Diversity Characteristics Caste System- Varna and Jati Varna- Four-fold social hierarchy of Hindu- the Brahmins(Priests), Kshatriyas(Warriors), Vaishyas(Merchants), and Sudras(Farmers and craftsmen) Jati (Sub Castes)- Hundreds of local endogamous groups that exist at each Varna level Class (Million population) Global Strivers Seekers Aspires Deprived Annual Income (Us$22000) (Us$11000-22000) (Us$4000-11000) (Us$2000-4000) (Us$<2000) 2005 1 2 11 91 101 2015* 3 6 55 106 74 *Estimated Strivers and Seekers are part of Middle class Ethnicity- Tribal • Tribal population in India is around 8.14 % of the total population, • 258 to 540 Scheduled Tribes Communities recorded in India • 55% in central India, 28% in West India, 12% in North East and 4 % in South India Religions( percentage of population in 2001) Hindu(81.4%), Muslim(12.4%), Buddhist(0.8) , Jains(0.4%), Sikhs(1.9%), Christian(2.3%) Linguistic Linguistics Diversity matches Religious Diversity Indo-European Family- Hindi, Bengali Dravidian Family: south Indian language Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu Tibeto-Burman Major languages are associated with an Indian state Gender-based Proportion of Male Female In 1991 Number of female per 1000 male was 927 In 2001 number of female per 1000 male was 933 Source: Authors own formulation and conflicts. This caste system has been linked with privileges and social rights that built a sense of discrimination. There are large numbers of indigenous and tribal communities also. These communities maintain their own cultural, customs and traditions along with craft and artisan based livelihoods. There are large scale 25 religious and linguistic diversity in India. All these affect their livelihood, food habits and traditions and festivals etc. Mr. A. Chakravarti has found complex interrelationships between the food habit pattern and various cultural, religious and physical environments: “Most food items, including varieties of food grains, vegetables, meat,fish and dairy products have been in use in India for centuries’, dating back to 2000 B.C. With the passage oftime and subsequent influences from the many cultures, races and religions, which came to India, food habits became more refined, and certain regions developed their own food habits. By the early period between 74 A.D. and 300 A.D. inhabitants of northwest India were known for their special liking for butter, milk, curd, wheat, and meat , and the people of east India were recognized for their deep preferences for fish, rice and pungent spices. These food habits are still prevalent in these areas.” The class-based classification of society has been done by different criterions. Majority of class categorization is on the basis of income are: rich, middle class and lower class. In the table 3 a class division based on the income criterion used by NCEAR and MCkinsey has been used. There are five categories, namely Global, Strivers, Seekers , Aspirers and Deprived. These categories have been characterized with their socio-economic characteristics. It is clearly visible that the number of people keeps on moving from one category to another. People falling in the category of Strivers and Seekers are part of Middle class. The class wise division has social and economic implications. This leads to tension among these groups also. Chapter 3 has outlined in details the social diversity and its linkages with Indian society’s functioning. These cultural differences have often been translated into political conflicts. Since independence, India has been continuously witnessing clashes based on ethnic, religious and linguistic differences. 5 Unity in Diversity People in India having different faiths, religions, castes, languages, food habits, dresses have been living more or less peacefully through ages.Some sorts of tensions, disputes, and conflicts have always existed because of some inherent contradictions and differences in such diversity. The underlying spirit of respect for plurality, synthesis and co-existence transcended over the factors of ethnicity, language, religions and sub-regional identities. The assimilating, resolving, and managing these contradictions and differences has been the most striking feature of the Indian society. Many people and communities have shaped India. It has also shaped and helped others to grow and survive. As per the economic statistics, it was richest country in the world till industrial revolution and entry of the British in India. 1.5.1 Cultural and Civilizational Dimension The British who entered India for the purpose of trade observed the diversity of Indian people. In order to prolong their presence and gain economically, they exploited this diversity and used the policy of ‘divide and rule’. It is believed that their colonial thinking and experience of ruling India has brought up integration of the country.Indian national thinkers and leaders acknowledged both the diversity of India and the ‘conciousness’ of India as a single geopolitical entity,characterized by an organic unity xxi . They rejected the colonial thesis that British rule has brought unification in India’s diversity under the integrating system of the imperial crown. 