Having a regional identity doesn’t necessarily negate the love for the nation.
The Indian conception of a nation state is not the same as that of a European State or that of the U.S.A.
Most of the European nations have some common element that unifies them. They are mostly homogenous nations where either a race, ethnicity, language etc. unites them. India on the other hand is not a nation which has been formed on the basis of having a common language or race or ethnicity. Even cultural homogeneity cannot be truly claimed for India. Then what is the binding force that unites India as a country? There are three factors which does this.
- Common experience of exploitation at the hand of an outside and the common struggle we fought to regain our freedom
- A secular ethos accommodating and assimilating every culture that comes to this land. Everything stands with its distinct nature in India yet everything in India is India. Look at Islam with its Sufis and Dargahs in North India. There are many more examples of such a unique yet blended in existence of different cultures in India
- Unity in Diversity as summed up succinctly by Nehru. Indianness is not being assimilated into the “Indian identity” like the melting pot nature of America (USA). There you have all cultures melting into a single one. Nor is it state enforce like in France where Parisian french is made to dominate all other dialects thereby extinguishing the local flavour. Indianness is retaining the regional identity and being proud of our regional uniqueness and that freedom inturn feeding into our pride of being an India. It is that freedom that automatically propels a Tamilian and a Naga and a Malayali to raise their hands in salute when they see the tricolor being unfurled in front of them.
- It is only when the pride in regional identity gets mixed up with intolerance thereby becoming parochial in nature that it is a danger. Fortunately such elements are in a minority in India. Indian culture is so diverse we grow up taking that tolerance for granted and ingrained in us.
Hope this helps.