States' Rights - What is Left For India?

Another example of spineless governance from the Congress party was seen as a bunch of goons in Mumbai held a city to ransom and assaulted poor migrant laborers in full public view. Their crime- they hailed from the Eastern states of India like Bihar, UP and Jharkhand.

It is just impossible to believe that a person like Raj Thackeray with no political standing and following can carry out this ‘regional cleansing’ without any political patronage.

I am no BJP supporter. The BJP did the same in Gujarat in the post-Godhra period, the State government in Gujarat kept mum as the minority class was butchered. The same thing is true about Congress in the present case. Innocent people who strive hard to earn two pieces of meal are beaten up; their means of employment broken and the state continues to look the other way.

It is situations like these that feeds the fuel to anarchy ; where the oppressed finding no one to safeguards his rights and legitimate interest takes the ‘law’ ( which in the first place has been torn to pieces by the perpetrator) in his own hand. Clashes start and gradually it spreads into wherever it sees an opportunity to thrive.

And it is situations like these that shows how helpless the common mass still is.

Fortunately there has been no counter reaction from the people of the states from which the victims hail and one can only imagine that what would happen if their belief that goons like Raj Thackeray will be brought to the books is shattered.

The Shiv Sena was earlier more of a pawn which the Congress used to its benefit, and now the same Shiv Sena runs a parallel government in Maharashtra. There is more than enough evidence to book Bal Thackeray for the anti-Muslim riots of 1992 but he is still out because successive state government have said that his arrest may lead to large scale violence.

Sometimes people forget that pawns never remain a pawn, after completing the required steps it becomes a very powerful ‘Wazir’. Same was the case with Bal Thackeray and god forbidding same will be the result in Raj’s case if the state continues to keep its eyes shut.

There are provisions in law which are enough to haul Raj Thackeray into the prisons but as has been the misfortune of this country legal provisions have always been made but never applied; even if they are then its the poor that face them and rarely the powerful.

Raj Thackeray’s ambition for a greater role in Maharashtra has fueled his narrow mentality and his good organizational skill has helped him gather a sizable following. Not surprisingly he follows his idol, Adolf Hitler, whom he admires for his organizational skill.

The precedent that is being set by the Congress ruled state is very detrimental for the framework of this country. The north-eastern states of Assam and its sisters have been facing this issue of regionalism for long and no one can forget that anti-Hindi movement that was seen in the southern states of India.

Vote bank politics drives everything in this country and times are rare when political parties rise over it but this is truly a time when they need to look at things apolitically.

Another very important point of focus is the lack of employment in these BIMARU states. The state machinery of these North Eastern states needs to work on improving the existing employment opportunity and take up development work that will increase the employment level. Once this has been achieved the migration will come down.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel took lots of pain to integrate the erstwhile 600 princely states into one dominion - India - and now we have Thackeray who is hell bent on undoing the efforts of Vallabhbhai.

Going by the recent happenings, Maharashtra for Marathi, Punjab for Punjabi and Bihar for Bihari doesn’t look far. It will soon be a reality if the leaders continue to follow their ‘modest’ political ambitions but who can wake the slumber of those who sleep in Delhi.

In the end, if this happens, what will be left of India?