National-building in south Asia/ edited by Ramakant and B.C. Upreti

Experience of South Asian countries, as of many others, in the third world speaks of an upsurge of various primordial and/or sub-national identities competing with and at times crisscrossing the overarching national identity, and in the process jeopardizing the latter. The experience of the process of modernization and development only belies the formulations of "melting pot" theories assuring assimilation of sub-national identities through secularization of roles accompanying modern politico-economic structures. They may be a legacy of colonialism, but they severely jeopardize both nation-building and state- building and may even be prone to state- breaking. By providing an insight into the working experience of various countries these two volumes promise to fulfil a
long felt need for a proper understanding of the problems of nation-building in South Asia and its various socio-economic and political implications.