Apart from conflicts what else binds the Indian Republic - the Kashmiris, the Tamils-Sinhalese, East Pakistan-West Pakistan and New Delhi-Nagas?
It is the failure to compromise and to initiate dialogue, said historian Dr Ramachandra Guha while delivering the 10th Kappen Memorial lecture ‘The beauty of compromise’.
Giving a brief insight into these conflicts which has been confronting the South Asian region for the last six decades, he said they have been left unaddressed. “There has never been conflicts of this nature in the last 60 years, not even in Balkan region. The South Asian conflicts have largely remained unaddressed due to lack of openness, inability to start a dialogue and above all inability to compromise.”
He said the root cause of conflicts between the Tamils-Sinhalese, East Pakistan-West Pakistan is mainly due to the inability to compromise on linguistic lines.
“The East Pakistanis refused to accept Urdu as the national language, so were the Sinhalese who did not recognise Tamil. However, in India the linguistic reorganisation has deepened and consolidated unity and helped in carving a larger entity called India,” he added.
On the confrontation between Indian government and people of Kashmir and the Nagas, he said it continues to exist because of the inability to start a dialogue.