Barriers Within

Ever since it gained independence from the British, India has been plagued by border disputes with two of its neighbours, Pakistan and China. We’ve also fought a few wars and few more skirmishes for this over the years. Even now, this issue remains active, and the border demarcation remains contentious. Every time a politician wants to drum up nationalism, they just have to talk about this one issue, and we can see a country divided on everything else joining together. This isn’t true just in India but also in Pakistan and to a lesser extent in China.

Whatever our politicians might be, they are definitely smart, sly but definitely street-smart. So, when they realize that they can never arise to the level of national politics, they use the tricks used at national level at a regional level. One prime example of this is the current escalation of tensions between Maharashtra and Karnataka. Even after almost 62 years since getting independence, we still don’t see ourselves as Indians first. We are Malayalis, Marathis, Biharis first and then Indians. Fights still erupt frequently in various parts of the country based on regional issues. It doesn’t matter to us whether India suffers, what seem to matter is whether Karnataka or Gujarat or UP succeed.

As a kid growing up in Kerala, I found it amusing when the elders in my house used to speak in terms of the three main divisions in Kerala during the British time – the kingdoms of Kochi and Thiruvithancoor, and Malabar which was under Madras. This was about 40 years after independence, but most of these people were yet to come out of the colonial mindset. It was pleasing indeed, then, to see that mindset slowly vanishing and a common indentity of being a Malayali replace it. Even so, I still thought of myself as a Malayali first.

Sometimes, it takes a tragedy or a disaster for us to wake up, and for me, it was the Kargil war. While I was shamed by what happened to Babri Masjid and was horrified by what followed in Mumbai, it never felt like awakening the Indian within me. To me, horrendous as it was, it still was a tit for tat. It was like two bullies, wanting to show their might off, taking on innocent and helpless bystanders to prove their point. Kargil was different. It was an attack on the nation, a breach of trust, and suddenly, it made me realize that in all our infighting, we probably are losing the bigger picture. I realized that being a Malayali wouldn’t matter much if India itself wasn’t there.

Coming back to what I started off, how does it matter if a district is in one state or the other? Why do few leaders think that the minority group of the border area is ill-treated by the majority group? In that same token, why would a minority group be ill-treated by the majority group? Are we helping the nation grow by such petty and narrow-minded approach? Or are we saying that we are willing to forego a common good for our personal and short-term gains? We fight among ourselves for our land, our water, our electricity…..how are we expecting others not to then? I always wonder whether I’d ever see we Indians rise above the regionalism in my lifetime. I guess time will tell, it always does.