Mohan Guruswamy should be ashamed of himself to write garbage like this. Why don't you do something, however small it may be, to foster unity among the Indians? I had better expectations from rediff. Hope people discuss something constructive to the country
Almost all readers who have called the notion of SEU threatening national unity "stupid" and "idiotic" (rightly or wrongly), have also pointed fingers at the failures of north indian states and in the process, showing their narrow regional jingoism. This south-north divide in the educated people's minds is the real danger. As someone has rightly pointed out, Maharashtra and Gujarat have developed far before and far far more evenly than the southern states, but you never hear such comments from the people at large in these states. It is high time the responsible people and politicians in the southern states stop fuelling narrow, regional jingoism. And the readers do some soul-searching. People who defend such sentiments have no right to talk about separatist elements in Kashmir or the North-East. By making derogatory statements aginst northern and north-eastern states, they are almost disowning these parts of the country. It is certainly narrow and dangerous line of thinking. Mind you, the Detroits and Silicon Valleys of India should be commended for their recent progress but they still do not TOGETHER generate as much tax revenues for the country as Mumbai alone does.
This is really very gruesome if this report stands with its words. This is should be handled with an iron fist. We have an identity in the world because of an Indian, not as as Assamese, Tamilian, Keralite or any thing else. And we are a truly free Indian only if we can move around from Kashmir to Kanyakumari & Kuchh to Arunachal with full sense of security.
Mr Guruswamy may have a vested interest, but he has definitely hit the nail on the head.
Yes, India's response to terrorism has been pathetic. People in Kandahar must have laughed till their bellies hurt during the hijack episode. They must have thought "If this is a right wing extremist government, what will a left wing liberal government be like?"
We should also be careful of regionalism, and I'm specially delighted that a South Indian made this point. There is a disgusting trend towards feelings like this : "We South Indians have more in common with Singapore than with the cowbelt". You can substitute Mahrashtrians for South Indians as well. It's a fact that the South and West are ahead of the North and the East. But no state is really a Singapore, or even a Malaysia yet! I have seen cases where my professors mocked Biharis, and I really felt sorry for the Biharis in class. We must wake up and stop being racists. I am from UP; I grew up in West Bengal and love the culture of that State. But though Bongs still don't admit it the decline of that state is largely because professional "outsiders" could never settle down there (unlike North Indians in Bangalore today).
Having been an advisor, you are in a better position to judge matters on the national level than most of the readers here on board.Sir, may I congratulate on your sagacious providence and concise article! It is one of the best on this portal ever.First: The responsible for a major blunder after Kargil shall be accounted for and jailed if necessary. Second: As you say and as a research paper of the World Bank indicates: The selfish cooperation of southern states will yield doom for an united India. If this exemple is followed suit Yugoslavia 2 will be the result.The very idea of India is cooperation. The richer should always pay more taxes.That is the idea of a small solidarity.
Mr Guruswamy, You made a total mess of your article by writing about two irrelevant issues, terrorism and southern economic union. You are further sowing the seeds of north south and hindi non-hindi divide. From the 55 years from independence, south indian people NEVER supported the idea of splitting from the Republic of India, despite being ruled all the time(Except two occasions, once with PVN Rao and Deve Gowda) by north indian PMs. (Nothing wrong in this.. i am just trying to bring out the statistics). They have always been highly nationalistic. I only think nationalism and economic cooperation can get along together. And regarding why such a forum is necessary, its only logical to form a union with a neighbour, not someone who is far off. Further, most of the leaders in the northern states have failed in bringing development in their states. Any good leader would try to associate himself with performers and not with non-performers. Finally, I feel happy that you are only a 'former' advisor. God Save MY country(Not my state alone) from these pseudo nationalistic vultures. JAI HIND An indian before a south indian
Guruswamy is probably a South Indian surname, and I'm happy to see his criticism of the union of the south. There is a strong need for dismantling barriers between states in general. But of late, there is this theory that the south is a first world country: I read that some South Indians like to think they have more in common with Singapore than with the cowbelt!
