Class 12 Political Science Notes- Chapter 17 : REGIONAL ASPIRATIONS

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UNIT – 17: REGIONAL ASPIRATIONS

VERY SHORT ANSWER (1 Mark)

(1) Which issue is always seems a major issue between India and Pakistan?

Ans. Kashmir issue is always a major issue between India and Pakistan.

(2) Who was Hari Singh?

Ans. Hari Singh was the princely ruler of Jammu and Kashmir.

(3) Which Article of the Indian Constitution gives greater autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir? [2013]

Ans. Article 370 of the Indian Constitution gives greater autonomy Jammu and Kashmir.

(4) Who was Tara Singh?

Ans. Master Tara Singh was a prominent Sikh religious and politics leader.

(5) In which year was the Akali Dal in Punjab formed?

Ans. In 1920 Akali Dal was formed in Punjab.

(6) Write the full form of MNF.

Ans. The full form of MNF is Mizo National Front.

(7) Who was Laldenga?

Ans. Laldenga was the founder and leader of Mizo National Front.

(8) When was the Assam agitation on foreigner’s issue started?

Ans. In 1979 the Assam agitation was started on foreigner’s issue.

(9) To which state does the AGP belong?

Ans. AGP belong to Assam.

(10) In which year did Goa become a state of the Indian Union?

Ans. In 1987 Goa become a state of the Indian Union.

(11) When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated?

Ans. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31^st October 1984.

(12) Who was the leader of the Naga National Council?

Ans. The leader of the Naga National Council was Angami Tapo Phizo.

(13) When Anandpur Sahib Resolution was passed?

Ans. In 1973 Anandpur Sahib Resolution was passed.

(14) When government of India carried out Operation Blue Star?

Ans. In June 1984 Govt. of India carried out operation Blue Star.

(15) When was first Assembly Election held in Sikkim?

Ans. In 1974, the first Assembly Election was held in Sikkim.

(16) Write the full form of MGP.

Ans. The full form of MGP is Maharashtrawadi Gomanatak Party.

(17) When was Sikkim merged with India?

Ans. 1975, Sikkim was merged with India.

(18) State the full form of AASU.

Ans. The full form of AASU is All Assam Students Union.

(19) Say “True” or “False”:

(a) Before 1947 Jammu and Kashmir was a Princely State.

Ans. True.

(b) Dravidian Movement was one of the first regional governments in Indian politics.

Ans. True.

Ans. False

(d) The “Operation Blue Star” was carried out by the Government of India in 1984.

Ans. True.

(e) In 1966 the MNF started an armed campaign for independence.

Ans. True.

(f) After the reorganization of Punjab, the Akali’s came to power in 1978.

Ans. False

(g) Mohammad Ali Abdullah of the National conference led the popular movement.

Ans. False

(h) Nagaland State was created in 1962.

Ans. False

(i) N.T. Rama Rao was the founder President of Telegu Desam.

Ans.

(j) Assam Assembly election were held in December, 1986.

Ans. False

19. When was National Conference established?

Ans. 1948

20. In which state Assam Gana Parishad is active?

Ans. Assam

21. Who was the founder president of Telugu Desam?

Ans. N.T. Rama Rao

22. Under which Articles of the Constitution Jammu and Kashmir is given greater autonomy?

Ans. 370

23. When Sikkim was merged with India?

Ans. 1974

24. In which year Nagaland State was created?

Ans. 1963

25. When Govt. of India carried out operation Blue Star?

Ans. 1984

26. What do you mean by Seven Sister?

Ans. Seven states of North East – Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

27. Mention any one factor that leads to regionalism?

Ans. Economic backwardness

28 Fill in the blanks:

(a) Sikkim became the ________ state of the Indian Union.

Ans 22^nd.

(b) The reorganization of the North-East was completed by _________.

Ans. 1987

Class 12 Political Science Notes (for 2020-21 exam) -CBSE and AHSEC

VERY SHORT ANSWER (2 Mark)

1. In 1972 which two union territories were given the status of statehood?

Ans. In 1972 Manipur and Tripura were given the status of statehood.

2. When was Sikkim merged with India?

Ans. Sikkim was merged with India in April 1975. The Sikkim Assembly first sought the status of associate state and then in April 1975 pass a resolution asking for full integration with India.

