Does India really exist as a nation?

Raj Thackrey‘s North Indian bashing has unleashed the biggest intellectual debate ever: “Does India really exist” if so, - where? If Mumbai is for Maharastrains, Delhi is for Punjabis, Kolkata is for Bengalis and Chennai is for Madarisis, than what is left for the Indians to claim?

Nation has just ended up its commemoration of 59th of its Republic Day anniversary with a lot of hype and hoopla. After all, it is newly invented confident nation, marching ahead in this radically changed globalised world. The cause of celebration assumed even greater significance in the backdrop of a radical change in the global perception of India as a booming economy with ever increasing malls, BPOs and software revolution and on top of it all: its vast pool of English educated manpower (a doubtless cause of envy for other lesser developed world economies). The evidence of India’s growing strength and recognition was adequately vindicated by the conspicuous gracing of the occasion by the French President Sarkozy. How the world perception of India being a nation of snake charmers and half-naked fakirs metamorphosed into that of a growing world power reasserting its authority to claim its rightful and legitimate place in the world affairs, within a decade or two, is itself a glowing tribute to the millions of middle-class youth who wanted to give India its long over due place in the committee of nations? But all these much trumpeted Indian achievements aside, the biggest question that current Raj Thackeray episode has unfolded is: Which India we talk about, the India that exist buried in the history and the pages of our constitution or the India that erupts in the cricketing ground in the midst of cricketing frenzy, or in the wake of Kargil war, or India which becomes the lofty terms for the politicians to whip the nation sentiments, or the India that lay buried with the corpses of all our freedom fighters who dreamed the concept of a nation-state?

How the nation with such tremendous amount of diversity could exist for more than five decades is itself a miracle for Westerners who prophesied that a nation-state like India with multiple inherent contradictions would collapse under its own heavy weight sooner than later? But still India survives at least in the eyes of the outsiders. But where does India exist for those residing within, once again brings to the fore the most burning issue which politicians of national status prefer to avoid or at best duck: Where does India exist and who are the Indians?

The biggest irony of the whole the episode is the inscrutable and enigmatic silence of our so called nation parties – Congress and the BJP which preferred to remain incommunicado when defining India ought to have been there prerogative. Where and to whom these poor creatures of BIMARU (Cow-belt Regions) would go to seek a direct answer as to what India is and where does it exist? They further ask that gala celebration 59th of its Republic anniversary glorifying India and the Indians meant for whom?
Do these innocent people from cow-belt regions, especially from Bihar and UP, having no sources of bread and butter in their home states, need to apply for the visas and work permits for working in the metropolises from M/s Thackeray and company, if so, where does the government of India exist? If the writ of the M/s Thackeray and company over rides that of government of India’s enforcement of rule of law, the immediate question mark is raised on the status and the ability of the government to govern.

The mood conclusive point all these argument is that the concept of Indian nation-state has been hurriedly conceived to claim independence from the foreign imperialistic rule and the truth is that India never existed as a nation-state in the past, neither does it exist at present and nor will it ever exist in the future. The loosely structured concept of nationhood as that of India which at best exist in the constitution, celebration of India’s victory in a cricketing ground or in the midst of Kargil frenzy and India’s resultant victory, cannot co-relate with a life of day-to-day struggle for the millions of North-Indians who lead a life of virtual refugees in their own country (The sobriquet of ‘Bihari denoting the inferior status is given to the toiling millions of people from North-India). Who will provide solace or reassurance to these struggling mass that India is not a product of cricketing frenzy and Kargil war drumbeats, but a day to day reality where they have every right to free movement within the sovereignty of India and no visa followed by the working permits are required from the THUGS like Thackeray and company?

Will the answer come from the prime minister – designate of BJP Mr. Advani who, in his grand endeavor to catapult BJP to power, invented Lord Rama as a unifying factor for the nation (tragically Kuranidhi has in his recent controversial outburst dubbed Lord Rama as North-Indian God) or whether Madam (Mrs.) Sonia Gandhi will provide answer to the millions of aggrieved North-Indians? But alias, nothing inspires our politicians more than political expediency and as such, Mr. Advani is compelled by his own coalition partner running amok and Madam (Mrs.) Sonia Gandhi remaining incommunicado because of the vote bank politics.

The crux of the whole issue boils down to this: if the nation’s destiny setter remains aloof from the biggest crisis engulfing the nation – its identity crisis – who will bail the nation from its biggest predicament engulfing it? In the past, we pooh-poohed Pakistan for being the most fragile nation surviving on anti-India stand, what about us Indians who survive on cricket and Kargil for our existence as a nation? At least, Pakistan has one unifying identity – Islam – but lamentably we have none. No doubt Raj Thackeray may be arrested and situation may calm down, but the Pandora Box that he has unleashed will have much wider ramifications for the future India. Raj Thackeray’s North-Indian bashing has opened up an unprecedented debate – “Does India really exist”, if so, - where? If Mumbai is for Maharastrains, Delhi is for Punjabis, Kolkata is for Bengalis and Chennai is for Madarisis, than what is left for the Indians to claim?