The Division of Linguistic States and Problem of Democracy

A person has different identities ‐ religious, political, caste, linguistic, professional and so on. Thus one may be Hindu by religion, Gandhibadi by political ideology, Bangali by language, teacher by profession, Brahmin by caste, etc. Another person may be a converted Christian by religion, Marxist by political ideology, Dalit by caste, Santali by language, a skilled worker by profession. Different individuals having different types of religions, caste, linguistic and other identities create major problems for maintaining a democratic set up. History teaches us that in a society where people fight against each other to save their identities, democracy cannot flourish. Two groups ofp eople having two different religious identities or caste identities or linguistic identities are frequently engaged in conflict with each other and the powerful group tries to dominate the weaker group. One of the suggested solutions of the problem is to ensure same sort of autonomy for people having a particular identity in such a way that the other community cannot interfere with its way of life. According to Ambedkar formation of a state for a group of people having a particular linguistic identity is a suggested way out for resolving the conflict between two groups of people having two different linguistic identities.