3. What do you understand by ‘Regionalism’?

Ans. Regionalism is a significant type of sub territorial loyalty administrative divisions or provinces at times generate a degree of loyalty separate from identification with the national territory. In a vast and diversified polity like India, Regionalism is a legitimate phenomena.

4. How Regionalism has affected Indian Politics?

Ans. Regionalism has affected that Indian politics a lot. In the course democratic politics, regional aspirations get strengthened. Sometimes the concern for national unity may overshadow the regional needs and aspiration. At other times a concern for region alone may blind us to the larger needs of the nation.

5. Write two causes of the origin of regionalism.

Ans. Two causes of the origin of regionalism are like –

When religion and linguistic groups of a multicultural country fee continuously ignored and neglected then the feeling of regionalism m outburst.
When the economic benefits of a country are unevenly distributors then took the negative feeling of regionalism may arise.

6. Write few lines about Laldenga.

Ans. Laldenga (1937-1990) was the founder and leader of the Mizoram National Front. He turned in to a rebel after the experience of the faming in 1959. He led an armed struggle against India for two decades and reached a settlement and signed an agreement with Prime Minister Rajib Gandhi in 1986. He became the Chief Minister of the newly created stand of Mizoram.

7. What do you understand by MNF?

Ans. In 1966 the Mizo National Front started an arranged campaign for independence of Mizoram. Thus started a two decade long battle between Mizo insurgents and the Indian army. The MNF fought a guerilla war, support from Pakistani government and the Indian army. The MND fought a guerilla war, got support from Pakistani government and secured shelter in then Pakistan.

8. Mention any two provisions which reflect special status Jammu and Kashmir.

Ans. The two provisions which reflect special status to Jammu and Kashmir are:

Article 370 gives greater autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir companies to other states of India. The state has its own constitution.
All Provisions of the India Constitution are not applicable to the state. Laws passed by the Parliament apply to Jammu and Kashmir only if the state agrees.

9. Give the significance of Article 370 of our constitution.

Ans. Article 370 of Indian Constitution gives special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Under Articles 370 Jammu and Kashmir is given greater compared to other states of India. The special status has provoked two opposite reactions. There is a section of people outside conferred by Article 370 does not allow full integration of the state with India. This section feels that Article 370 should therefore be revoked and Jammu and Kashmir should be like any other state in India.

10. What is the basic nature of Kashmir issue?

Ans. The issue of Jammu and Kashmir is also of regional aspiration. The Kashmir issue is always seen as a major issue between India and Pakistan. But the political situation in the state has many dimensions, like external and internal. It involves the issue of Kashmiri identity knows as Kashmiriyat and the aspiration of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for political autonomy.

11. What is the basis principle of the Indian approach to University?

Ans. India adopted a democratic approach to the question of diversity. Democracy allows the political expressions of regional aspirations and does not look upon them as anti national. Besides democratic politics allows parties and groups to address the people on the basis of their regional identity, aspiration and specific regional problem. Thus in the course of democratic politics, regional aspiration get strengthened.

12. What issues do regional movements involve?

Ans. Regional Movements based on regional aspirations involved:

Armed assertion by the people.
Their repression by the government.
A collapse of the political and electoral process.

13. What do you mean by Seven Sisters?

Ans. The seven states of north-eastern India namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura are electively known as seven sisters. Amongst them, Assam is known as gateway of North East.

14. Write few lines on ‘Instrument of Accession’.

Ans. Instrument of Accession was signed by the princely rulers as documental evidence to accede to India. With the signing of the legal instrument, the princely sisters external affairs, communication and defend was looked after by India and rest all other departments were under the control of the princely state. It is to be noted that except few problematic states like Junagarh, Manipur, Travancare, Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir, most of the princely ruler inked Instrument of Accession.

15. Why “Opinion Poll” was held in Goa in 1969?

Ans. Led by the Maharashtrawadi Gomanatak Party (MGP) one section of people of Goa, desired that Goa, as a Marathi speaking are should merge with Maharashtra. However many Goans were keep to retain a separate Goan identity and culture, particularly the Konkani language. They were led by the union Goan Party (UGP) in January 1967, the central government held a special ‘opinion poll’ in Goa asking people to decide if they wanted to the part of Maharashtra or remain separate. Kit was for the first time in free in free India that peoples wishes on referendum was held on a subject.

