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Book No. – 19 (Sociology)
Book Name – Social Background of Indian Nationalism (A.R. Desai)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. Problem of Nationalities and Minorities in India
2. Genetic Causes of Rise of Nationalities
3. Nation and National Minority, their Differences
4. Indian Nationalist Movement, its Peculiarities
5. Awakening of Dormant Nationalities
6. Two Contradictory Tendencies at Work
7. Indian Muslims, A National Minority
8. Communalism among Muslims, Reasons
9. Late Awakening Among Muslims and its Reasons
10. Sir Syed Ahmad and Muslim Akawening
11. Muslim League, its Communal and Upper Class Character
12. British Strategy of “Communities, Classes and Interests”
13. Its Criticism
14. Growing Militancy Among Muslims after 1912
15. Khilafat and Hijrat Movements
16. Communalism, its Real Essence
17. Fourteen Points of Jinnah
18. Jinnah’s Criticism of Congress Governments
19. Muslim League Demands Pakistan
20. Other Muslim Organizations
21. History of Idea of Pakistan
22. Views of Various Parties and Leaders on Pakistan
22.1. Leaders of Indian National Congress
22.2. Congress Socialist Party
22.3. Indian Liberals
22.4. Hindu Mahasabha
22.5. Dr. Ambedkar
22.6. Communist Party of India
22.7. Problem of Nationalities. Prerequisites of its Progressive Solution
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Problem of Nationalities and Minorities
Chapter – 19
Problem of Nationalities and Minorities in India
- The problem of nationalities and minorities was a significant issue in the Indian nationalist movement.
- Political awakening grew among various nationality groups like the Andhras, Malayalis, Karnatakis, Maharashtrians, Baluchis, and others, as well as minority groups like Indian Muslims, Sikhs, depressed classes, and others.
- The problem became crucial for both the united national movement for political independence and the future state structure of post-independent India.
- The issue of nationalities and minorities was not unique to India but emerged in other modern nations, such as the Austrians, Hungarians, and Russians.
- Not every modern nation faced the problem of nationalities. England and France, for example, did not confront this issue on their way to becoming unified nations.
- In contrast, Eastern European countries, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Balkans, had to address the problem of nationalities.
- There are specific historical reasons for this distinction between countries facing the issue and those that did not.
Genetic Causes of Rise of Nationalities
- Modern nations are products of the capitalist development of society, which overcomes economic, social, and political disunity.
- The process of capitalist economic development unifies people within a single political and economic system, forming cohesive nations.
- Capitalism integrates different parts of a country, breaks down feudal barriers, concentrates masses in industrial centers, and connects the countryside with towns.
- Middle class emerged as a representative of the new idea of nationality during capitalist development.
- Bourgeois-democratic revolutions (e.g., British Revolution in the seventeenth century and French Revolution of 1789) united vast popular masses in a common struggle and common ideas, leading to modern nations.
- In countries where economic and linguistic consolidation occurred before the establishment of centralized states, no significant problem of nationalities or minorities emerged.
- In countries where a centralized state existed before the people were unified economically and culturally, the problem of nationalities and minorities arose.
- Stalin summarized this by explaining that modern nations emerged during the rise of capitalism, with the abolition of feudalism and development of capitalism leading to the formation of nations.
- Britain, France, Germany, and Italy formed nations during capitalism’s victory over feudalism and developed into independent bourgeois national states.
- In Eastern Europe, centralized states were formed before feudalism broke down, resulting in multi-national bourgeois states like Austria, Hungary, and Russia.
- These multi-national states led to nationality consciousness among suppressed peoples, who began movements for political freedom and sovereign state existence.
- Minorities (e.g., Jews) interspersed across territories, when they became conscious, started movements for religious freedom, language development, and cultural expression.
Nation and National Minority, their Differences
- A nation is distinguished from a national minority by occupying a definite territory, speaking a common language, living a common economic life, and sharing a common psychological structure expressed through culture.
- A nation is a historically evolved, stable community of language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up, manifested in a shared community of culture.
- Members of a nation may practice different religions, but it does not affect their nationhood, as religion is not a lasting factor.
- Religion is modified by the living social, economic, and cultural environment that surrounds people.
- For example, the British are a nation, despite being composed of Protestants, Catholics, and other religious groups like materialists, agnostics, or theosophists.
- Members of a national minority (e.g., Indian Muslims and the depressed classes) are dispersed over the entire state territory.
- National minorities are united by a common religion or shared social grievances when democratic conditions do not prevail.
- National minorities do not constitute separate nations, as their members do not inhabit a common territory or live a common economic life.
- National minorities often form parts of various nationality groups in different territorial zones, speaking diverse languages and sharing different economic, social, and cultural lives.