ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 focuses on the debates that took place in postcolonial Gujarat on the issue of linguistic states, especially the question of whether a separate state for Gujarati speakers should be created. It looks at how their attitude towards the relationship between language, people, and territory evolved during that time. The foundation of the Gujarat state in 1960 marked the moment in which the crucial role of the Gujarati language as an identity marker was confirmed and consolidated, and yet the process of the making of this state was far from straightforward. Even after its foundation, there continued to be people who negotiated with or resisted the idea of Gujarat as a territory for Gujarati speakers.
