Identity Movements and Identity Politics: Indian Constitutional Framework

Abstract

Every society is, in some or the other way, a product of a region, ethnicity, gender, race, polity or any other social construct and therefore developing some form and shape of identity is but an essential eventuality. Here the concept of society is expanded to the totality of social phenomena and is recognized by common identity. Therefore, the severe partitions and divisions in India have led to the increase in the scenario of identity politics. Consider the concepts of Pluralism and Multiculturalism that has transformed into identity politics and defined certain groups by their race or ethnicity, where those identities became the catalyst for desiring political power. Identity formation is a process that involves the advancement of social identities based on various parameters including ethnicity and religion. There are ways in which identity creates divisions between heterogeneous groups. For instance, in present day Indian polity the factors like caste, language and even religion do not remain subtle but dominate the politics of the region. Further, this type of concentration on the issue creates a serious imbalance regarding the processes of development in Indian states dominated by the liberal politics. These minorities’ national, ethnic or religious rights are codified in the laws of various multi-national states, where the attention for the cultures of the ‘others’ is notably peripheral. Such considerations, regarding the nationalities and regarding cultural diversities, have social, political and economical consequences.