Maharashtra: Nationalism versus Regionalism

The recent trail of events which took place in cities across Maharashtra can definitely be categorized as unfortunate not as entirely unexpected। The huge influx of people from northern states especially Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was building up resentment among locals and the comments made by Mr। Raj Thackeray, irrespective of the motive, genuine or political, gave vent to it. While the comments by him can be labeled as opportune and politically motivated, the problem itself cannot be ignored. The feelings expressed by him have certainly met with an echo from sections of Marathi populace which testifies the existence of the problem.The problem itself is multifaceted and cannot be stated by making rhetorical remarks or blanket statements. The reaction to Raj Thackeray's remarks has been equally or even more hostile, not only from the expected quarters of political parties but also from self styled human rights activists, armchair social workers and bourgeoisie intelligentsia(likes of Shobha Dey, Medha Patkar,Arundhati Roy ). While such a behavior is expected from political parties, the baseness and shameless denial of situation on ground by certain section of media and intelligentsia is appalling.

People all over the world are moving towards cities in search of better work and quality of life( definition of which is certainly ambiguous), and India is no exception to that phenomenon. But there is an important difference. This internal migration is not uniform, and is heavily skewed towards cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore etc. Lucknow, Patna, Kanpur are not as favored by people as the former are.Such a migration is an anomaly and disturbs the normal physiology of these cities and the nation as a whole. The capacity of a city to cope with an influx is limited and any transgression of that limit would certainly create problems for the existing population. This is the brief nature of the problem and some commentators, (there are innumerable of them, often irresponsible, thanks to an anomalous explosion of mass media activities) painted horrendous pictures, created devils from ordinary men, and invoked parallels from world over which were utterly unsuitable and incomparable to the given situation. A rational assessment of the situation with a national mindset was needed which precisely was lost in the deluge of rants by self deluding speakers.

Firstly it is an internal, local matter between people from two different parts of the same nation. That these people belong to the same nation and ethnicity is an indisputable fact that cannot be overemphasized. It is a national crime to compare this migration to a so called Aryan Migration, which has time and again been proven to be the biggest lie and falsity in history, or to migration of people from Eastern Europe to USA or Russians to England. These comparisons were made by a CEO of a reputed IT company in an article in a reputed Marathi daily (Mr. Deepak Ghaisas CEO, Iflex in Sakal dated 11 February 2008). The first one never happened and second case involves people of different ethnicity and nationality. Hence comparing the given situation with any international situation is unacceptable. The fundamental difference between these two cases is that former involves one and the same people and hence the grounds on which migrants face opposition in both cases in completely different. In case of international migrations (as cited by the respected gentleman in his article) the opposition is primarily due to difference of nationality and ethnicity, and not always related to availability of resources (USA has ample resources at its disposal but it still prevents Mexicans from entering), where as in our case it is simply the matter of inverse relation between population and resources. This is just one instance from all the absurd comments that are being made.

On similar lines we can distinguish between legal migrations from any part of India to another, with the illegal "immigration" of Bangladeshis or people of other nationalities. There should not be any second thoughts on the issue of driving these people out as swiftly as possible. Even if Mumbai turned into a utopia all of a sudden by magic, with resources to accommodate any number of people, no Bangladeshi should ever be allowed to stay illegally. Now, it is true that according to the constitution of India, any person should be allowed to go anywhere in its boundaries, buy a house there and stay as long as he wishes. This should be the case with any sovereign country with a strong central authority, which is what our constitution desires us to be. (I doubt whether we can include Kashmir in that, because the above said clause does not exactly apply to it. What a supreme irony, that Maharashtra, which belongs to the core of India, suffers from a constitutional provision, and Kashmir benefits from the same constitution which it does not fully adhere to.) But the same, and very much desirable, constitutional provision does not advise us on situations where there is a conflict of interests. Since for an ideal constitution, as the constitution of India very much is, every citizen of India is a LOCAL of INDIA, and there is no other citizenship or identity. It is a document of mathematical precision designed to govern the affairs of a huge state and from which guidance cannot be expected in each one of the multitude of problems which we face every day. Such problems have to be dealt with accordance to intuition and principles of natural justice.

Natural justice tells us that if there is a conflict of interests in regards to utilization of resources, the local population should get precedence over people coming from outside. If there are enough jobs, roads, houses and all other civic amenities for all (which is extremely difficult to acheive if influx is far greater than what can be accomodated even if development is going on at full pace) then such questions would never arise. The major aspect of this problem is that there isn't enough space for all the people currently living in cities such as Mumbai, Pune or Bangalore, a problem further complicated by unabated migration. Stating this fact is not being a regionalist.


