Doctrine of the right of self-determination

By the late nineteenth century, the political doctrine of the right of self-determination based on nationality gained weight. After the First World War, Woodrow Wilson advocated the doctrine of right of self-determination as the basic principle of reorganizing the Austro-Hungarian, the German and the Ottoman empires. It was based on the principle that every group of people who constituted a nationality had the right to be independent and to exist as a separate state. This doctrine of cultural, ethnic and linguistic similarity being the basis of political organization gained de facto legitimacy as the basis of nation-states. States composed of different nationalities came to be regarded as unnatural alliances. The post-First World War era saw the full operation of the principle of the right of self-determination. Statehood to Poland, Czechoslovakia (taken out from Austria), Serbia, Yugoslavia (for Croats) and Slovenia (taken out from Austria and Hungary), Estonia and Lithuania (taken out from Russia), Albania, etc. were such examples.

In the post-Second World War era, this doctrine was invoked by many nationalities to gain independence from colonial rules. Though it helped many ethnic, linguistic and cultural groups gain independence, there are limitations of the doctrine. Practically, taken to its logical conclusion, this would mean a large-scale disintegration of modern states which have multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic groups within it. This doctrine has helped many colonized people to demand independence from colonial rule; at the same time it has provoked internal movements for autonomy or independence in many nation-states.

The case of India may be taken as an example. India is a multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country. The doctrine of the right to self-determination along with the issue of the right of the minority has combined to provoke, on the one hand, a two-nation theory during British rule and several autonomy and separatist movements on the other in independent India. The struggle of independence for India witnessed the demand for a separate state on the basis of religious identity. Present-day India is still grappling with the problem of nationalities and demands for autonomy. For example, movements in the north-eastern region of the country including Assam and Nagaland, as well as in other parts like Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir for autonomy/separate status have posed problems for national integration and nation building.