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        One has only to look at the newspapers to know the extent of the inroads made by the forces of 'Communalism and Sectionalism' in different parts of India in recent years. Unless these existing disturbing trends are effectively countered, the very existence of India as a united Nation will be in jeopardy. I am of the view that more serious than the problems of poverty and corruption today, are the problems posed by the rising tide of the forces of communalism and sectionalism in India.

        What is 'Sectionalism'? I am defining the term Sectionalism in a very broad and comprehensive way to include the problems of casteism, regionalism, communalism, linguistic chauvinism and other fissiparous and disintegrating tendencies which constitute a permanent threat to the territorial integrity of India. North versus South, Hindi versus Regional languages, Muslims versus Hindus, Christians versus Hindus, Adi-Dravidas versus Caste Hindus, Muslims versus Christians, Sunny Muslims versus Shia Muslims—— all these intractable problems come within the ambit of 'Sectionalism'.

        In order to understand Sectionalism in India in all its manifestations today, it is necessary to have a historical backdrop. The sub-continent of India has been likened to a deep net into which various races and peoples of Asia have drifted and been caught. The Indian population is composed of all sorts of different elements of great diversity, of different creeds, different customs, and even different colours. All these varied peoples have been able to live together, in conditions of comparative stability and forming what may be described as a multiple society, by the caste systems which must probably be regarded as having developed as a sort of organic response to the requirements of the particular case in question. Geographical circumstances have imposed a certain unity on the inhabitants of the peninsula whereas the diverse origins of the people have dictated variety. In my view, through the ages, it has been caste which made it possible for both these requirements to be satisfied within a single social system, a system moreover which has proved to be historically very stable. It has been capable of absorbing any intrusive society and no intruder has ever succeeded in revolutionising it. Each caste has been a social unit in itself. Even a change of religion has not destroyed the caste system, for even Muslims who have not recognised it as valid have often been found to observe it in practice and there are as many Muslims castes as Hindu castes. Jews and Christians in India have also formed groups or bodies analogous to castes.

        The caste system, together with the joint-family system, imparted an element of stability to social and communal life in India for centuries. But during the last 150 years, technological forces, new beliefs and ideas in the field of religion, economics and politics, scientific inventions, changes in communications and the changing concept and evolution of the welfare state have all had their own impact on the social scene, leading to the lessening of the rigidities of the caste system and the almost virtual breakdown of the joint-family system. All these factors have also contributed to the growth of sectionalism in no small measure.

        As a result of the phenomenal development of regional languages in the 19th century, there arose an emotional integration of different language groups in each province or area and a spontaneous development among them of consciousness of being a distinct cultural unit, speaking the same language and following the same tradition and culture. When progressive public opinion in India crystallised in favour of rationalisation of administrative units, this larger public objective was more or less sought in terms of linguistically homogeneous units. With the rising tide of Indian Nationalism after the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi in India in 1915, this demand for regional linguistic identities became more vocal. The Indian National Congress (INC) also supported this view at its annual Session at Nagpur in 1920 by passing a resolution in favour of a political objective for the creation of linguistic provinces. This found its logical culmination in the linguistic reorganisation of provinces in 1955-56. Language is a rich and powerful vehicle of emotion and expression, creating a sense of unity among the peoples speaking that language. At the same time, there are also weighty considerations that can be invoked against accepting language as the determining principle in the reorganisation/creation of States. It would encourage exclusivism, blur the feeling of national unity by the emphasis it places on local culture, language and history. It would also create a feeling of superiority as compared to others, intolerance and aggressiveness. The total operational implications of these negative factors have worked themselves out to their fatal conclusion after the linguistic reorganisation of States in 1955-56, with disastrous consequences to national unity.

        All the problems stemming from sectionalism in India can be analysed and studied under the following heads:

        a) Caste Tensions

        b) Class Tensions

        c) Communal Tensions or Religious Tensions

        d) Regional Tensions— Inter-regional and Intra-regional

        e) Linguistic Tensions.