26 The nationalist counter-argument was that despite the diversity, there was an essential unity; and that this unity was not accidental, but reflective of the unifying tendency in Indian culture and civilization as the ultimate foundation of nationalism. Ashutosh Varshney has shown that there were two main groups of geopolitical imagination about national unity and national identity: the ‘secular nationalist’—combining territory and culture—and the ‘Hindu nationalist’—combining religion and territory. The defining principle of national identity for both, however, is territoryxxii. In the secular imagination, the territorial notion of India, emphasized for 2500 years since the times of the Mahabharat, is of a land stretching from the Himalayas in the north to Kanya Kumari in the south, from the Arabian Sea in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east. India is not only the birth place of several relgions(Hinduism, Buddism, Jainism, and Sikhism), but during the course of its history, it has also received , accommodated and absorbed ‘outsiders’(Parsees, Jews, and ‘Syrian’ Christians, followers of St Thomas, arriving as early as the second century, thus reached India much before they reached Europe). What make Indian civilization unique, therefore, are the virtues of syncretism, pluralism and tolerance reflected in the cultural expression: Sarva Dharma Sambhava(equal respect for all relgions). In contrast to the secular nationalist imagination, another notion is of Hindu nationalist who believes that India as originally the land of Hindus, and it the only land which the Hindus can call their ownxxiii . What unites the Indian landscape is the sacred geography of Hindu holy places and holy rivers. It is important to note that the boundaries of India as suggested by the secular-nationalist are coterminous with the ‘sacred geography’ of the Hindu nationalist whose hallowed pilgrimage sites mark off essentially the same boundaries of the country, although the Hindu nationalist would go much further into mythic history of more than two and a half millennia to date the origin of these sites. 1.5.2 Constitutional Democracy It is true that there is cultural and civilization unification that emphasizes the virtue of syncretism, pluralism and tolerance. It is this idea of pluralism that has survived a traumatic partition in 1947, which created India and Pakistan. It was realized that new India should have its own law and constitutions which will accommodate peoples having multiple identities within an Indian union, with statutory guarantees for safeguarding their rights as individuals and as groups. The framers of the Constitution aimed at constructing an encompassing frame, allowing adequate expression for diversity while at the same time maintaining the unity essential for national cohesion. The role of constitution reflects the value of people evolved overtime. People who develop constitution understand the society, its problems and develop rule based ‘governance’. It helps in making political system into organized system of democratic cooperation and problem solving. It makes it easier to regulate and limit conflict and secure civilized co-existence. Democratic constitution are assumed to balance unity and diversity. They are supposed to prevent arbitrary discretion and create predictability by regulating the power following from winning (and loosing) election and governmental position and by regulating the legitimate use of individual and group resourcesxxiv 27 India’s constitution recognizes the unique situation of various states. The cultural policy of the state recognizes and supports more than one cultural identity. The coexistence of Indian identity with other regional and religious identities is taken for granted. Political parties that raise regional and ethnic issues are not thrown out; they are brought within the pale of legitimate democratic negotiation of power. Quietly, but surely, India has created a new model of how to deal democratically with deep diversities. This model is best described as that of a state-nation. State-nation accepts that political boundaries do not and need not coincide with cultural boundaries and that a political community can be imagined across deep diversities. 1.5.3 Social Processes and Unifying Symbols There are several common symbols such as Ashoka Chakra, National Flag, National Song which bring unity in the country. There are several social mechanism of reconciliation to resolve dispute and conflicts in villages, cities and state level. Panchyati raj is also very effective. This includes the role of elders in resolving the problems. In an interesting study, Ashutosh Varshney examined why violence between Hindus and Muslims occurs in some situations but not in others xxv .He concludes that cities like Calicut, Lucknow and Surat, which are strong in civic engagement, are better able to control outbreaks of communal violence, compared to Aligarh, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, which are weak in civic engagement. He has explained he “networks of civic engagement” as – either associational (integrated business organizations, trade unions, political parties and professional associations) or everyday interactions – that bring the two communities together. The study suggests that a vigorous and communally integrated associational life can serve as an agent of peace by restraining those, including politicians, who would polarize Hindus and Muslims along communal lines. It is the burden of the state to ensure that community identities and interests are protected and that communities do not conflict with each other. However, given the nature of democratic politics, the state and its machinery cannot or does not act as an impartial referee – either it tries, in vain, to please all communities, or sides with one community that serves its political interest the bestxxvi . The sources of unity in India and symbols have been discussed in details in chapter 6. 6. India in the 21st Century: Concluding Obervations India is a nation of 1.25 billion people and has been a leading civilisation in the past. A long spell of colonial rule sparked the desire for independence and awakened its inner spirit of a leader. New institutions and governance systems have been created over time. India has had several achievements in terms of social and economic activities during the last 65 years, and has made it to the 3rd largest economic power of the world, after USA and China, on purchasing power parity basis. However, there are several problems which continue to challenge the country, as discussed in previous sections. A large number of problems exist because of poor appreciation of its wide socio-economic and geographical diversity, and because of the discrimination that arises out of misinterpretation of this diversity. It therefore becomes impertive for the country to achieve its lost glory by sustaining and enhancing what has already been achieved, and further improving its existing performance in those areas where it lags, so as to bring prosperity to all the people of the country. Everyone - the state, the community, and all individuals - is required to contribute towards this national imperative. In order to achieve this objective, all Indians should focus on the key aspects given in Figure 1. 