Read the passage and answer the questions:
Regionalism in India is rooted in India's diversity of languages, cultures, tribes and religions. It is also encouraged by the geographical concentration of these identity workers in particular regions and fuelled by a sense of regional deprivation. Indian federalism has been a means of accommodating these regional sentiments. After independence, initially the Indian state continued with the British-Indian arrangement, dividing India into large provinces, also called 'Presidencies'. These were large multi-ethnic and multilingual provincial states constituting the major political-administrative units of a semi-federal state called the Union of India. Languages coupled with regional and tribal identity and not religion has therefore provided the most powerful instrument for the formation of ethno-rational identity in India.
Which of the following cultural markers is not responsible for regionalism in India?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Caste
Option (2) Caste — Not responsible for regionalism (Correct). The cultural markers in which regionalism is rooted are language, culture, tribe and religion, concentrated in particular regions. Caste is not one of these markers, so it is the one item here that the passage does not tie to regionalism.
Option (3) Religion — Responsible for regionalism (Incorrect). Religion is one of the four markers in which regionalism is rooted. The passage later says that language, region and tribe, and not religion, have been the most powerful instrument of ethno-national identity, but that is a different point.
NCERT (2025-26): “6.2 Regionalism in the Indian Context … Regionalism in India is rooted in India’s diversity of languages, cultures, tribes, and religions. It is also encouraged by the geographical concentration of these identity markers in particular regions, and fuelled by a sense of regional deprivation. Indian federalism has been a means of accommodating these regional sentiments (Bhattacharyya 2005).…” “Language coupled with regional and tribal identity – and not religion – has therefore provided the most powerful instrument for the formation of ethno-national identity in India.…” |