Nation-in-the-making
The national movement recognized early on that the process of nation-formation in India was a
recent one. In other words, India was a nation-in-the-making. Promoting this process through the
common struggle against colonialism became a basic objective. In this respect, the leadership of
the movement acknowledged the role of colonialism in unify ing India economically and
administratively even while it criticized its furthering all kinds of politically divisive tendencies.
From the outset the movement emphasized its all-Indianness. For example, the Indian National
Congress was founded in 1885 not as a federation of the existing provincial political organizations
but as a new nationwide organization committed to nationwide political mobilization on the basis
of all-India demands. Its cadres and its appeal, its audience and above all its leadership were
drawn from all over India. And from the beginning it emphasized the unity and integrity of the
country . In fact, it was the alliance of the states’ peoples’ movements, as part of the all-India
national movement, that enabled easy integration of the princely states with the rest of India after
independence.
This all-Indianness was not a feature peculiar to the Indian National Congress. Other political
parties and popular mass organizations too followed suit.
To the nationalist leaders, the notion of a structured nation did not contradict its unity . They not
only acknowledged but also appreciated India’s rich cultural, linguistic, religious, ethnic and
regional diversity . The emergence of a strong national identity and the flowering of other
narrower identities were seen as mutually reinforcing processes. The diversity and multiple
identities were not seen as obstacles to be overcome but as positive features that were sources of
strength to Indian culture, civilization and the nation, and were integral to the emerging
nationhood. These regional-cultural identities, in particular, developed not in opposition to but as
part of the national movement and the all-India identity .
The national movement recognized early on that the process of nation-formation in India was a
recent one. In other words, India was a nation-in-the-making. Promoting this process through the
common struggle against colonialism became a basic objective. In this respect, the leadership of
the movement acknowledged the role of colonialism in unify ing India economically and
administratively even while it criticized its furthering all kinds of politically divisive tendencies.
From the outset the movement emphasized its all-Indianness. For example, the Indian National
Congress was founded in 1885 not as a federation of the existing provincial political organizations
but as a new nationwide organization committed to nationwide political mobilization on the basis
of all-India demands. Its cadres and its appeal, its audience and above all its leadership were
drawn from all over India. And from the beginning it emphasized the unity and integrity of the
country . In fact, it was the alliance of the states’ peoples’ movements, as part of the all-India
national movement, that enabled easy integration of the princely states with the rest of India after
independence.
This all-Indianness was not a feature peculiar to the Indian National Congress. Other political
parties and popular mass organizations too followed suit.
To the nationalist leaders, the notion of a structured nation did not contradict its unity . They not
only acknowledged but also appreciated India’s rich cultural, linguistic, religious, ethnic and
regional diversity . The emergence of a strong national identity and the flowering of other
narrower identities were seen as mutually reinforcing processes. The diversity and multiple
identities were not seen as obstacles to be overcome but as positive features that were sources of
strength to Indian culture, civilization and the nation, and were integral to the emerging
nationhood. These regional-cultural identities, in particular, developed not in opposition to but as
part of the national movement and the all-India identity .
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