28 6.1Obective of Social and Economic Prosperity First, it is important to clarify the objectives to achieve. The national objective should be social and economic prosperity for all. This means not only should every one have reasonable incomes and better infrastructure, but everyone should also be healthy, well-nourished, literate and be able to live without fear in a world of equitable opportunities. Every Indian should be able to realise his or her true potential without fear or obstacles. The aim of the government should be to overcome the deficiencies in the form of lack of capabilities, knowledge, financial resources and to provide its people an opportunity to alleviate poverty and deprivation, without fear. 6.2 Building Innovation Momentum In order to achieve social and economic prosperity in terms of helping people achieve their true potential, innovative thinking on the part of policy makers and other institutions should be encouraged. There is lot of knowledge available within the country. The only thing is to collect that knowledge and information, analyse and use it with honesty and a genuine sense of commitment towards overcoming the obstacles on the path to inclusive progress. There is need to build innovation momentum all around in the country. Every one has his/her own strengths and capabilities. The youth needs to be motivated in this direction to think, analyse and create innovative solutions. Modern technology can be used to provide support to people in terms of education and other financial support to achieve their objectives. A sense of collaboration and alliances need to be nurtured. This also requires a change in our education system, which has had an overemphasis on examinations based on text book learning. Students should be instead encouraged to think creatively to seek solutions to problems that they see and feel in our society. 6.3 India’s Diversity as a Strength India has a strength in terms of diversity of resources, people and institutions. There is a need to understand the use of this strength of diversity. This diversity used with a positive sense can provide scope for different perspectives and needs. This can lead to innovative and creative thinking. There is thus a strong need to use diversity as a pillar of strength that supports creative and innovative thinking on the part of people, policy makers and institutions. Here, again the role of education in understanding and appreciating diversity is important. 6.4 Challenges as a Stimulus to Innovative Thinking Challenges often work as a stimulus to innovative thinking. In India’s space programe, when the USA banned India from acquiring Cryogenic Technology for launching space satellites, Indian Scientists took up the challenge and developed this sensitive technology, and have used it in some recently launched satellites. The country is beset with a wide range of challenges and problems. Some challenges are new and others are old, persistent ones. There is need to use India’s diversity to start thinking innovatively and creatively to meet these challenges. C.K. Prahlad developed the concept of ‘the Bottom of the Pyramid’ for business people to target poor people, who are in large numbers, as a market, and develop affordable and relevant products for them. Developing a suitable product for poor people can be a source of considerable revenue for a company, and at the same time serve the purpose of poor people. There are a number of entrepreneurs who have developed innovative solutions 29 for poor people and are reaping the rewards of economic and social profits. Such young and energetic entrepreneurs are also called sociopreneurs. 6.5 Capable and Visionary Governance system In order to achieve the objective of social and economic prosperity for all, developing innovative behaviour using diversity as a strength, taking challenges and problems as a stimulus, requires a capable and visionary governance system. The governance system should be capable enough to drive the systems and institutions to achieve the desired goals. Shyam Saran has outlined three steps for governance xxvii . First, comprehensive and detailed data and information should be collected, carefully analysed and developmental targets be set. Second, policy decisions should be taken and implemented in such a manner that there is no scope for corruption. Third, high standards should be set to pursue excellence in every field and every level. 6.6 Democratic Systems and Federal Structure In order to allow our institutions and governance systems to work for the benefit of the people, democratic systems and federal systems should be strengthened. In India, we need a deepening of democracy at the grass root or local levels by strenghtening our Panchyati system. A federal structure in a multi state country with a wide diversity of resources, languages, religions and customs is therefore desirable. More resources should be channeled to the states for spending at the grass root levels. 6.7 Reinventing and Strengthening Institutions The strengh of our democracy is in its strong institutions. There exist several institutions in India. However, some of these institutions need to be reinvented in view of the new globalised and liberalised environment. Some of the existing institutions need to be strengthened with the right type of people and proper rules and regulations.There is a need to strengthen institutions and their mechanisms that can control the consequences of competitive politics on the social harmony of the society as a whole. There is also a need to develop institutions, which develop a collaborative spirit and involve citizen groups in meeting social, political, economic, technological and environmental challenges. 