Regional Chauvinism: Good or Bad????

This discussion on Regional Chauvinism has once again being bought into he spotlight by the Karnataka Bandh against the Cauvery Water Tribunal verdict. This kind of Regional Chauvinism is not new in India. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena has initiated the 'Mee Mumbaikar' Campaign, and also has highligted the so called plight of the Marathi community in Maharashtra. In Bengal, there were protests when Saurav Ganguly was dropped from the national Cricket team. In Gujarat, anybody who speaks out for the Narmada Bachao activists are made an enemy of the state; Aamir Khan will answer in the affirmative for this situation. In Tamil Nadu, there were Anti-Hindi protests in the 1960's and now Karnataka comes into the spotlight for the Cauvery Water tribunal as well as the solution to Belgaum. Hence, the question remains wether Regional Chauvinism is good or bad.

This situation was asked in a programme on CNN-IBN. The guests on this programme included prominent personalities from the media and historical backgrounds. The panel was off the unanimous opinion that Regional Chauvinism is good, as long as Violence is not involved. Maybe, these kind of protests should not be suppressed in a Democratic country like India. If the experts word on the programme are to be considerede, then suppressing it would result in fragmenting India, as it has happened in the case of Pakistan and threatening in the case of Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The position that I, an Ordinary Citizen would like to take on it is Lack thereoff. For the reason that the whole process is situational and also depends upon the magnitude and the intensity with which it affects the particular state. Of course, i spare no sympathies for the Shiv Sena, for they have always used violence in order to assert themselves. For me, the Shiv sena represents a far greater threat than the Islamic terrorists on the other side of the border. In the case of Bengal, it was a clear demonstration of reputation dominating Merit. But, as far as Karnataka is concerned, in my previous posts, i have said that Karnataka has indeed got the wrong side of the deal according to me. The basis on which water is allocated to states is just non-existant here in India. Here in India, where there is Diversity, Regional Chauvinism is perhaps part of the democratic setup, for without which the plight of the nation might not be known. The above cases might perhaps indicate that Regional Chauvinism by certain states could be India's unseen Unity. The other side perhaps could be that if this changes into Violence, then it undermines Unity.

So, in conclusion ,the main thing that Citizens of a diverse nation must realize that Violence will not achieve their goals. Fortunately, India being a Democracy, the path to solve such crisis might be through a judicious and interactivity among the several classes of Publics in the country.