Oct 21, 2008

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

    And finally the rogue of Maharashtra, Mr Raj Thackeray is behind bars. But I cannot but wonder, for how long. Indian law enforcement agencies are notorious for their inability to keep the rich and powerful behind bars for any length of time.

    The other day I was standing in a Bank at Pune filling out a form, when another customer walked up to me and asked me something in Marathi. Much as I would have liked to help him, I didn't understand him. And I told him as much in Hindi. Pat came the remark, "Maharashtra me rehte ho aur Marathi nahi aati?" I have lived in Pune for many years, not at a stretch, but off and on. But never had I heard this kind of a retort before. Clearly, Raj Thackeray's propaganda had prompted the remark. Not to be outdone, I said, "When you go to Andhra you wouldn't know Telugu either". And fortunately, that was the end of that. The trend however is another manifestation of the fallacy of 'Unity in Diversity'.

How could the authorities allow matters to come to such a sorry pass? What is our country coming to? If things are left to themselves, the Tipping point, which will fragment the country will inevitably arrive, sooner or later. We call ourselves a Secular state, which shows tolerance towards all religions. The Dictionary meaning of secularism is :
a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship. In plain terms, for a secular state, it means, the Government not having anything to do with Religion. But in actual fact, secularism in India the way it is practiced by the state, is minority appeasement. And as far as the populace is concerned, there is hardly any religious tolerance in evidence. Riots, desecration and vilification of churches, perceived mockery of religious Gods by artists and painters, terrorism in the name of Jehad………..and the list just goes on and on. In the south we have demonstrations and burning of buses against Hindi language. Where is the unity in diversity? Only in slogans?

India, is a big country, but unlike some other countries like America or Canada it's becoming way too unmanageable. Why should a country so diverse in culture, language, ethnicity, creed, colour etc. be a single state. Especially since I have already shown above that 'Unity in Diversity' is nothing more than a slogan. Europe has countries, the size of Punjab, or in many cases even smaller. And since the World War II, they have had a relatively stable and peaceful existence (exceptions notwithstanding). Erstwhile USSR gave way to a number of nation states on being unshackled from communism. Though there have been minor skirmishes between states which were part of erstwhile USSR, I am of the firm belief that in the long run, the break up of the Soviet Union will turn out to be the reason for prosperity in the region.

Had India not been held together by military might, it would have disintegrated long ago. States in the North East, Kashmir and possibly Punjab, to name a few would have seceded. The question that I want to ask the readers of this blog is "Would it be such a bad thing for India to allow some of these provinces, which have been bleeding the country for decades, to be allowed to secede? The oft repeated answer that I get is "where will it all end?" There will hardly be an India left. But so what? Wouldn't India, or what was left of it be more prosperous than any of the other provinces that have been clamoring for Azaadi. And in the long run like Europe, a time would come when these very nation states after having seceded, and realized their folly would want an 'Indian Union' on the lines of the 'European Union.'

However, one of the pitfalls of a Democracy, esp. in a country like India is petty politics. And so, even a hint of a suggestion of the kind that I have made above by any political party, would push the country into throes of rage, anger and very likely violence by the so called 'Nationalists'.

Note: If you find my thoughts offensive, feel free to post your comments without prejudice. It will be my endeavor to respond objectively.

4 comments:

  1. India would be destroyed if it were not to remain a single state!It's diversity is its source of strength.When the Brits ruled India it took people from different cultural, lingual and religious backgrounds to chase them away.
    PS: i do not find your thoughts offensive. This is just my opinion

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  2. @Anonymous
    Thanks for stopping by and i respect your opinion. However, if you were to ask the brits, they would insist they were not chased away, but they left on their own, as Post World War II, their prorities had changed. it wasn't only India that they left, the whole imperial british empire ollapsed. So who chased whom?

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  3. Its great to observe some new ideas but in my views this is wrongway of thinking. We have seen how our country is suffering and so must be pakistan from each other. How about thinking of joining of these two countries. O.K., that is not possible! but can you just remove the hatred between two countries.

    It may happen that all the states or some of them divided by splitting India behave in the form we face Pakistan today.

    A big is BIG. We should think in line that how our country Unity is retain and how more useful the states are to one another. Think in line to give more power to States and improving political System. Some rules and regulation which adhere to todays life pattern are required to me made and implemented with firm determination.

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  4. @Deepak Agarwal
    Thanks a lot for your comments. Taking up your points one by one. We Indians have tried to remove the hatred between India & Pak, from Shimla accord, Lahore Bus yatra ................ to the recently concluded Home minister's visit, many PMs have tried. But the fact of the matter is that Pakistan cannot live with the humiliation of its dismemberment post 1971. It is jealous and envious of our progress and increasing clout internatioanally. An average Paki cannot put the baggage of hatred down............ even if Indians could. In the same breath, let me assure you that we Indians do not really hate Pakis the way they do.
    Yes, if Unity is to be preserved, as it is a matter of state policy not to secede even an inch of territory, what you have suggested in yur last paragraph needs to be implemented.
    Thanks and keep visiting.

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