Another minor aspect of the problem is the so called "cultural" differences between people from different parts of India. People who say that India is an entity (and not a nation) composed of various "different" cultures, are either naive, that is they do not know what they are speaking, or are dangerous traitors who pose a threat to our unified national existence. INDIA IS ONE NATION, ONE RACE OND ONE CULTURE. IT HAS BEEN SO ETERNALLY AND WILL REMAIN SO FOR ETERNITY. What appear to be "different cultures" are in fact branches, which spring from a common monolithic central core. India is like a huge, old banyan tree, whose branches have grown so much that they appear to be independent trees. We are so very ancient as a civilization and nation that the branches have grown far and wide, but still are one and the same tree. These are minor differences which can never cause a problem on their own, but can increase the intensity of a conflict when there is one. The problem is not Hindi vs. Marathi, (any Indian language cannot be pitted against any other Indian language, for that matter) but it may complicate an already existing problem. If there is discontent over migration, where the language of migrants tends to replace the local language, it adds fuel to fire. I would like to compare the following situations with respect of language conflict along with the current situation in Maharashtra.1) Anti Hindi riots in Assam (instigated by ULFA).2) Anti Hindi agitation in Tamilnadu (As a part of Dravidian movement).These two situations essentially had a separatist and hence anti-national agenda. ULFA is a terrorist organization which demands separation of Assam from India. The Dravidian Movement was formed to counter the hypothetical Aryan aggression on behalf of a hypothetical Dravidian race. These two situations utilized the perceived threat of Hindi to the local language and forwarded their anti national agenda.

In Maharashtra, the situation is totally different. Due to linguistic closeness of Hindi and Marathi, and Hindi knowing population being the superset of Marathi speaking population (Since practically every Marathi speaking person can at least understand Hindi, which may not be the case in Assam or Tamilnadu ) Hindi is fast replacing Marathi as the default language in public arena, in major cities of Maharashtra. People living in cities such Pune, Mumbai cannot dispute this fact. Everyone loves her/his mother tongue, and hence Marathi speaking populace is pained to see their language retreating in its own land.

The problem is the perception that Hindi being the "national language" should enjoy precedence over any other language. Every language in India recognized by the constitution is a national language (or "Official language" to use the precise term from the constitution) and there is no reason why any language should enjoy precedence over others. Moreover, numerical superiority should never be the reason for such precedence. Rather one should consider every language in India as one's own language and try to learn it, which again depends on the region one lives in. This is what principles of nationalism dictate. If I visit Tamilnadu and have to live there for a while, I should use that opportunity to learn Tamil as it is my own language. Hindi should definitely be preferred as a medium of communication between people having different mother tongues, since it is our own language, instead of English. But in Maharashtra, I see no reason, why people should talk in Hindi in general.The current anti Hindi sentiment in Maharashtra, is only due to the peculiar situation elaborated above and is not remotely close to any of the examples cited above, which were essentially an expression of separatism.

Truth is that no one desires to leave their people, home, village or town. People are forced to leave by external factors such as education or work or by psychological compulsions (e.g. lure of city life, which is not that rosy as they believe). Everybody who vehemently castigated Raj Thackeray very well know the factors which forced people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to leave their homes and to come to overcrowded cities which many a times offer them subhuman conditions to live in. Ironically those who were championing the cause of North Indians in Mumbai are the most principal factors which forced them to leave their homes. These so called leaders are pestilential, base creatures who are enjoying lavish lifestyles while the people whom they are supposed to serve are leading rotten lives far away from their homes.Nobody in Maharashtra hates Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Not only for Marathas, but for every Indian, some of the most holy and sacred places like Kashi, Mathura, Ayodhya, Bodh Gaya, Lumbini are in these provinces. The all purifying Ganga flows through them.

Emperor Shalivahan drove away Shaka, Yavana and Pahalava enemies from north India and freed it from foreign yoke. When Aurangzeb attacked temples in Kashi and Mathura, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, wrote a fiery letter to him asking to desist from doing so, and assuring retribution if he proceeded. A large Maratha army honored its national commitment by confronting Ahmed Shah Abdali at Panipat, when he sought to conquer and ravage these parts of India. These acts were done in order to fulfill the national responsibility and hence no narrow regional sentiment can ever overshadow the Maratha thought which tarnishes this glorious tradition. This is a timeless truth which holds for Marathi people in general, if not for particular individuals. The current disturbances should force us to find solutions to the deep decay in governance set in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which forces the people there to leave their homes in search of livelihood elsewhere. Shutting the mouths of the likes of Raj Thackeray, is like using a pain killer as a remedy for a cancerous tumor, for the pain is just a symptom of the real disease which lies elsewhere and is much more dangerous.


Vande Mataram!!