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The Indo Pakistan division and the formation of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh caused the social situation in Punjab change. Punjab State came into existence in 1966 on linguistic basis. Akali Dal propagated an idea called ‘Punjabi Suba’ and Indira Gandhi approved this demand. Thus Punjab was divided into Punjab and Haryana .

Haryana was for the Hindi speaking people and Punjab for the Punjabi speakers. Even in the 1967 election, Akali Dal came to power in Punjab by making agreements first with Jan Sangh and later with Janta Party. Because of certain reasons, the situation became bad for Akali Dal and before completing the term, the government was dismissed by the Centre. The Akali Dai could not get the support of the Hindus.

The Sikh Community itself was divided on tribal and caste lines. The Dalits supported the Congress. In 1970, a group of Akalis demanded political autonomy. They also said that there should be rethinking about Centre State relationship. In 1973, in Anandapur, they passed a resolution supporting this idea. They demanded a Sikh Kaum (Sikh Nation) through this resolution.

This resolution made only the Sikh community happy. In 1980 the Akali Government was dismissed. The Akali Dal leaders tried to prevent the sharing of river water. Some religious leaders also demanded freedom for the Sikh nation. The worst was the demand for an independent Khalistan.

India had to face many problems after independence such as partition, displacement, integration of princely states and reorganisation of states like Jammu and Kashmir. Many nations predicted that India would not survive for as an integrated nation.

There were problems which cropped up with time like:

i. The political problem related to Jammu and Kashmir emerged with Pakistan, which also affected the people of the Kashmir valley.

ii. Regions in the North East were not accepting to be parts of India. Nagaland and Mizoram began movements demanding to be separate nations.

iii. Dravid movement began in South India demanding to be a separate nation as well.

iv. The movements in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat demanding to divide states on the basis of language.

v. There were also protests in South India for not accepting Hindi as a National language whereas on the other side, there were protests in support of Hindi in North India.

vi. During the 1960s, there were movements to demand a separate state on the basis of Punjabi language and due to this, in 1966, two states were formed – Punjab and Haryana.

vii. Later new states were formed, such as – Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.

The Assam Accord was signed between Rajiv Gandhi and AASU leaders over the issue of ‘outsiders’ in 1985. The outcome was to identify and deport the foreigners who migrated to Assam after the Bangladesh war. In 1985, the Asom Gana Parishad came in to power with the promise of building ‘Golden Assam’ and resolving the foreign national problems.

The integration of Sikkim arid the liberation of Goa show that even people outside India wanted to become part of India. India is the largest democracy in the world, geographically and population wise.

Sikkim Integration:

At the time of our independence Sikkim was a protectorate of India. Its defence and foreign relations were managed by India. The Chogyal rule made Sikkim an autocracy. But the desire of the people for democracy made ruling difficult for Chogyal The first election in Sikkim was in 1974. The Sikkim 1 Congress won. The Assembly passed a resolution making Sikkim an Associated State and later In 1975 opted for integration with India. It was done as per the popular will. Thus Sikkim became India’s 22nd State.

Goa’s Liberation:

The liberation of Goa from the Portuguese is another example of the success of Indian democracy. Although the British ended their rule in India in 1947, Portugal refused to quit from Goa, Daman and Diu. They were keeping the people . under their rule by suppressing them, refusing their rights and by forceful conversions.

The Indian Government patiently waited for the voluntary withdrawal of the Portuguese. The Goan people were clamouring for their freedom from Portugal. The Socialist Satyagrahis of Maharashtra also supported ’ them. Finally in 1961, the Indian Government sent an army and made the Portugal ruled areas part of Indian territory. The military operation lasted only a couple of days. In 1987 Goa became a State.

Dravid Munetra Kazhagam entered in Indian politics with three demands in 1953- 54 :

(i) The addition of Tamil Cultural History in school curriculum.

(ii) To restore original name of Kallkudi railway station.

(iii) To eliminate craft education scheme.

“Vadakku Vaazhkirathu, Thekku Thaeikirathu” was a slogan of the Dravidian Movement. This is first regional movement in India. Although the Movement wanted to establish a Dravidian Nation, it never resorted to any armed struggle. Using the democratic methods of propaganda and election, the Dravida Munnetta Kazhakam became a strong power.

Dravida Movement:

Dravida Kazhakam (DK) was formed by E.V. Ramaswami, known as ‘Periyor’. This Organization was against Brahmin supremacy and the political and economic supremacy of the Northern States. It was split later and then DMK (Dravida Munneta Kazhakam) came into existence. In 1953 and 54 it made 3 big agitations and they made DMK an influential party in Indian politics.