6.8 Invoking Cultural Values The cultural values of plurality, tolerance and respect for all need to be invoked to bring harmony and peace in the society so that the above mentioned objectives are achieved. There is also a need to develop values of colloboration, alliances and a spirit of helping each other. 6.9 Participatory and Visionary Leaders In order to spread cultural values appropriate for a country like India with diversity of language, religion and resources, leaders with inclusive, unbiased and participatry nature need to be nurtured at all levels in society. The right leader should understand the needs and aspirations of people working with him/her. Indians have an innate, intellectual capability of collaboration, but we need leaders who have the ability to create a shared vision, a common intent and a good, supportive environment of tolerance. A leader should possess the qualities of conviction, assimilation and 30 objectivity. He/she should have a passion for continuous learning, an engagement friendly approach and an inclusive operating model to achieve his/her objectives. Increasing diversity in India is inevitable. With the passage of time, with increased and continuous innovations in science and technology , and with growing global awakening forms of diversities in India have been subjected to a series of modifications. The end product is a society that has accepted diversity as a way of life. Though it experiences tensions related to the same, it adheres to a contact theory explanation of diversity as being a source of strength and not a sign of weakness. The time is fast approaching when this diversity will be used to develop innovative society. This leads us to believe that in a modern world, birds of the same feather do not flock together rather they have learnt to coexist together. Notes: i Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The collapse and Revival of American Community, Touchstone Books by Simon & Schuster, 2001 ii Scott E. Page, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, Princeton University Press; New edition,2008 iii Priyanka Talwar and John Doyle, Domestic Conflicts in India: The changing Dynamics of Causes and Responses, Centre for International Studies, Dublin city University, Ireland, Working paper, No.5, 2012. iv Although, Identity is an integral part of the discipline of ‘Psychology’, it has sociological connotation as it gets expressed, mediated, and contested in collectivist or group terms. It is in this collectivist sense that the concept of “identity” gets linked to the concepts of “community” and “conflict”. v One view is that each individual ‘s identity is an amalgam including gender, age, class, caste, race, national, region, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, an countless other facets that cannot be slotted into a particular category. However, it has been found that experts and even state have also grouped people into different category for state policy. vi Castells, Manuel, the Power of Identity (Vol II of the Information age: Economy, society, and culture), Blackwell, Massachutus and oxford, 1997 vii this section is based on N.Jayram, Identity, community and Conflict, the economic and political weekly, Vol XLVII, No.8, September 22, 2012 viii Menon, S. and K. S. Bawa. 1997. Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remotesensing, and a landscape ecology approach to biodiversity conservation in the Western Ghats. Current Science 73(2): 134-145; It is, however, notable that some of the age-old conservation practices, such as maintenance of sacred groves, sacred ponds and river stretches, as well as protection of sacred species such as many primates and peafowl, continue to effectively protect many elements of biodiversity to this day. ix Kasturirangan Report, 2013 x Kasturirangan report draws flak from all quarters, The Hindu, December 15, 2013 xi SANDRP, Kasturirangan Report – a blueprint for political polarization in Kerala? Posted on November 22, 2013 http://sandrp.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/kasturirangan-report-a-blueprint-forpolitical-polarization-in-kerala/ xii FARAH NAQVI ,The chilling familiarity of Muzaffarnagar, THEHINDU, September 18, 2013 Subhashini Ali, Nothing inevitable about these events, The Hindu, 6th January 2014 xiv The Hindu, containing the Maoist threat, Editorial, January 11, 2014 xv Aditi Phadnis, A brief history of telangan, Business Stanadard, 31st July 2013 xvi Samer Halarnkar, Mint ,1 august 2013 xiii 31 xvii D.K. Ojha, The working class in Mumbai:A perspective, in Jose George, Manoj Kumar, Dharmendra Ojha, working class Movement in India in the wake of globalization, Manohar, New Delhi, 2012 xviii Op.cit. xix A.L.Basham, A cultural History of India, Oxford University Press, 1975 xx op.cit. xxi Parker, Geopolitics:Past, Present and Future, London: Pinter, 1998 xxii Ashutosh Varshney, Contesting meanings: India’s National identity, Hindu nationalism, and the politics of anxiety, Daedalus,122, 3:227-61, 1993 xxiii Pattanaik, D.D., Hindu Nationaism in India: Conceptual Foundation, New Delhi:Deep & Deep Publications, 1998, 43-50 xxiv Olsen, Johan P., Coping with conflict at constitutional moments, Industrial and corporate change,vol.12, no. 4, pp. 815-842, 2003 xxv Ashutosh Varshney, EthicConflictandCivilSociety:India and Beyond”, World Politics, 53 (3), pp 362-98(2001); Ashutosh Varshney: Ethnic Conflicts and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India (New Delhi: Oxford University Press), 2002 xxvi N Jayaram, Identity, community and Conflict- a survey of Issues and Analysis, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XLVII No 38, September 22, 2012 xxvii Shyam Saran, A three-point agenda, Business Standard, 12th March 2014 32