Dear Sonia Gandhi & Dr. Manmohan Singh
You may wonder why of all people I a Canadian citizen am writing this letter to you. I write as one of Indian origin, born and raised in India in the tradition of patriots who spent their lives struggling for the freedom of India along with millions of others. My ancestors like those of the Gandhi family spent years in and out of the British Indian prisons fighting for the idea of a free ,united , secular and democratic India. Some of them even went to the gallows while others escaped that fate by a hair's breadth.
In late teens in 1964 I left India for Britain eventually ending up in Canada in 1968. I was a child of relatively poor but honest and ethical Indians. My maternal grandfather(nana) and father taught me ethics and integrity. My mother taught me gender equality. My father was a Congresswala. But mind you an impeccably honest one! Yes there were lots of those in those in those days. Same was the case in other Parties. My nana was a member of the Communist Party of India. He had traveled from Gurdwara Sudhar movement to Babbar Akali to Kirti Kisan Party to CPI.
I became a Canadian citizen dropping anchor here for my growing family. Canada has been good to me , my children and so far six grandchildren. I have tried to live in Canada as an involved and committed citizen. India has always been close to my heart. Yes , I have lived as a citizen of the world but my bond of birth , blood and heritage with India is special.
This letter was contemplated before you announced the Telangana decision. Better late than never particularly now that our worst fears have come true. Several other demands for separate states are being more vociferously raised . Separatists all over India feel emboldened. 'Telangana' has given them currency and credibility.
The Congress has argued Telangana was a long standing demand and that many others including the BJP support the decision but not perhaps its timing. Since 1960 several new states have been created. Telangana is soon to be added to that list unless ,of course, you change your mind. Which is why I have decided to write to you. I urge you to change your decision despite and more particularly because of the Congress/BJP consesus.
The BJP's objection on timing betrays the deeper problem with the 'win at all costs' Politics in India. Politicians the world over pander. Unfortunately the constant decline and dearth of ethics in Indian life generally but more particularly in politics has taken pandering to new heights of possibly creating new states. I do not know whether Telangana is being divided for political gain. It could have been for buying peace from the separatists or for electoral gains or for both. Remember it was pandering to the lowest emotions among us that brought us Pakistan. In an ethnically, racially, linguistically and culturally diverse India even pandering for peace can prove disastrous as every big or small group can hold the country hostage. For the sake of India you should muster the courage to say no to Telangana, Gorkhaland, Bodoland and any other Land for that matter for all time to come. It has proven to be a vicious slippery slope constantly pitting people against people, eating away at the social solidarity and social cohesion required to fulfill the the social contract of the idea of a free, prosperous, secular ,democratic and united India.Say no to Telangana and stop the continuing erosion of the Indian body politic.
The advocates of separate states invariably argue the new states will allow the people affected to realise their full potential meaning that is not possible within the larger wholes existing now. I do not buy that argument for one instant. If fairness and justice prevails allowing equal opportunities for all, the argument is utterly vacuous. If there is unfairnes, rectify it. End it. That is what you must focus and work on. Not on splitting states.
If one accepts the argument that a new state would cure the ills afflicting the proponents, one simply fuels further splintering of other as yet not affected states. The next step in that journey for the successful advocates might be more autonomy for their state/s as their inhabitants can not 'realise their full potential' with the current division of powers in the Indian Union. Logically 'realising their full potential'by separate state governance can the be easily and uncontrollably spun into a'separate nation/country'. I am afraid the politicians in India are playing with fire. The unprincipled politics is blind to the perils of pandering . Pandering brought us partition once. For the sake of the idea of India pandering must stop.
India, I must concede, is not an easy place to do politics in. The proposed Anti-terrorism Center is a case in point. The opposition of some states and the inability of the Center to proceed was quite instructive. The lesson was that more India splintered the states' sovereignty by creating more states, more difficult it would be to achieve consensus on contentious issues. Terrorism can not be a contentious or a partisan issue. Yet India could not establish the Center.
The total undivided energy and attention of India needs to be focused on development and corruption. As long as corruption reigns as it does in India today the social and economic growth will be stunted. Poverty will remain a fact of life. Politics will continue to attract an overwhelming number of criminals. You can begin to resrtore courage , integrity and dignity to Indian politics by announcing that you have changed your mind on Telangana.
If the idea of India is to survive, the splitting of the states must stop. Splintering of the sovereignty must stop . Mindless pandering has been and will continue to be injurious to India. Pandering must stop. Only the wise and the courageous make momentous changes. Stop the bleeding of the soul of India. Change your mind on Telangana and reaffirm the Idea of India : A Secular, United, Democratic and a Prosperous India.