Man has a primordial attachment to land A human group considers the land it occupies as its homeland. There is a territorial imperative at work but throughout history inter-civilisational encounters and human migrations have broken through boundaries of territorial demarcation. Today it is difficult to find a political-administrative unit in the world, which is totally homogenous in every respect. This ethnic multiplicity is the existential reality that mankind has to accept at all levels. And ethnicities are in constant interaction, horizontal as well as vertical.
Human personality is multi-dimensional, multi-facetted and multi-layered, with a particular dimension, facet, layer or aspect coming to the fore in a given situation. These dimensions, facets, layers, aspects co-exist within each individual and relate to the external dimensions of his social existence - his identity as an individual, a co-passenger in the spaceship called the Earth, or in terms of race, caste or sub-caste, religion or sub-religion, class or sub-class, political ideology, profession or occupation, language or dialect. A civilized society has to ensure that no contradiction or conflict arises among the various dimensions of human personality and that there is a harmonious relationship between the individual and the social collective to which he belongs and between the social collective and the State. In. the age we live in, the essential rules of peaceful coexistence are Equality, Justice, Fraternity, embodied in a democratic and secular welfare state. 'Social Justice' essentially means not only justice among individuals but also among the social groups in the body politic, through recognition of their individuality and personality, respect for their dignity, participation in governance, equal representation in the power structure, equitable access to the resources, goods and services that the society offers and cultural and religious autonomy.
Every social group howsoever small has an equal right to identity, participation, development and welfare. But for practical handling, the number of these groups may be limited by a cut-off limit, say 1 per cent of the population at the given level with the proviso that mini and micro groups below this cut-off limit may aggregate with each other to form a viable group or if they so choose, associate themselves with a larger group with which they have some affinity.
A social group with common memories, experience and aspirations constitutes a Community. A Community by virtue of its common identity, not necessarily religious, and interests and physical proximity also provides the immediate area of fraternization, a social security network and a mutual aid agency.
The State cannot always deal directly with all its nationals as individuals. At one level, it has to deal with them as coherent, conscious and identifiable groups. Identities thus provide a frame of reference as well as play a mediatory role between the authority and the individual. In a federal State, the model acquires a vertical dimension. Every community may legitimately define a positive 'communal' agenda for its internal cohesion, mutual support and development. Beyond this limit, communalism turns negative and becomes an instrument for confrontation and conflict or aggrandizement and usurpation. Inter-communal relations, in the larger interest of the society, have to be regulated by the vision and wisdom of the Constitution, by the rule of law, by administrative neutrality, by judicial impartiality and above all mutual understanding. Positive communalisms will never clash; negative communalisms always will Injustice and discrimination, domination and oppression of one community by another will vitiate and even threaten the larger social matrix, create tension in the body politic and engender suspicion, distrust and hatred. A dominant minority is out of question in the age of democracy but a dominant majority is a threat to State integrity and social peace.
Beyond mutual tolerance lies mutual acceptance, celebration of diversity, reduction of social and economic disparity, respect for dignity and fraternity. Only through inter-communal harmony and equalization will a multi-communal state be transformed into a nation-state or a valued and responsible member of the world community of States.
Minority groups, if living happily, free from fear and want, can be a source of strength and splendour; they can serve as bridges across State and administrative boundaries. Minority groups wallowing in discontent can be a permanent headache, even if widely dispersed.
Minority groups cannot be liquidated. Even ethnic cleansing, physical or cultural genocide or demographic invasion cannot change the situation and the exercise can prove to be too costly.
A minority group dispersed sparsely though not uniformly within the body politic or concentrated within the territory surrounded by majority concentration areas can also be dealt with through constitutional and legal devices and through economic development and social engineering. However, a problem often arises when a minority group is concentrated at the periphery or strategically along an international boundary and has kinship ties with the people living on the other side. This may give rise to secessionist tendencies and/or a desire for union with the people on the other side, if it faces oppression or injustice and sees its salvation in independence or a trans-border union. Sometimes the sparks may be fanned by outsiders into conflagration and exploited for their own purposes.
Such secessionist or separatist tendencies of communities inhabiting the border areas can also be successfully countered. Through grant of special status, internal autonomy, protection against demographic invasion or economic exploitation, flow of development resources and access to educational and economic opportunities, it is possible to convince the border people that such arrangements, taken together, are more advantageous than the pursuit of the illusion of independence. Then separatism will die a natural death.
But such situations cannot be tackled through coercion or use of force or the threat thereof but by engaging in a rational dialogue with the trusted representative of the border community and by examining the balance sheets of advantages and disadvantages implicit in alternative options. However, if the territory is sought to be colonised, economically exploited and its demographic complexion is sought to be changed, if the religious, cultural or linguistic rights are not respected, separation or succession will become inevitable in the long run. The bleeding fields of Chechenya, South Sudan, Kosovo, Mindanao, Arakan, East Timor all testify to the universality of this thesis. Sometimes the State collapses under the weight of ethnic rivalries as in Burundi or Somalia.
Just as the world has outlawed territorial acquisition by conquest, special claims on a territory based on historic association in the past are also inadmissible. The rights of the present inhabitants cannot be disregarded; they have to be respected. History cannot be rolled back. People cannot be driven out or liquidated and the vacuum filled by immigrants from outside, from the core areas of the State. What is important, nay, essential is that the present inhabitants freely and rationally decide what is better for them and their futures; continued association with the state of which they form a part or independence or integration with the neighbouring State.
The concept of State sovereignty and territorial integrity as absolute principles of State formation and inter-state relations stand eroded by the upsurge of democracy and human rights and the slow but steady evolution of humanitarian laws. Waging of war by a state against a section of its own people or a part of its own territory in order to suppress alienation, rebellion or revolt is no longer legitimate or acceptable. In the global village today, no one will shut his eyes. No rogue State can plead domestic jurisdiction or territorial integrity and enjoy a free hand to violate human rights systematically or commit genocide with impunity. The world is moving towards elaborating crimes against humanity and genocide and setting up an International Criminal Court and War Crimes. Tribunals and human rights implementation
mechanism.
On the other hand, the expansion of the UNO to include mini and micro States as full members has, in my view, encouraged and promoted separatist tendencies. The UN Charter must be amended to admit as full members only States which fulfill prescribed criteria related to area, population, GDP and share of world trade in goods and services. Mini and micro States which do not fulfill the criteria may then form federations or confederations or regional groupings to qualify for membership.
In the interest of world peace, the community of States has also to set up a mechanism for redrawing the political boundaries which were inherited from the Age of Colonialism and Imperialism, on the basis of the aspiration of the people living in the border areas.
India has a whole gamut of communities and sub-communities at every functional level related to religion, caste, language, culture, race and geographical origins. Given this ethnic diversity and cultural plurality, a mega- state like ours has an inbuilt panacea because the largest national majority group may form a minority group at some lower level, somewhere, and similarly the smallest national minority group may form a majority group at some level, somewhere. Thus every social group - if only it is not aspiring to wield majoritarian power or keeping aloof in despair - shares a common experience in the pan-Indian perspective. This experience can be utilised for structuring a viable network of inter-dependence and fashioning instruments for joint management of the state, for the development and welfare of all the social groups at every level. This is a challenge and an opportunity for building, not a homogeneous and monolithic, as some still dream of, but a multi-ethnic, multi-layered, federal state which can serve as a working model for mankind and as a foundation for a JUST WORLD ORDER.
New Delhi,
15 May, 1999
