Was hindusthan a better alternative than India
Some people believe India would have been a better place had it been hindusthan, a hindu nation. Is it ?? Really ??
Who is a hindu
It depends on who you ask. Constitution (and lawmakers) group Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists together when they refer to Hindu. For most Hindus, Buddha is a form of Vishnu and hence all Buddhists are Hindus. Then there are other for whom he isn’t. Hence don’t consider Buddhist as Hindus. As for a Buddhist he never considers himself a Hindu. For a few even Jain is Hindu. But to all a Sikh isn’t.
As far as those who ask for Hindusthan the answer is mostly clear. While most don’t mind Jains, Buddhists and Parsi , they are strictly against Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and others.
Dividing India on religious lines
India could have been divided as
- Pakistan — Today’s Pakistan + kashmir , a muslim nation
- Bangladesh — A muslim nation
- Khalistan — A sikh province comprising of Punjab of India + Parts of today’s Pakistan
- North East — A bunch of small countries, one each for a major tribe like Nagas
- Hindustan — comprising most of today’s India, a place for Hindus
Each region has mostly a clear demarcation except Pakistan and Khalistan. During Independence the area of today’s Pakistan has lots of sikhs. Most Pakistani’s still speak Punjabi or a afghani language despite being muslim like bengali muslims of Bangladesh. But lets assume they some how managed to divide the region among themselves.
Then what about Parsis, Janis, Buddhist, Christians plus Sikh’s and Muslims not from above area. Later is easy to solve. Just ask them to leave but what about former. Jains & Buddhists are native indians. They are not from any other region. Parsi(people of Persia/Iran followers of Zoroastrianism religion) have long left their nation and made this their home when Islamic invaders captured their region. Their home land is now a staunch muslim nation. But all of these account for just 4% of population. So lets keep them in India.
Indian hindu is not just a hindu
If you thought problem is solved then you are wrong. An hindu just doesn't see himself as a hindu. You are either a shudra, brahmin, kshatriya or vaisha class. You are either a Tamilian or a Gujarati or a Bihari. He could even be a Vaishnavite or Shaivite. Even among brahmins there is upper caste and not so upper caste brahmins. He is even rich or poor or not so rich or not that poor.
Due to all these complexities writers at the time of independence predicted balkanisation of India. According to them India was to become like Europe. Each state a separate nation based on language or religion. They placed their bets on Pakistan succeeding and India failing.
There are several territorial fights inside india states itself. Both Maharashtra and Karnataka are fighting for Belguam. Both parties fighting are hindus. Several others want themselves to be split from their state on the bases of language or community like Gorkhaland in Bengal, Mithila and Bhojpur in Bihar. Here is the whole list.
Groupism
At the crux of these problem is groupism. Groupism is not inherently a bad thing. It’s the gift of evolution. For our cave ancestors staying in group was must. It helped him stay safe and alive.
If you thought all problems will be solved if we divide Indian sub continent into regions and linguistic lines you are wrong. Sure some of today’s problems will be solved but new problems will arise.
Lets look at the Islamic countries in particular Iraq and ISIS/IS. As with Hindu, a Muslim is also not just a Muslim. He is either a Shia or Sunni. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, disputes arose over who should be the next Caliph, Abu Bakar, Prophet’s aide or his son-in-law Ali. Shia’s are followers of Ali. Once America left Iraq the region was governed by a local Govt. compromising of mostly Shia’s. The Sunni’s were oppressed or thats what they claim and that lead to ISIS/ISIL. So if you are a shia and want to join IS be prepared to become a sunni as they follow Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam.
Even in SouthAfrica there were tensions. It was not on Religious lines, certainly nor on caste or sub sect lines. It was on basis of color. The famous Apartheid between the blacks and the whites. South Africa was colonized by the English and Dutch in the seventeenth century. The discovery of diamonds in these lands around 1900 resulted in an English invasion which sparked the Boer War with the Afrikaners. Following independence from England, an uneasy power-sharing between the two groups held sway until the 1940’s, when the Afrikaner National Party was able to gain a strong majority. Strategists in the National Party invented apartheid as a means to cement their control over the economic and social system.
Closer home Telangana has a similar story. Post independence it was a different state, the state of Hyderabad(Hyd). It was quiet different from it’s neighbor the Telugu speaking populace of Madras. Potti Sreeramulu fought for a separate state of Andhra, a state on linguistic lines of telugu speakers. They wanted telugu speaking parts of Hyd State. It was formed but people of Hyd area were not happy. They tried protesting but nothing happened. Decades later KC Rao made statehood for Telangana as his poll plank and reignited the fire. After many months of unrest the state was formed. Look at this timeline of protest. No issue from 1971 to 2001
Over the years the two regions had mixed so well that there was no more a major difference. Both Telugu speakers, both mostly Hindus (except Hyd city), both of same color and creed. People of Telangana claimed inaction of Govt to improve the region despite Hyd city being in this region.
Need for Power
The crux of the problem is need for power. To be a leader you need to have a group of people who are willing to be lead by you. People will only agree if you fight for a cause, real or manufactured. Add to this fear and they are yours. If you fight for saving water very few will support you. If you fight for free water a lot more will. Even if you had to pick one of the two causes most of you will pick second one.
Lets stop thinking on religious lines or cast lines or colour. We are Humans of this planet first, citizens of our country next. The division ends there.
