62 SOCIAL SCIENTIST of India is sought by imperialism; such demands only echo imperialist designs. The only correct path to solve the problem of 'regionalism' engendered by ruling class centralisation and authoritarianism is for the democratic movement led by a united working class to safeguard its unity and at the same time fight for the intermediate demands such as states' autonomy and democratic language policy to counter separatism. In recent years the stand and policies of the Left Front government in Tripura have shown that this is the only path by which ruling class suppression of minority nationalities and regional separatism can be fought and the unity of people preserved. In stark contrast to the cycle of separatism and state repression in other north-eastern states, tiny Tripura under the leadership of the left has been able to counter disruption and maintain the unity of the tribal and Bengali-speaking peoples. In West Bengal also, the modern working class is multinational in composition and in the big industries in the established industrial belts, non-Bengali workers arc preponderant. Yet, in the face of rising regional chauvinism and the disturbing developments in Assam, the united working class movement has kept West Bengal free from the virus of chauvinism. These two examples in microcosm show the alternative approach to the problem of national unity. It is only when 'regionalism' is seen in its class context that it will be understood that bourgeois prescription for Indian unity will have to be transcended by a new democratic approach. As long as the Congress (I) at the Centre and the classes it represents continue to denigrate the legitimate demands for restructuring the unitary structure and for equality in languages and economic development as 'regionalism', the regional-national forces cannot be harnessed to strengthen Indian unity. To permanently settle the problems of national unity and harmonious development of all nationalities and regions, the struggle for emancipation of the people of all nationalities must become an integral part of the struggle for people's democracy. PRAKASH KARAT Secretary, Dslhi State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). 1 Amalendu Guha, "Nationalism: Pan-Indian and Regional in a Historical Perspective", Social Scientist^ Vol 12, No 2, February 1984. 2 R Ulyanovsky and V Pavlov, "The Asian and African Countries: Specific Features of Development", Social Sciences (Moscow), No 4, 1980. Quoted by B T Ranadive in "Place of Ideology in Marxist Theory of Social Change", Social Scientist, Vol 11, No 3, March 1983. 3 Sec B T Ranadive; "Marxism and the Nationality Question", The Mafxisty Vol 1. No 2. 4 E M S Namboodiripad, "The Indian National Question: Need for Deeper Study", Social Scientist, Vol 10, No i2. December 1982, p 68. 5 Nationality Question in India, Seminar Papers, Hyderabad, 1982.