New Genre of Imagined Ideologies Taking Root in India: Imagined Pasts and Divisive Present

India is a test case for any ideologies to take shape in the world. Religion had been the greatest divisive factor during the 'struggle for independence in India'. It is then replaced by the caste during the last sixty years. However, the ideology of caste, is fragmented and did not yield the desired results for the many political parties that exist in India, thus prompting them to look for a more profitable ideology that would lead to an electoral success. It is now geographical identity that seems to be yielding the electoral advantage for the political parties. All of a sudden, there are political parties, pledging support for one of other of these imagines identities based on geography. All the people of a set geographical region are said to possess a certain unique identity regardless of their religion, caste, class, or most importantly gender. Women is a silent subject in this matter.

Divisive ideologies and factional politics are not new to Indian political arena. However the new divisivist ideologies, based on imagined identies encompassing geogrphical location are slow to emerge although, its seeds could be found in British colonial rule.

A region such as 'Telangana,' which never existed as an independent state anytime in known History, but only as a region in Nizam territories (Nizam called his Telugu territory as Telengana (land of Telugu, the Marathi territory as Marathwada (land of Marathi)), is now created as a separate state. Marathwada and Telangana are part of Deccan Subedari from which the Nizam state was formed, while Nizam ceded the Coastal Andhra to British, ruling only the Marathwada and Telangana regions directly. What is interesting in this state formation is that such imagined identity is now turned into a viable political tool. Several political parties are ambitiously preparing for elections 2014 in Telangana region with this new divisivist ideology proclaiming to serve the interests of Telanganites. Time only would prove the fallacy of such imagines identities and paternalistic policies implemented without popular support.