        Since all these categories are well-known, I am not elaborating on them.

        Tamilnadu has always been known for its communal and social harmony. However, a disturbing trend has been noticed in recent years. There have been clashes between the Muslims and the Hindus in certain parts of Tamilnadu. Another surprising feature has been the sporadic increase in the number of clashes between the Christians and the Hindus in recent years, particularly in Kanyakumari District. Both Christians and Hindus in this district have become sudden victims/prisoners of mass hysteria, propaganda and shallow prejudice.

        'Sectionalism' has to be viewed as an illness. It can be described in terms of phobias, manias, hysterias, inferiority and superiority complexes, frustrations and other similar terms. Prejudice in any person is a kind of illness, the fundamental basis of which is fear—the fear of economic insecurity, the fear of being rejected because one does not belong to the section or group, the fear that grows out of isolation and segregation, the fear of one's own impulses that are released in mob spirit and riot, and the fear of loss of dominance of one's group/section. The most articulate and active sectional prejudice exists even among those who have never suffered the fears of social or economic insecurity and who do not know what it is to be isolated or rejected by the group/section. The time-honoured prejudice against the Harijans would come under this category.

        The basic causes of Sectionalism are not the differences between castes, regions, languages, creeds, etc. but the forces in respect of which all individuals and the sections of society are alike. They are the forces common to all human nature in all ages and in all parts of the World. They are passion and anger, deceit and falsehood, jealously and envy, laziness and gluttony, greed and covetousness, pride and selfishness, cruelty and callousness, ignorance and complacency——these are common to North and South, East and West, Adi-Dravida and Caste Hindu, Hindu and Muslim, Christian and non-Christian, privileged and under-privileged, and educated and ignorant. These are the tendencies in respect of which all men are the 'COMMON MAN'. Education may modify or obscure, but it can never eradicate these elementary tendencies. In fact the Congress Party sponsored educational system in India after independence has unfortunately helped these forces/tendencies to express themselves more destructively under new and socially acceptable names like social justice, social equality, communal amity, casteless society etc. etc. An uncontrolled avalanche of such forces has been let loose in India after 1947 on account of the conscious and deliberate policies of the government, leaving in their wake, the evils of regionalism, linguistic chauvinism, communalism——in short sectionalism.

        The primary forces which help to restrain or condition these anti-social or anti-national tendencies are moral rather than economic, spiritual rather than physical. The chief barriers to social harmony are rather our failure to apply the principles of moral dignity and mutual respect in our relations to one another. We should deal with basic rather than superficial issues and discover real rather than apparent. In this connection, nothing is more definitely established with regard to human relations than the fallacy of the argument that the obliteration of all the real differences among peoples would totally eliminate the problem of group or sectional tensions. If differences did not exist, then they would be imagined or invented. We are a divided people not because there are differences among us; it is rather that we emphasise the significance of the differences because we are a divided people.

        The great task ahead is to duplicate in the field of ethics and morals what we have so brilliantly done in the field of physical science. Moral truth can no longer be just a matter of revelation. It must become the subject of scientific investigation. Moral laws are just as inherent in the nature of people as are physical laws in the nature of matter. If not, there can be no basis for social harmony, anymore than there can be stability in the physical world if the law of gravity operates in one way in New Delhi and in another way in Chennai. (However Laws of Indian Politics are spectacular exceptions to this rule!) Times and customs may change, but the basic moral laws are just as changeless as the law of gravity or the axioms of mathematics.

        We should impress upon the Central government and the State governments the Paramount National Need for introducing programmes where the primary emphasis is placed upon people as human rather than as members of a particular caste or community or religion. Laws, law enforcement and political action are all essential parts of any democratic programme for social harmony. Their effectiveness, however, depends on the conscience and moral standards of the people, collectively referred to as public opinion.