The Burden of Diversity

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores the relationship between national identity and sovereign statehood. It examines the anxieties around national identity as evidenced in the realms of ideas as well as political practices and policy. It shows how the efforts at addressing this anxiety in India have resulted in two competing conceptions of the nation: the Nehruvian and the Hindutva. The two conceptions are juxtaposed to show how the anxiety remains unresolved as well as highlight the divergent notions of sovereign statehood they carry. The impact of Hindutva on contemporary politics and policy is discussed. Finally, the chapter examines an aborted early attempt in Pakistan at adopting secular democratic political order and, subsequently, a concerted effort at Islamizing the polity. It concludes by showing how the pursuit of a homogenized Islamic identity has undermined the sovereignty of the Pakistan state over the past two decades.