Sir — As the country celebrated its 69th Republic Day, it has become increasingly difficult to overcome thoughts of India discarding all pretensions of being a Union of States with a distinct inclination to revert back to its earlier state of being an assortment of various Provinces and realms, which are now permanently at loggerheads with each other.
The seventh amendment of the Constitution in 1956 facilitated the recognition of States on linguistic basis, otherwise the unspoken pledge of maintaining unanimity under all adversities continues to bind them.
However, parochial feelings still continue to ride high and disputes that question the very validity of the country being a federal Union of States, throws a veil of doubt over India’s highly hyped unity in diversity.
The ‘outsider’ tag on the bona fide citizens of the country whenever they move over from their States of origin and settle in other States is a practice that has no logic. Apart from territorial disputes, unwillingness of States to share its waters with the neighbouring State has had long drawn out legal conflicts, characterizing disagreements.
likewise, many issues plague many inter-State relationships. Commemorating various national events without understanding the true values of nationalism holds no meaning. How is it that we still crave for a ‘regional’ identity rather than a national one!