In the last few months, many of my friends shared with me,
an online
article (and various narrations of it) which demands the creation of a
separate country called United States of South India (USSI). The article has
gained widespread popularity, thanks to its partial data driven facts and baseless
perceptions which will convince any south Indian with limited or no knowledge
about the macro-economics of a country or even the political agenda behind it,
that this is a great idea. Further, I saw that there are twitter handles and Facebook
pages with a large subscriber base supporting this sham. If you look closely, it
wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that this is a funded faction. But what
really surprised me is the fact that people are falling for such fake
ideologies so easily. I was alarmed when the article made it to my family
WhatsApp group and to my surprise, my uncles who served in PSUs for 3 to 4 decades
fell for this. Few even went a step ahead and started sharing their own
perceptions and imaginations of a separate powerful (?) and peaceful South
Indian country. I couldn’t believe that educated masses bought this idea at its
face value. It didn’t surprise me that liberals are capitalizing on such
things. These assumptions and imaginations, can have devastating consequences
on the national Unity and has the potential to even destabilize our economy.
Here is my attempt to debunk this dangerous myth that
“United States of South India” is a great idea. It is just a fabricated
veracity by a certain political wing for personal gains and more importantly, in
real, it will be a recipe for the greatest political disaster of the 21st
century.
The
“We-pay-more-tax” belief
The article spoke at length on how Karnataka, Maharashtra
and TN pay more taxes to the center and how we are not getting the same back.
This is purely misleading people. Firstly, people should understand how the
federal structure works. In real, there is no single country on this planet
where the fiscal burden is evenly distributed. And this theory is totally
flawed because it is dependent on so many factors like geography, terrain,
industries, human resources etc. The fiscal burden can never be equally spread
across the states. And, not just states, it varies widely and largely from city
to city. For example, in Karnataka, Bangalore largely or even in its entirety solely
pay taxes to the center, thanks to its IT and manufacturing boom. But,
Maharashtra, has Mumbai paying a lion’s share of direct taxes, and there are
Pune and other cities too. So, the “We pay more tax and hence we have to get
back more from center” rhetoric is unimaginably stupid.
On the other side, it is more to do with rich-poor gap than
states giving taxes and getting benefits in return. Post liberalization era has
only widened this rich-poor gap. The government from 2004-2014 had a great
chance to bridge this gap by being more cautious of its economic policies. But
it neglected this completely and is now busy coaching its xenophobic dimwits to
mislead the aam aadmi of this nation to believe that we pay more taxes but do
not get anything back. In fact, the current government has done remarkable
progress in bridging the rich-poor gap by developing the very neglected regions
of the country so that they depend less on us and eventually sustain on their
own. Instead of whining, please feel happy that you’re helping your brethren on
the other side so that they eventually stop asking us for help. I understand the
frustration that there is no immediate returns! But it does not mean that we
divide the country into two! Feel proud that we are paying more only to make
our country prosper. We are only more powerful as United India. Do not succumb
for mislead propaganda like north and south divide.
Superior Federals
A good friend from a certain communist state always made fun
of the political and socio-economic problems on the other side of the country stating
that we are superior federals and we use the federal powers to the best of “our
abilities”. His focus was always on “our abilities”. By that, he meant South
Indians, which he was always proud of. When he was once drunk, he said that
there are only five states in India, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh
and North India. My every attempt to make him understand that executive or the
financial powers of the states vary with each other and so the fundamental
rights of its citizens was in vain. When he told me that during the recent
floods in his state, his parents were rescued by army jawans, I asked him “You
superior federals do not even have an army of your own that a Jawan from the
other side had to come to your rescue”? Finally he got the point.
I stated this story because there are millions out there with
the “we are superior federals” mindset who consider themselves more powerful
and self-sufficient in every possible way! Imagine the situation where an Army
Jawan says he’ll rescue only people from his state or a surgeon who says he’ll
operate only patients from his region. Forget the citizens with this mind-set,
our very own chief minister asked in a public addressing “Why should I develop
this region. You guys did not vote for my party”. This is the situation in
south.
Imagine the situation of South India, if Vajapayee decided
to build highways only between Delhi-Bombay-Kolkata and called it Golden
Triangle instead of Golden Quadrilateral just because south did not vote for his
party. Pay close attention and you’ll realize that this “Superior Federals”
theory is something that Liberals are trying to infest with different
narratives in innocent minds. Do not fall for it. Love for your state/region/province is very good. But it
never should be above your love for the nation.
A new country is
no joke
Have you ever wondered how much
did it cost the exchequer when Andhra Pradesh was divided? Just a new
secretariat building in Telangana for the government offices to function cost 1200
crores INR. The new capital of Andhra Pradesh is planning to incur a Capex of
51,000 crore INR of which 14,000 crores will be spent on just construction of
roads. Extending the existing railway lines of Amaravati by a little more than
100 km is estimated at 10,000 crores. I want you to understand, my dear friend,
that the major chunk of this is all your money. If this is the scene of a new state,
imagine the cost of building a new country. Carving out a new country is not
just about building infrastructure. A new form of government, new executive and
judiciary, new laws, intelligence and trade establishments intellect
bureaucrats to run governing bodies; all these do not happen on their own. By
the time your dream country USSI (United States of South India) come to a stable
position that you are expecting, you would probably cease to dream. So, stop daydreaming
about USSI.
Being a true Indian national,
your political inclinations and love for your province should only help it develop
and prosper. Such disguised assiduous ideologies are not only treacherous in
nature, they are gibberish and lead you to believe in claptrap doctrines. Put
your analytical thinking hats on and nip the partisanship in its bud! Diversity
is our biggest strength. Don’t let it turn into a weakness, because there is
always someone who is waiting to capitalize on it.
