India is a diverse country. It believes in the notion of Unity in Diversity.Our founding Fathers were aware of various regional aspirations taking birth in the country soon after independence. Perhaps, that’s why, we had states reorganization on linguistic basis.
But, time and again, the regional identities have echoed their voices and have threatened and intimidated the unity of the country with their secessionist claims. The call for separate states in the country is the case in point. Today, we have plethora of voices coming from different parts of country viz. Telangana (Andhra Pradesh), Vidarbha ( Maharashtra), Saurashtra (Gujarat), Maru Pradesh (Rajasthan), Harit Pradesh (UP), Bundelkhand (UP), Poorvanchal (UP), Mithilanchal (Bihar), Gorkhaland (W.Bengal), Bodoland (Assam) etc.
The regional developmental imbalances , lack of opportunities, abject living conditions etc. are given as the varied reasons behind such voices.But I fail to understand that why no one talks about political opportunism being one of the important reason. The region of Vidarbha in Maharashtra is considered really backward and is notoriously famous for farmer suicides. However, we have had two chief ministers of the state hailing from this region. But, still, no development took place. The solution to this problem lies in earmarking special funds for the undeveloped regions and a focused decentralized approach with a periodical review. There is no replacement for an effective governance. What is the guarantee that the newly formed states will provide effective governance ? Jharkhand is a live example in front of us. With the recent Assembly elections, it has again plunged into another 5 years of instability.
India can still thrive peacefully if all of us are able to put our Indian identity over and above the regional identities. These regional voices , no doubt, are necessary in bringing about regional development , but any action which threatens the national unity and peace , should be stringently dealt with.
The Thackreys in Maharashtra have come , off late , to reiterate their ‘son of the soil’ theory. It is ridiculous to see that the two cousins (Uddhav and Raj) in their fight for political power are putting the National peace and unity at stake. The entire country is proud of its financial capital – Mumbai , and by propounding the ‘Mumbai for Maharashtrians’ theory, the Thackreys are doing disservice to the nation. They might derive some short term gains from this sort of tactics, but, in the long term, Indian unity will triumph. They should stop such petty politics and focus on developmental issues. There are better and more important things to ponder over like poverty, farmer suicides, malnutrition, price rise etc. , than Marathi chauvinism…. !!!
Long live India !
Long live Indian Unity !!
No comments:
Post a Comment