Volume-XII, Special Issue, April 2026 |
Managing Ethnic Conflicts in India: Linguistic Accommodation through State Reorganization Ajit Mjahi, Research Scholar, Rabindra Bharati University, West Bengal, India |
Received: 05.04.2026 | Accepted: 07.04.2026 | Published Online: 10.04.2026 | Page No: 346-353 | ||||
DOI: 10.29032/ijhsss.vol.12.issue.specialW.302 | |||||||
ABSTRACT | ||
In liberal democratic societies characterized by a multicultural and multilingual structure, preserving diverse cultures is a matter of paramount importance. India—a vast, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-religious nation—is bound together by an unbreakable bond formed by a combination of a robust constitutional foundation, profound cultural synthesis, democratic processes, and geographical unity. India is often described as a 'salad bowl'—where each ingredient retains its distinct identity—rather than a 'melting pot' (where everything dissolves into a single entity); and it preserves its unity by enabling diverse cultures to coexist side-by-side without losing their unique distinctiveness. But the fundamental question arises here is—despite such immense diversity and differences, how was India able to maintain its territorial integrity as a nation-state? Perhaps, the key to this fundamental question—and to this success—lies in the method through which the federal units were constituted via a multi-stage process of state reorganization; a method that consistently sought to organize India’s territory into units of ‘appropriate size.’ Against the backdrop of the ‘state reorganization process', this research paper examines the various strategic measures adopted at its different stages, while upholding territorial integrity. It also endeavors to explore the nature of the Indian state's institutional response to ethnic and linguistic demands; in this context, particular emphasis has been put on the 'States Reorganization Commission' and what has been its impact on Indian democracy. | ||
Keywords: Language, States Reorganization, democracy, ethnicity, federalism, constitution |