A few years back one day evening in college hostel, I was discussing with one of the hostel mate. Bit by bit the discussion went from positive to negative side. Suddenly he joked, it is our state which is more developed than yours. If you are so proud of your native state, then why you are studying in our States. I was perplexed hearing this. Anxiously I replied, I am studying in your state, but I want to assure you that no one from my state will go to other states after fifteen years. He smiled and asked, how?I replied, because I want to make my own kingdom. I don’t want to be a part of your India country. The smile vanished from his face and he cautioned, you are dangerous for India.
Till now, many times that incident comes into my mind. We both were wrong. although my hostel mate said I was dangerous for India, he was also saying the same in vague. I said that I didn’t want to be a part of India. My hostel mate also said the same. He didn’t want anyone from other part of India to come and study in his state. He was not following the basic rule of equal right to every Indian.
It is not that we were wrong. Many of us know that once Bombay was to be declared as a national territory. Shankarrao Deo of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti was instrumental in the formation of Maharashtra. He met Bombay Citizens’ Committee in 1954 and proposed that Bombay should have all benefits what it had at that time, i.e. metropolitan status, freedom of business and industry. He only insisted that Bombay should be included in Maharashtra. In 2008, in Mumbai, the attack on Uttar Pradesh and Bihari migrants was against the proposal of Shankarao Deo and the basic right to earn and live.
All over India, adivasis are closer to nature. It is they who have preserved the natural forests from the ancient age. Forests were their basis of living. They hunted in the forests, ate the wild fruits and earned little money by selling the dry twigs in the locality. Today, we have barricaded them from entering the forests. We have planted sal and sagwan trees in the forests which are not eaten by wild animals. We cut and use these trees to build beautiful cities. The adivasis now are doing farming and cultivation. Due to these non eatable trees the wild animals are attacking their crops every day and night. The situation becomes worse when some jawans of forest department mistreat them and many times not stop themselves from playing with the honour of girls and ladies.
It is very rare that the map of a country or state has been same for a long time. No pakistani had thought that one day their country’s map will be changed. Not only Pakistani, India’s has also seen the same many times after independence. In 1975, Sikkim was included in India and India’s map changed a bit.
There are many such incidents which overpower our country’s unity, like no any outsider can buy land in Meghalaya. The water dispute between many states The people and police giving priority to “local and majority” people is very common among us. We never think that this is also a violation of our unity.
When many students, including Kanhiya Kumar shout that they want freedom from unemployment, poor and so on, then the country boils. Even the lawyers loose faith in the law and attacks them. The country blames them that they are not patriots. But are we?
It seems that we are patriot. But we are not that much. We are mainly patriot to the ruler. Even for a long time Gandhi jee was loyal to the British Empire. Many of us have the belief that Maharana Pratap was fighting to save the honour of Hindus. But we rarely know that there was also Hakim Khan Suri, a Muslim who supported Maharana Pratap and participated in the battle of Haldighati with 5000 Afghans.
Many of us will now argue that our army is a Patriot. I agree with caution. History around the world is full of army dictatorship. Our neighbours Pakistan and Thailand are recent examples. Now, in Thailand who is a patriot? The answer is “the person who is loyal to current army dictatorship”. People supporting democracy in Thailand will now be considered as traitors.
Whenever youngsters shout, there is something true in their act. The British government considered Bhagat Singh as a traitor. This was their biggest mistake. They hanged him and got themselves hanged in another sixteen years. When students joined Jai Prakash Narayan, they compelled Indira Gandhi to think about leaving India. Similarly, students of Osmania University protested and fulfill the long dream of Telangana. When research scholars of JNU and students of Delhi University are shouting there is definitely something to think about. Instead of fighting we have to hear them. We have to find a permanent solution to the problems of our long standing crucial issues.
So let’s not think about dividing India, but instead learn from the past, divide our current problems and solve them.