World Politics | The WFY Magazine – September 2025 Edition | Ridhima Kapoor
Unity in Diversity: A Fragile Reality We Must Protect
The Historical Backdrop
India’s present political geography is both remarkable and new. For most of recorded history, this subcontinent was never ruled as one. Ancient dynasties controlled vast territories, yet always left parts untouched. The Mauryas reached deep into the Gangetic plain, but southern kingdoms remained free. The Guptas thrived in northern India, while the Tamil south developed on its own. The Cholas expanded eastward by sea into Southeast Asia, yet large areas inland escaped their reach. The Vijayanagara court held the Deccan with strength, but not the north. The Mughals, even at their height under Aurangzeb, never subdued the Ahoms of Assam or the coastal powers of Kerala. The Marathas extended their influence widely but governed loosely, relying on alliances and tributes more than direct control.
This history is a reminder that the India of today — a nation of 28 states and 8 union territories bound by one Constitution — is unprecedented. It is not an unbroken inheritance from ancient times but a deliberate political construction of the modern era, consolidated under British rule and then reshaped by our founding leaders into a democratic union.
The Nature of Our Cohesion
There is a common tendency to describe India as a timeless cultural unity. Yet lived reality tells us otherwise. What exists here is not uniformity, but an extraordinary variety of traditions and practices. A Malayali celebrating Onam in Kerala shares little in custom with a Punjabi marking Baisakhi. The wedding songs sung in Tamil Nadu bear no resemblance to those in Kashmir. Even within a single religion, the rituals and interpretations vary so deeply that they feel like different worlds.
The 2011 Census documented 1,369 mother tongues, grouped into 121 distinct languages, of which 22 are recognised in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Hindi, spoken as a first language by about 43.6 percent, is the largest, yet a majority of Indians claim another tongue. Bengali accounts for 8 percent, Marathi and Telugu around 7 percent each, Tamil nearly 6 percent, and Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, and Assamese each carry their own weight. Beyond these are hundreds of smaller languages and dialects, each tied to identity.
Religion is no less diverse. Hindus make up roughly 80 percent of the population, but Muslims number over 200 million, Christians 27 million, Sikhs nearly 20 million, and Buddhists, Jains, and countless indigenous faiths add to the mix. Practices differ sharply across regions: Christianity in Goa looks unlike Christianity in Nagaland, and Islam in Kerala is not the same as Islam in Kashmir.
What binds these differences is not cultural sameness but a shared political compact: the Constitution, the democratic process, and the framework of laws and rights.
When Unity Feels Strained
The strength of India’s federal arrangement is precisely why carelessness can harm it. When, in August 2025, an official circular described Bengali as a “Bangladeshi language,” the damage was not technical. It struck at the pride of millions in West Bengal and Tripura whose language is as Indian as it is Bangladeshi.
When films win national recognition despite being seen by many as unfair portrayals of an entire state, the grievance is not about cinema alone but about who gets to define the national story. The controversy surrounding The Kerala Story at the National Awards is a stark reminder of how cultural narratives can inflame regional sensitivities.
When new criminal codes are introduced with names drawn heavily from Sanskrit, reactions in non-Hindi speaking states are not opposition to reform but a protest against the impression of cultural dominance. India’s new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, which replaced colonial-era laws in 2024, are seen in some regions as symbols of centralisation rather than inclusivity.
These moments show how fragile cohesion can be. A Constitution sets the rules, but trust is maintained by everyday sensitivity to diversity.
Federalism in Practice
India’s federal system is not symbolic. Article 345 of the Constitution empowers states to decide their official languages. The Eighth Schedule recognises 22, and more have long sought inclusion. State governments conduct their daily work — from school curricula to court proceedings — in their chosen languages. English remains a bridge across states, but regional languages carry the legitimacy of governance.
This distribution of power is central to unity. States are not mere branches of the Union. They are elected governments with their own budgets, courts, and institutions. Their finances matter: in FY26, state revenues are projected to grow strongly on the back of GST collections and higher devolutions. Independent studies show that states account for about 60 percent of total public spending, especially in health, education, and infrastructure. The Centre may collect the larger share of taxes, but without predictable fiscal flows, the federal balance would falter.
Unity in India is therefore not top-down. It is a daily bargain between the centre and the states, made visible through budgets, languages, and services.
Diversity in Numbers
Some figures illustrate the scale:
- Languages: Over 1,300 mother tongues identified in 2011, 121 grouped languages, 22 scheduled.
- Population shares: Hindi (43.6%), Bengali (8%), Marathi (6.9%), Telugu (6.7%), Tamil (5.7%), and others spread across the country.
- Migration: Nearly 450 million Indians are internal migrants; yet only about one in eight moved across state borders, showing how strongly regional roots endure.
- Economy: Goa’s per capita income is more than seven times that of Bihar, yet both sit inside the same fiscal system.
- Diaspora: Over 18 million India-born migrants live abroad, while the wider overseas Indian community totals 35 million. Inward remittances reached a record 125 billion USD in 2023, rising further in 2024–25.
Numbers reinforce the point: unity here is about managing variety, not erasing it.
Lessons from History
History warns against forced uniformity. Empires that tried to flatten difference ultimately collapsed. The Mughal state, stretched under Aurangzeb, faced revolt and resistance. The Marathas, despite their reach, struggled to secure consent outside their core areas. Cohesion endured where rulers struck bargains with local languages, elites, and customs.
Independent India replaced conquest with representation. Today, difference is channelled into elections, legislatures, and courts. This is the first time the subcontinent’s diversity has been governed through ballots instead of battles.
The Diaspora Perspective
For Indians abroad, plurality is daily reality. In the Gulf, Malayali nurses, Tamil engineers, and Punjabi drivers share workplaces. In London or Birmingham, Bengali puja committees and Sikh gurdwaras host joint events. In Toronto or New Jersey, Onam, Diwali, and Vaisakhi are celebrated together in auditoriums filled with children who switch easily between English, their mother tongue, and Hindi.
Abroad, Indians do not feel compelled to choose a single cultural face. They share festivals, cuisines, and languages proudly, side by side. This offers a lesson for the homeland: unity grows when difference is celebrated, not suppressed.
Areas Requiring Care
There are three fronts where caution is needed:
- Language Policy: The three-language formula of the National Education Policy 2020 must remain flexible. Parents and states should shape language learning, not central diktats.
- Cultural Recognition: National awards, festivals, and grants should rotate focus fairly among regions. This ensures that every community feels represented in the Indian story.
- Data and Representation: The delayed Census must capture language, migration, and identity carefully. Without reliable data, policymaking risks oversimplifying a complex society.
A Closing Reflection
India is not an ancient empire reborn. It is a modern republic woven out of difference. Its stability comes not from one culture dominating but from many cultures coexisting under one democratic framework.
For Indians everywhere, at home and abroad, the lesson is the same: this unity is a choice renewed daily, not a permanent inheritance. It survives when governments listen to regional voices, when citizens take pride in their distinct traditions, and when all agree to share one constitutional roof.
Our past was plural. Our present is plural. The future will endure only if we treat that plurality as the foundation of strength, not a challenge to be erased.
© The WFY Magazine | Ridhima Kapoor