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  • Essay / Considering India as a Nation State

    In analyzing our country, one very distinct feature that always strikes me is the history and foundations of the amalgamation of states forming one unified country, viz. India. I view our political state as an umbrella country for various states based on concepts of colonial, monarchical, radical and linguistic ideals. By creating and building counterparts, fighting the threat of cessation and trying to balance the concept of diversity, India has several identities melted and molded into one. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayIf one takes a look at our history, one can conclude that the very concept of our country was to form a centrifugal federation or several nations. come together to form a single state with a common goal to achieve. Britain adopted the concept of divide and rule for its material benefit, which ultimately led to a reckoning. This awareness led to nationalism and its manifestations leading to a free and liberal country. Although the concept of nation is different from nationalism, it is nevertheless a turning point in the way several nations view unity and come together to form a majestic sovereign republic. In 1947, the country rejoiced in being a free nation but without political borders. The freedom struggle made it clear that even though the Indian peninsula had several nations within itself, it still needed to be united for its sustenance. This finally leads us to question the concept of nation. So what is a nation? One of my favorite books in middle school was “Imagined Communities” by Benedict Anderson. He defined a nation as an imagined community, because the nation is more emotional than political and therefore it is only experienced and not observed. The nation is therefore a stable community of people who have a common culture and are brought together by mutuality, for example through religion. Thanks to these conditions, we can recruit a large number of nations to our country. Our citizens are distinguished by linguistic, religious, territorial, cultural, sexual and educational aspects. This leads to the formation of several nations locked within a single border. “From Kerala to Kashmir, from Assam to Gujarat, we have countries that have come together to be part of one state; not seeking independence, but needing independent flourishing” – Sriram KarriHaving established the fact that India does indeed have several nations, it is necessary to explain why it is a state. A state is a defined geographic territory governed by a sovereign monopoly through a centralized political organization, namely the government. India obviously fulfills all these characteristics of a state. It is clear that communities form highly emotional nations or ideologies. This also highlights the fact that India has several nations within itself. After lengthy discussions with a fellow journalist, we both came to a conclusion. Even though today we are one state, the communities within that state could potentially be small, modern, democratic and acceptable countries. And why not? We can call Indian states sub-nations. These sub-nations have their own intrinsic identity. They have their own history, dances, clothes, food, festivals, culture, etc. But we also observed how we cannot compare modern united India with the European Union because it is an amalgamation of independent nations with the possibility of..