Dig this: the per capita income of Singapore is 20,000 USD. When you compare different parts of India to Singapore, ALL the parts fare badly! It's too early to be crowing "My state is better".
I did a 6 week project in a suburb of Bangalore (a town in TN) once. We got tap water on about 10 days. There was a bandh once because a mother and daughter were raped and no action was taken against the criminals, who were well connected. It took two hours to cover a distance of 30 kms to Bangalore. I am NOT making this up. Though I am from UP, I saw the real "heart of darkness" in this town.
I have worked for a while in Bangalore, and consider it the best place in the world. I strongly agree that the south and the west are miles ahead. But given the state of affairs, let's be Indians first - and not be racists.
nailed
by Cosmopolitan on Jun 16, 2003 04:33 PM
Even though your descripton of the south is fair, naming B'lore as the best city in the world is simply ridiculous.There are far better cities in Europe or Australia.
Dear Mohan Guruswamy, As rightly pointed out by you Southern States do have a Sense of Separateness. Apart from having direct contact with agencies like World Bank and Asian Development Bank, their strong opposition to Hindi as a national language and preferential use of English also proves it. It may be due to these states' much less participation in the freedom struggle, compared to the other states. Our freedom struggle against British rule was a great unifying factor for Indians speaking different languages. The imprisoned freedom fighters from all the states used to meet in the prisons and interact and kept on communicating with each other even after being freed from jail, thus forging a kind of unwritten alliance and creating a feeling of oneness. Perhaps, compared to the other states, there were very few freedom fighters from the Southern States. So there weren't many leaders who could have carried the message to their people and inculcated the feeling of oneness with people from other parts of India.
RE:Southern States and Sense of Separateness.
by Sharad Korde, Thane. on Jun 18, 2003 08:22 PM
Dear Rajesh, My comments were on "Sense of Separateness" in which I had tried to trace its origin. You seem to have very little to say on it. Non-acceptance of Hindi as a national language exhibits this "Sense" in a subtle way. You say, "Learning Hindi didn't help me". If you had travelled to states other than Southern States it must have helped you in communicating with people of those states. And these non-Southern States constitute nearly two-thirds of India. But the most useful and easily available facilities go unnoticed. There is no danger to National Security and National Sovereignty except from those who nurture "Sense of Separateness". What you call "jingoism" has earned us freedom from British rule. The attitude of Southern States to progress selfishly by pouncing upon the external aid which rightfully should go to national kitty, is certain to be frowned upon. The analogy of "crab story" therefore doesn't apply here.
RE:Southern States and Sense of Separateness.
by rajesh on Jun 21, 2003 04:56 PM
dear sharad, u got me wrong in that. i said learning hindi didnt help me much in integration with north. i am sorry to say, i have always been a madrasi wherever i went. but that is not the issue now, is it? well being of southern states, who pool their resources will definately enrich central gvt. kitty, by way of taxes, technical knowhow etc. if they are taking this initiative it should be welcomed and not seen suspiciously. now that sri lankan govt and ltte are talking with each other, this is not the time to bring about a debate on secession of southern states. there are already lots of regional chauvanist in tn, who may take this oppurtunity to raise their idiotic demans again! remember IPKF and LTTE! u mention that there were not much freedom fighters from south during struggle against brits, you are wrong. maybe language problem, but local leaders were there. u sure not heard about maha kavi barathiyar! well also naming certain individuals will be injustice to other mytyrs. so what guruswamy writes is for publicity stake, no essence or matter in it. development is good, competition is good, let all other states also take a cue from this alliance.
RE:Southern States and Sense of Separateness.
by Rajesh on Jun 17, 2003 07:25 PM
blr a town in tn. get ur facts correct mate, before putting your crazy views on the board. by the way dont compare cities in india with singapore or europe. we are talking about a co-operation between states to harness the talents and resources for betterment of people. whats wrong in it mate. not learning hindi! learning hindi didnt help me in anyway. what a stupid article and comments. dangeruous to National security. cut the crap. national security will be better with betterment of people not by jingoism. well well, its the indian crab story again isnt it!
