[ This piece was published on the op-ed page of the NEW INDIAN EXPRESS on 27.7.17 ]
Karnataka has
announced that it will examine the legality of having its own state flag,
something it has had unofficially since the 60’s. As expected it has set off a
firestorm in TV studios and simulated outrage in political circles. There is
probably no legal bar to the idea as the Constitution nowhere prohibits a state
from having its own flag or other emblems. Moreover, the Supreme Court, in the
Bommai judgement of 1994 specifically ruled that a state can have its own flag,
but it would be lower in status to the national flag. ( Incidentally, there is
a delicious irony in the fact that at the time Bommai was the Chief Minister of
Karnataka! History has its way of coming full circle). Flags are accepted
symbols but this Karnataka flag symbolises something which should disturb all
right thinking Indians.
Mr. Siddaramaiah may
not know this but he is simply an instrument of history in the matter. What he
has done is something which was waiting to happen: it was inevitable, just as
when you plant a seed the inevitable outcome is the stalk of grain; we would
perhaps understand it better through the adage “ as you sow, so shall you
reap.”
Through the flag Mr.
Siddaramaiah is asserting the distinct Kannada identity. But why, we may well
ask, isn’t the Indian identity good enough ? It perhaps was- in the 1950’s- but
over the last 60 years our politicians have chopped up and divided the country
into so many thousands of sub-identities and sub-nationalities that we are no
longer one nation but a toxic mix of different castes, classes, languages ,regions,
religions. These always existed, of course, but as one organic coalescence and
not as a witches’ brew in perpetual conflict with each other. What we have done
is to drive a wedge between each of these sub-identities, pit one against the
other for government largesse, political power and jobs, subjugate one at the
cost of the other, create distrust among them to the point of mindless and
unremitting violence: North against the South, Kolis against Jadhavs, Yadavs against
non-Yadavs, Hindus against Muslims, Jats against Baniyas, Haryanvis against
Punjabis, Kashmiris against Pandits, plainsmen against tribals, Tamil Nadu
against Karnataka, and Bengal against everyone else. This didn’t happen
organically- it was engineered assiduously in the quest for political power,
and today we have reached the point where, in a grotesque twist, the main
identity has become subservient to the sub-identity- I am a scheduled cast
first, a Hindu second, a UP-ite third, and an Indian last. I must, therefore,
continuously and aggressively assert my sub-identities to remain in the race
for political dominance. This is what the Karnataka Chief Minister is now doing
by implying that the national flag is not good enough for the Kannadas and asking
for his own flag. It is but the natural progression of national fragmentation.
One may well ask, but
why now ? After all, no such demand had been raised these last sixty five
years. The answer is simple- the central govt. has just upped the ante by once
again ham handedly trying to impose Hindi on the southern states. Language is
the most vital ingredient of a peoples’ identity : it is not just their medium
of communication but it contains their
history, their culture, their ethos, their literature, even their Gods. If you
want to eradicate a peoples, kill their language. The decision of the BJP
government at Delhi, driven by its ideological hormones, to mandate Metro and
National Highway signages in Hindi in all the southern states, was exceedingly ill
advised. Furthermore, Mr. Modi’s style of centralisation of powers and
unilateralism- Aadhar, GST, Cattle rules, Demonetisation- had already made the
states wary and apprehensive of further encroachment of their turf. The latest
Hindi salvo, therefore, further
strengthened the fear of domination by the northern Hindi speakers, and played
into the already existing passion for assertion of sub-regional identities.
The Karnataka flag
will be seen by purists and political scientists as a struggle for federalism.
It is that, but it is also much more. It is the latest manifestation of the
splintering of a national identity, the inevitable denouement of the process of
dividing communities for political gain, of a reassertion of regional power and
relevance. It is a push back for the centre, a gentle reminder that a vote
percentage of 31% does not confer a mandate on the BJP to ride roughshod over
the sensibilities of the states. It is now inevitable that all other states
will demand their own flags: such gestures develop an irresistible momentum of
their own, as we have seen with the waiver of bank loans for farmers. When you
ride the tiger of populism it is impossible to dismount. There will be other
similar gestures of defiance- federalism, to be politically correct- in the
days to come. Mr. Siddaranaiah’s flag is not one of surrender, it is a call to
troops to let the battle begin.
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