My Perspective

A lot is heard about ethnic based separatist movements, like people of a particular region in a country having issues with people of other regions within the country. Most of the reasons are ethnic or cultural and the demands range from territorial autonomy to complete independence. Why does it happen? Well for that we have to go back in history. During the age of empires, the political boundaries were not limited to the cultural boundaries but depended on the ruler's imperial capacities. For examples: Maratha Empire had conquered and ruled states like Gujarat and Central India which were culturally distinct. The French Empire ruled Italy and Spain. The Japanese Empire briefly ruled nations in South East Asia and Korea. The British, well their rule was in every continent of the world. When concept of Nation-State emerged, it started changing political boundaries. Most common factor was language; kingdoms like Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria etc. joined to form Germany, as they a