16. What was the problem of Goa?

17. How the problem of regionalism can be solved?

Ans. The problem of regionalism can be solved by –

Ensuring equal development of all the regions of the country.
Protecting the separate socio-cultural identity of various groups.

18. In which year first Assembly Election was held in Sikkim?

Ans. In 1975 the first assembly election was held.

19. Mention any two provisions, which reflect special status to Jammu and Kashmir?

Ans. The two provisions which reflect special status to Jammu and Kashmir are:

Article 370 gives greater autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir companies to other states of India. The state has its own constitution.
All Provisions of the India Constitution are not applicable to the state. Laws passed by the Parliament apply to Jammu and Kashmir only if the state agrees.

20. Who led the Popular Movement in Jammu and Kashmir to get rid of Maharaja?

Ans. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah led the Popular Movement in Jammu and Kashmir to get rid of Maharaja.

LONG ANSWER (4 MARKS)

1. Give a brief description of Jammu and Kashmir. (2013)

Ans. Jammu and Kashmir is the most violent issue between the relationship of India and Pakistan since Independence. It has resulted in the loss of many lives and the displacement of many families. It involves the issue of Kashmir identity known as Kashmiriyat and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for political autonomy. The political situation in the state has many dimensions like external and internal. Jammu and Kashmir comprises three social and political regions like – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The heart of the Kashmir valley. The people are Kashmir speaking and most Muslim with a small Kashmiri speaking Hindu minority.

2. ‘Regionalism does not imply separatism’. Explain.

Ans. Regionalism doesn’t only uphold separatism. All regional movement needs not to lead separatist demands because regional aspirations are very much a part of democratic politics. There are many more examples which show that regionalism does not only bear separatist tendency with it. In 1966, the Mizo National Front started an armed struggle for independence. This started a long battle between Mizo insurgent and the Indian army. Finally, a peace agreement was signed between Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Laldenga. According to this accord signed in 1986, Mizoram was granted all statehood with special powers and MNF agreed to give up their struggle for secession from the Indian Union. The story of Nagaland is similar to Mizoram. After a period of long insurgency, a section of the Nagas signed an agreement with the government of India, although it was not acceptable to other rebels. Thus all these experience proof that regionalism does not implies only separatist tendency.

3. Mention any four regional parties of India.

Ans. Four Regional Political Parties of India are – National Conference of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam Gana Parishad of Assam, Akali Dal of Punjab and D.M.K. of Tamilnadu.

4. Discuss the Assam Accord.

Ans. After six years of anti-foreigner Movement, the Rajiv Gandhi government entered into negotiators with the AASU leaders leading in the signing of an accord in 1985. This is the famous Assam Accard regarding the issue of outsiders.

The main points of this Accard are:

According to this agreement those foreigners who migrated into Assam during and after Bangladesh war and since, were to be identified and deported.
With the successful completion of the movement, the AASU and the Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AGP) organized themselves as a regional political party called Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).
It came to power in 1985 with the promise of resolving the foreign national problem as well as to build a ‘Golden Assam’.

Assam Accord brought peace and changed the face of politics in Assam, but as a whole it did not solve the problem of immigration.

VERY LONG ANSWER (6 MARKS)

1. Discuss the role of Congress in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir.

Ans. During most of the period between 1953 and 1974 the congress exercise a lot of influence on the politics of Jammu and Kashmir.

These influences can be mention like following ways:

The National Conference is a dominant force in the Kashmir valley, while congress has a corresponding position in the Jammu region. Both have pockets of influence in each other’s areas of strength.
A truncated National Conference (minus Sheikh Abdullah) remained in power with the active support of congress for some time but later it merged with the congress. The congress conference alliance and the establishment of the alliance rule in Kashmir, with Farooq Abdullah as Chief Minister of the state. Thus congress gained direct control over the government in the state.
The congress party also made several attempts to reach an agreement between Sheikh Abdullah and the government of India.
Finally in 1974 Indira Gandhi reached an agreement with Sheikh and he became the Chief Minister of the state.
Some of the activities of the National Conference feel that their party has virtually been reduced to a “rubber stamp” in the hands of the congress. They resent being treated like junior partners by the centre. The National conference act like “stooges” of the congress leadership.

