The Myth of United India

Bangalore, Oct 1 : In South, a state is at stand-still demanding separation; in Northwest, a region is plagued with extremism which always wanted to break free, Northeast, a league of states frustrated at the tyrannical rule of the central government; and above all, another group of extreme leftists fighting to topple the government - A panoramic view of real India, a fact hard to digest but impossible to ignore. I wonder if the myth of united India has any more relevance or rather, it ever had?

The burning issue of Telangana seems to be an endless crisis with normal life being affected badly due to the ongoing protect. The city of Hyderabad is at a standstill ever since the agitations turned violent and rigorous. As many of the government employees are taking part in the strike by all sections of people' for the cause of a separate Telangana state, the public offices are mostly closed down in the state.

The Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry estimates the loss caused by the protest at around 500 crore a day.

The alarming situation is not just the Telangana issue, but the resultant demands from other parts of the country for freedom from their mother states.

After the center conceded to create a separate Telengana state, there have been demands for nine other new states including Gorkhaland in West Bengal, Coorg in Karnataka, Mithilanchal in Bihar and Saurashtra in Gujarat. The demands are mostly from different organizations like Gorkha Janamukti Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Dal and some from individuals.

The other demands are for a Vidarbha state in Maharashtra, a new Greater Cooch Behar state from parts of West Bengal and Assam, a Bhojpur state comprising areas of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and Bundelkhand state from many districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The realization of a Telangana state can give rise to widespread protests and agitations from different parts of the country demanding separation and creation of many new ones.

May be India can win a war on Kashmir, but can never win the hearts of Kashmiris. The dissident character is here to stay because it's deeply into their blood. The tactics of different governments seemed to have failed there over the time as intrusion and violent protests are on the increase in the state.

According to a recent poll conducted by think tank Chatham House, Nearly half of the people living in the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir want an an independent country for the disputed and divided state.

Between 75 percent and 95 percent people from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley support freedom both from India and Pakistan.

Twenty one percent of the population said they would vote for the whole of Kashmir to join India, and only 15 percent said they would vote for it to join Pakistan.

The results visibly indicate a quest for freedom beyond the religious lines. Nonetheless, the violent form of agitation is giving sleepless nights to government as the issue has been progressively gaining a global attention.

The severity of protests and agitation seems much less in Northeast as compared to the Kashmir valley, but people are definitely is not happy with the Indian rule.

Irom Sharmila Charu, the 'Iron Lady of Manipur' has been on an indefinite hunger strike since November 5, 2000 demanding the government to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Life has never been safe and peaceful in the northeastern states as human right violation is not a rare incidence there ever since the army took over the security control. The sense of belonging has been forcefully erased from the minds of the people from the seven states of northeast India over the years who are often viewed as different' by many.

The Indian state ignored the villages, left them underdeveloped and unemployed to a point where the people have naturally opted for other methods to retaliate and today it's called Maoism.

The official data reveals that naxalism has reached 165 of the country's 604 districts and as many as 15 of Indian states are living under the threat of this gravest internal security threat.

The sympathizers argue that naxals have been dispossessed, isolated, neglected, raped, murdered, pushed out of their land, and so and so on for many years by the government and the police force. However, they have on many occasions outlined their strategies and aims that is nothing less than toppling the democratic government.

The divide is becoming wider, intellectually and emotionally. The myth of united India has vanished, if at all there was one. It's high time that the government to hunt for practical confidence-building measures for the dissident masses.

In this era of fast dissemination of information, a revolt such as the Jasmine Revolution in the Arab, can bring in anarchy and instability to the state.