Social division in India that affects politics most are
based on three different considerations. These considerations are regional background,
religion and caste.
Regional
Background
Historically, people in different parts of India
have developed separate regional culture including language. There are many similarities
between people from different regions but there are enough differences also. Thus
Indians were divided in scores of regional groups. The states within India have been
organized broadly on the basis of such different regional languages. To that extent the
regional differences are officially recognized and incorporated in the national
framework. However even within many states some finer social divisions exist. Over the
years there has been substantial interchange of people across regional boundaries. But
people who migrate generally continue to adhere to their culture and identify with their
original native land even after several generations.
The
regional conflict in politics is of four types. One is the disputes between neighboring
states over issues such as demarcation of boundaries and sharing of water resources.
Second is the dispute within a state about differential treatment by the state
government to different regions within the state. This in many cases develops into
demand for dividing a state in more than one smaller state. In the past may such
division of states have taken under the pressure created by people of different
regions.
Third major conflict is based on opposition to
people who migrate to a state from other places. Finally elected members of the
government frequently try to favour their own region or state in preference over others.
This creates many political pulls and pushes in central politics based on regional
considerations.
Religion
Based
India has been a home to people of may different
religion. And may a times there is politics based on religious consideration. In
particularly the division between Hindus and Muslims plays an important role. In
general, some religions like Sikh and Jain have traditionally been coexisting
harmoniously with Hindu religion, more or less like different versions of a broader
common religion. However their have been some conflicts based on these religions
also.
Caste Based
In India
there is a fairly well defined social division based on ancestry or birth. Each such
group is called a cast. People from a cast generally end to have their own typical
social customs and behavior pattern. Traditionally a person is required to marry within
his or her caste. The biggest problem of caste politics is created by the fact that the
castes are organised in a hierarchy of being higher or lower caste. In the paste from
the lowest of the castes which form the majority of the population were the most
economically weak. After independence of the country in 1947 specific legal provision
were created to improve the lot of these weaker caste. However, because of the large
number of these weaker sections of the society, they have become very important in
deciding fate of candidates in election. Because of this the political focus has shifted
from eliminating the caste divisions to emphasizing the caste differences and appeasing
the large number of people with short term benefits.
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