Regional expressions clash with political aspiration
By Swati Roy
Recently, the All India Moovendar Munnetra Kazhagam (AIMMK) led by founder N Sethuram, and the Vanniyar Peravai led by A K Natarajan, demanded the bifurcation of Tamil Nadu for “administrative purposes.” The Telangana Rashtra Samiti of Andhra Pradesh has also declared that all its elected representatives -16 legislators, six MLCs, four MPs and others in the local bodies - will resign on March 6 if the process for formation of a Telangana state is not initiated in the upcoming budget session of the Parliament. Following this, AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, M Veerappa Moily confirmed that a second States Reorganization Commission (SRC) with the specific mandate of examining the creation of Telangana and Vidarbha would be set up soon.
On January 28, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati, promised to create a Bundelkhand state if she became the Prime Minister . In West Bengal, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) called for a Gorkhaland state to be carved out of the Darjeeling hills and adjacent areas.
Although the demand for new states appears to be for administrative convenience or for the protection of minority communities and the indigenous populations, caste politics and political ambitions have superceded these reasons.
The demand for the bifurcation of Tamil Nadu can be traced to S Ramadoss, the founder of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). The Vanniyar-dominated party has a stronghold in north Tamil Nadu and is allied to another north Tamil Nadu favourite, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
As the largest community (53 per cent) among the listed Most Backward Classes and probably the least backward among them, Vanniyars have been cornering the large share of the benefits of land transfers by the upper castes such as Reddiars, Naidus and Mudaliyars.
A Bundelkhand state will benefit Mayawati's Bahujan Samajwadi Party(BSP) which has cornered 14 of the 21 Assembly seats of Bundelkhand. A substantial chunk of the SCs - which constitutes one-fourth of Bundelkhand’s population, higher than the national and state average - is made up of Ahirwars, Mayawati’s own caste.
The political parties have failed to move beyond electoral ambitions, even while supporting the demand of the local people for development. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has supported the demand for the Telangana state, and with the general elections a year away, has passed a resolution in its National Executive for immediate formation of a separate state.
Chhattisgarh formed in 2000, was on the election manifestoes of both the Congress (I) and the BJP since 1993, although the demand for a separate state had existed at the time of linguistic re-organisation of states. In 1991the BJP lost all the 11 seats from the region and thereafter used the demand for statehood for Chattisgarh as a comeback tool, finally ascending to power in 1999. The demand for a separate state is traced to the need felt by the wealthy ex-Malgujars, mostly Brahmins and Kurmis, to become powerful under a new state. That there is no place for self-rule by the tribal people - a significant section of the population, is substantiated by the presence of Naxalite movement and its opposing Salwa Judum in the state.Statehood for Jharkhand on Nov. 15, 2000, based on fulfilling the aspirations of the indigenous people has not resolved many issues of this region. Conflict due to political ambitions has been marked within the parties fighting for self-determination of the Jharkhandis since the 1960s. The Jharkhand party merged with the Congress in the 1960s. Later, it suffered a series of splits. In 1970, Sibu Soren quit Santhal Pargana party to form the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). In 1980 he quit the JMM to form the parallel JMM (Soren). The state is populated by more than 50 communities belonging to various STs and SCs, such as Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Birhor, Kharia, Bhumij, Dusad, Lohar, Gond to name a few. In. The Adivasis are principally an agricultural people, but industrialisation remains the chief agenda of the Jharkhand Government so far. The demand for a separate State, raised by the tribal people soon after Independence, was a natural reaction to prolonged deprivation. The movement remains overwhelmingly driven by personality clashes, held together by transient alignments.
Coalition conflicts
The demand for smaller states by the regional parties is definitely not a pleasant one for the coalition governments as in the case of Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress government is supported by TRS, and in Tamil Nadu where the DMK government is supported by PMK. In addition, all four parties are part of UPA-led Government at the centre. Interestingly, while these parties have been demanding separate states for some time now, pressure tactics are used only during elections .
While at some level the argument that the smaller states are administratively easier to manage can be accepted, setting up of new government machinery such as new legislatures, high courts, state capitals and other paraphernalia would burden the exchequer while possibly creating a domino effect among other states. It also means greater control over the people and greater the pressure of the ideas of that statehood, even if emerging from a small state, instilled in them, thus flouting their rights of self-determination.
An alternative would be autonomous councils under The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. This Schedule, used in the Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram grants power to the governor of the state to declare the administration of certain tribal areas as autonomous. In the North-east, Ladakh and the Darjeeling Hills, local demands for further administrative re-organisation and the formation of smaller units has been met by forming autonomous and regional councils, so as to cater to specific interests.
However, while it is important for India, the largest democracy in the world, to give space to regional and ethnic expressions without perceiving it as a threat to national integrity, it is equally important to check political parties who might manipulate the demands of the people for short term electoral gain. |
