Obstacles to National Integration
National integration is the awareness of a common identity amongst the citizens of a country. It means that though we belong to different castes, religions, regions and speak different languages we recognize the fact that we are all one. Integration is very important to build a strong and prosperous nation. However, after independence, many anti-social elements have constantly made efforts to hinder national integration. Communalism, casteism, regionalism, terrorism, inequality and linguism are the threats that create obstacles to national integration.
Communalism is extreme loyalty shown by a person to one’s own religion than the nation. It creates tensions and conflicts in society. Many times communalism is used to achieve personal interest. Riots that took place during partition of India were due to communalism. Thus, communalism hinders the peaceful co-existence of different religious groups.
Casteism minimizes the outlook of citizens. They think only for the well being of their own caste. This adversely affects the unity of the country. Casteism emerges when the feeling of own caste becomes strong and people of a particular caste starts disrespecting people of other castes. Such attitude leads to conflict and disputes. It also creates bitterness among people who start competing with one another to prove that their caste is superior. This obstructs the development and progress of the nation.
Regionalism is an attitude of people where they show more loyalty only to their own region than the nation. When such attitude becomes strong, people start underestimating the pride of other region. They constantly make efforts to prove that history and culture of their region is far more superior compared to others. Moreover, they are always in efforts to gain more and more facilities for their region and work only for its progress. Movements arc carried out demanding only their right over the region. This creates enmity between the two regions.
In modern times, human life is severely affected by terrorism. It has become a global challenge. Terrorism creates great loss of lives and property. It is an obstacle towards national integration as it obstructs the development of any nation. Terrorism is a criminal act that aims to create terror among people, groups and masses.
As few people enjoy all luxuries and comforts of life, inequality exists in every society. In India, inequality is also found in the development of states. States like Maharashtra and Gujarat are more developed than Bihar, Assam and Odisha. Moreover, one also finds severe difference between rich and poor, educated and illiterate, privileged and underprivileged people. This results in conflicts between them.
In every state, there is one dominant language. This language is known as ‘mother tongue’. People of that state are proud of their language. They start underestimating other languages. They remain in constant efforts to prove that their language is rich compared to other languages. This creates hatred between people speaking different languages.