The first agitation was to change the name of a railway station. Kallakkudi railway station’s name was changed to Dalrpiapuram. The DMK wanted to retain the name Kallakkudi.

The second agitation was to make Tamil Cultural history as an important part of the school curriculum.

• The 3rd ope was against the handicraft training in the schools. The DMKsaid that it had a Brahmin touch. The DMK made huge agitations against the plan of making Hindi as the sole official language. The 1965 anti Hindi protests made DMK very famous. Now there are many Dravidian parties DMK, AIDMK, Marumalarchi DMK, Pattali Makkal Kakshi, Desiya Moorpoku Dravida Kazhakam arrd so on. Some of them are known even outside Tamil Nadu.

He was born in 1932. He became the President of the Akali Dal in 1980 and was a political and religious leader. He signed the Punjab Accord agreement with the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in which he negotiated certain terms in favour of Punjab. He was against the separatist militant movements and was later killed by one of its members.

According to the agreement, a separate commission was to be appointed to resolve border dispute between Punjab and Haryana; Chandigarh would be transferred to Punjab. A tribunal was to be set up to settle the conflict sharing Ravi-Beas river water among Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. And the last was to withdraw the armed forced special power Act in Punjab.

We were able to learn the following things: 

• Regional demands are part of the democratic system.
• In democracy, suppression is not the solution. We have to look for solutions to problems.
• It is not enough to have democratic structure within the State. There should be such a system in interstate matters. It is not right to demand complete self rule or autonomy. The nation is made up of various States. Therefore the future fate of the nation is also the responsibility of each part.
• If regional representation is not equal in economic development, it will lead to regional discrimination. When some States remain backward and others go ahead fast, it will spoil the equilibrium. It is schemes with a broad vision that will bring unity in diversity in the Indian context.

The region of North-East India excluding Sikkim is known as ‘Seven Sisters’.

Regionalism creates obstacles on the path of finding unity in diversity.

The reasons are given below

• In the society it brings about divisive tendencies. It badly affects the principle of unity in diversity
• Since people have regional loyalties, they can’t full fill their national obligations and responsibilities 
• Regionalism often degenerates into communalism and linguistic jingoism and this destroy unity.

North Eastern Region

Master Thara Singh is a famous Sikh political leader. He was one of the early leaders of Siromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. He was also a leader of Akali Movement.

Regionalism is the love and loyalty people feel to the small region in which they live. It becomes bad when their love for their region becomes greater than the love for their country.

Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya.

a. iii 

b. iv. 

c. ii 

d. i

The accord between Rajiv Gandhi and Laldenga of 1986 granted full-fledged statehood with special powers to Mizoram. Even MNF (Mizo National Front) agreed to give up secessionists struggle.

Because: 

1. Regional aspirations are part of democratic politics. 

2. Expression of regional issues is not an abnormal phenomenon. 

3. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland have regional aspirations in the United Kingdom. 

4. Regional movements are responded through democratic negotiations rather than suppression. 

5. Its examples are in the eighties, militancy erupted in Punjab, problems persisted in the North- East, students agitated in Assam and Kashmir Valley was on the boil. 

6. The government of India settled down some negotiations with these regional aspirations to reduce tensions in many regions. 

7. Mizoram is an example of the political settlement to resolve the problem of separation effectively.

(a)-(iii) 

(b)-(iv) 

(c)-(ii) 

(d)-(i)

Some people feel that Article 370 should be revoked because they believe that the special status of the state conferred by this Article does not allow full integration of the state with India.

Article 370 signifies the special status of Kashmir: 

1. To give greater autonomy to J & K. 

2. To specify that state has its own constitution. 

3. All provisions of the constitution are not applicable to the state.

Article 370 gives Jammu Kashmir provisions to have a status of a special State.

Article 370 signifies the special status of Kashmir: 

1. To give greater autonomy to J & K. 

2. To specify that the state has its own constitution. 

3. All provisions of the constitution are not applicable to the state.

What was the slogan of the Dravid Movement?

The Dravidian movement led to the formation of Dravida Kazhagam(DK) under the leadership of Tamil social reformer, E.V. Ramaswami ‘Periyar’. The organization strongly opposed the Brahmins’ dominance and affirmed regional pride against the political, economic and cultural domination of the north. Initially, the Dravidian Movement spoke in terms of the whole of South India.

The DK split and the political legacy of the movement was transferred to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK) due to the following:

i. It demanded the restoration of the original name of Kallakudi railway station, which had been renamed Dalmiapuram after an industrial house from the North.

ii. Secondly, agitation was for giving Tamil cultural history greater importance in the school curriculum.

iii. The third agitation was against the craft education scheme of the state government, which it alleged, was linked to the Brahmanical social outlook.