Autonomy for States??

India is a country replete with diverse and myriad cultures and multilingual languages, dialects & interests inter lapping the terra firma amongst the varied topography of the vast sub continent.

The division of the country on the basis of languages was conceptualized in 1956 when  the state of Andhra Pradesh was formally born after the death of P.Sreeramalu who succumbed after fasting and the then PM, Nehru reluctantly agreed to the formation of the new state. This played on the minds of others who too began demanding separate states on the basis of linguistic grounds and this marked the beginning of the end or let us say-disintegration for this land mass called ‘’India’’.

We see ample differences on a/c of regionalism- instigating and inciting the natives or locals over trivial issues against – Supposed OUTSIDERS (people from other states). The craze of Cricket and Cinema signals a brief hiatus to this unending frenzy of hatred and mistrust which raises its head every now and then causing unending hardships besides causing insurmountable damage to life and property.

 Nearly 565 princely states existed even after the formal partition of India and Pakistan took place in 1947. The iron man of India Vallabhai Patel was instrumental in integrating and uniting the scattered and fragmented heart and souls plus curbing the shattered egos of the erstwhile princes.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been facing acute pressure since its accession to the Indian union in 1947 where it is experiencing insurgency and militancy with tacit logistical support provided by the Pakistan Army.

 We take umbrage whenever the state of Jammu and Kashmir is shown as disputed territory but our own govt. formulates differential laws for our FORCIBLY unified country. The state has been accorded a special status which confers the Central Govt. to act only on matters relating to defence, external affairs and communication that too within a limited scope. Almost every other law which applies to the Indian Union is NOT APPLICABLE to the state of J&K. Article 370 which was invoked during the pre- accession days should have been scrapped long back but appeasement of the minorities has prevented the successive govts. from taking this retrograde and logical step.

Why should the rest of the Country (tax payers hard earned money) pay for the development of a region which is supposedly not ‘’theirs’’???

A Citizen of India cannot purchase any immoveable property in J&K but the vice-versa doesn’t hold water. Billions of dollars have gone down the drain, countless lives has been lost in trying to hold on to this SLIPPERY state. It is better to let the people of J&K decide on their fate through plebiscite.

The White Paper released by the Govt. in 1948 on J&K has yet to see the light of the day. The ‘’White’’ Paper must have tuned ‘’YELLOW’’ after all these years in isolation and solitude rather than the presence of lignin in them.

It may seem ridiculous and this blog may even attract charges of sedition as per the existing norms and our archaic laws but perhaps the time has come for granting a similar autonomy to all the states within the Indian union. The Central govt. should retain the right to enforce defence, core banking and monetary issues and at most perform an arbitrary role to resolve disputes.

The states can deal with smaller regions and resolve issues within the ambit of a revised constitution and compete with one another for a healthy overall growth.  The state should have first lien on the natural resources within the territory of the state enabling it either to use it first hand or sell the surplus outside. The Centre has made enough mess of mining both by indiscriminately ruining hectares of flora and fauna and allocating lucrative blocks to vested interests courtesy, nepotism.

The innumerable people who dedicated their entire life to achieve freedom might be turning in their graves even contemplating whether the titanic struggle was worth the effort. Those at the helm of affairs have belied, betrayed and throttled the faith, expectation and aspirations of millions by sustained

policies and procedures which are manipulative, coercive and obsolete.