Abstract

Why do states respond to some political movements with coercive repression while accommodating others? This study examines this question in the context of early postcolonial India by comparing the state’s responses to two contemporaneous movements in South India: the Telangana Communist Insurgency and the Dravidian anti-Hindi movement in Tamil Nadu between 1948 and 1952.

Although these movements emerged during the same formative period of state-building, they provoked sharply different responses from the Indian government. While the Telangana insurgency was met with sustained military repression, the Dravidian movement was ultimately incorporated through political negotiation and policy concessions. This thesis argues that these divergent outcomes are best explained by the state’s perception of existential threat and the presence of elite intermediaries capable of mediating between movements and state institutions.

The study draws on archival research conducted at the National Archives of India and the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library in New Delhi. Through a comparative analysis of archival data, this thesis identifies three key indicators shaping state threat perception: armed contestation of state authority, ideological challenges to state legitimacy, and the presence or absence of elite intermediaries.

By situating these cases within broader debates on repression, accommodation, and postcolonial state formation, this study demonstrates how the early Indian state developed a repertoire of governance that distinguished between dissent to be suppressed and dissent that could be incorporated into democratic politics.

Advisor

Welsch, Christina

Second Advisor

Haider, Erum

Department

History; Political Science

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Asian History | Comparative Politics | History | Political Science

Keywords

Postcolonial State Formation, South Indian Politics, Existential Threat Perception, Communism, Archival Research

Publication Date

2026

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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