2. What was the tragic turn which complicated the Punjab problem further?

Ans. The assassination of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31^st October 1984 outside her residence by her body guards who were Sikhs bought the entire nation under a state of Shock and complicated the Punjab problem further.

In Delhi and in many parts of Northern India violence broke out against the Sikh community and continued for almost a week.
More than two thousand Sikhs were killed in the national capital, the area worst affected by the violence.
Hundreds of Sikhs were killed in other part of the country, especially in places like Kanpur, Bakaro and Chas.
Many Sikh families lost their male members and thus suffered great emotional and heavy financial loss.
What hurt the Sikhs most was that the government took a long time in restoring normalcy and that the perpetrators of this violence were not effectively punished?

Twenty year later speaking in the Parliament in 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed regret over these killings and apologized to the nation for the anti-Sikh violence.

3. Which Prime Minister expressed regret over the violence against Sikhs after Indira Gandhi’s death?

Ans. After twenty years later, speaking in the Parliament in 2005, Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh expressed regret over the killings of Sikhs during the violence in the after math of Indira Gandhi’s assassination. He also apologized to the nation for the anti Sikh violence.

4. Write a note on Dravidian Movement.

Ans. The DK split and the political legacy of the movement was transferred to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The word ‘Dravida’ symbolizes Dravida race, ‘Munnetra’ means progressive and ‘Kazhagam’ stands for organization.

The DMK made its entry into politics with a three pronged agitation in 1953-54.

It demanded the restoration of the original name of Kallakudi railway station which had been renamed Dalmiapuram, after an industrial house from the North.
The agitation was for giving Tamil cultural history greater importance in school curricula.
The agitation was against the ‘craft education’ scheme of the state government, which it alleged was linked to the Brahmanical social outlook.
It also agitated against making Hindi the country’s official language. The success of the anti-Hindi agitation of 1965 added to the DMK’s popularity.

5. What are the three issues of north east? Explain any two.

Ans. (a) Demands for autonomy

(b) Secessionist movements

Demands for Autonomy: At independence the entire region except Manipur and Tripura comprised the state of Assam. But the demands for political autonomy gained greater strength when the Assamese leaders moved in 1960 towards making Assamese the sole official language of the hill areas merged into the All Party Hill Leaders conference (APHLC) and again demanded separate states within the Indian union.
Secessionist Movements: After Independence, the Mizo Hills area was made an autonomous district within Assam. Some Mizos believed that they were never a part of British India and therefore did not belong to the Indian Union. However, unhappiness with the Assam Government’s relief measures during the famine of 1959 and the passage of the Act in 1961 (making Assamese the official language of the state) led to the formation of the Mizo National Front (MNF), with Laldenga as President.

6. What are the causes of Assam Movements?

Ans. (1) The large scale migration into the North-East gave rise to a unique problem i.e. the local people pitted against outsiders or migrants.

(2) Due to the large-scale influx into Assam, land in Assam had become scarce and the local people feared the loss of their holdings. And the foreigners were made responsible for the economic problems of Assam.

(3) The demographic transformation generated the feeling of linguistic, cultural, and political insecurity and therefore imparted a strong emotional content to their movement against illegal migrants in the eighties.

(4) The main contention of the agitators was that unless the foreigners were checked the state would be swamped by immigrants and the cultural identity of the state would be lost.

7. What are the lessons from the chapter regional aspiration?

Ans. The lessons we draw from regional aspirations are –

The expression of regional issues is not an aberration or an abnormal phenomenon. Even in small countries like the United Kingdom there are regional aspirations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Groups and parties from the region need to be given share in power at the state level. And the regions must have a share in deciding the destiny of the nation.
Special attention should be given to the development of backward areas. Moreover, minorities interest should be protected and their grievances should be redressed.
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution allows different tribes complete autonomy of preserving their practices and customary laws. These provisions proved crucial in resolving some very complex political problems in the North-East.