United States of South India: Why and Why not?

It is a miracle that India, our beloved little country that crams in 1.31 billion people in its 3.28 million square kilometer area with more than 2000 ethnic groups speaking over a thousand different languages still manages to function as a single unit. Before saying anything else, I’d like to reflect on this fact; cultures, languages, ethnicities, religions, Indians are divided in every possible manner yet stick on as a country. However it is not all that rosy as I portray, for if you take a look at the news channels every day, they “break” about lynching, Hindi imposition and communal violence.

What has triggered me to write this post were a few recent events- one, people’s outrage over AR Rahman’s performance of Tamil songs at his concert in Wembley titled “Netru Indru Nalai” (very much in Tamil- should have given everyone a clear indicator) and two, the mobilization of language activists and opportunists in the Southern States against the center’s Hindi imposition and three, the lynching incidents across various states in Northern India. The incumbent government’s policy looks like it wants to promote/remain muted to saffron terror, impose Hindi, introduce ID cards for citizens (that will still not be a proof of citizenship) and cows (yes, you read it right, COWS!) and pay no heed to the states where it has no power, especially in the South.

A few months ago, when I was going through the internet I came across this highly unlikely but interesting concept of a United States of South India. The author was exceptional with facts and convinced me that the South will gain more than it will lose if it decides to walk out of the Republic. As stated earlier, it is highly unlikely and not possible according to the constitutional provisions but the freedom of though and expression is leading me to the below.

To understand the impact of what the South India (states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telengana) has on the country, I am dishing out some statistics. The South has a huge bearing on the country’s GDP and my below numbers will prove this point.

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia

With about 31.2% of the total GDP of the country being contributed by the South, what it gets as a return, as stated by the author in the article that I was particularly impressed with is paltry. To understand the unfair deal, one needs to know how the budget system works in India.

The center collects tax money from the state and keeps it in its kitty. Once the collection is complete, it then decides to give out money to the different states based on its need/emergency/disaster. Naturally, as a father figure, to maintain equity, the center would give out more money to the less developed states and the prosperous ones receive a meager fraction. In a way, this is close to communism. Well, what’s the problem with that is that the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Chandigarh have long been generating less revenue but in turn received more from the center.

It is ironical to note that the money used by the center and the state of UP for the farm loan waiver in June was generated by the TN and Haryana farmers who were protesting for days together at Delhi to meet the Prime Minister (who turned a deaf ear) for sorting out their drought and financial crises. It is a Shakespeare-type tragedy that the South has been put into.

I’ll also shamelessly pick up the piece of statistical data used by the author like I did with the last line to show how much return the Southern states get for all its earning.

Source: The News Minute

The stats are mine boggling. While the average Keralite gets only 0.25 rupees for his earning of 1 rupee, look at what an average citizen from UP gets, a staggering 1.79 rupees. This is certainly pushing the dagger deep. Maharashtra is not exempt from this suffering too as it receives almost the same treatment as the South does. So, in an event of a fall out, Maharashtra would chose better to join the USSI purely for the interest of its people.

With the proviso of the highly unlikely event happening, how the new country would look and how it would function is only one’s guess. However, we may make our assumptions and educated guesses. The new State would have a size of 632,996 km² roughly the size of Afghanistan. In terms of economy, it would be equivalent to Turkey and would be the 5^th most populous country with a population of 252 million overthrowing Brazil at that spot.

The new country might have to function with Bengaluru as the capital as it is geographically at the center. The major trading ports would be Vizag, Mangalore, Chennai, Tutucorin and Kochi. It would adopt 4 official languages- Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam and will have Hinduism as its overwhelmingly major religion. The flourishing primary sector will keep it self-sufficient with the exception of a few crops like wheat where it would have to depend on the North.

It would need almost no military or can take its time in building a military as its neighbors will be the North and Sri Lanka that can hardly pose a threat at its current condition. At the same time, the North would still have to deal with China and Pakistan. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have all of the gold mines that India has; both the states removed out of the equation will be a substantial hit for the North. The state will become congenial for people to live because of the decreasing fertility rate trend and healthy sex ratio.

Source: CRISL

Source: Wikipedia

IT is heavily concentrated in the South and people from the North might have to travel and live in the South for work which will in turn enrich the economy. The North will also have to depend upon the South for satellite launch stations until it sets up ones for itself. It would have to use the South’s waterways for trade and most of its major ports would already be with the South.

So, if there is nothing that the South is gaining from this, why are we sticking to this unfair, one-sided and demanding co-existence? Well, like everything I’ve said above, I can only go by assumptions.

• Possibility: Secession is not possible according to the constitution which talks only about inclusion and its norms. Hence, a legal secession is not possible without amendment of the constitutional laws that may also be subject to the Supreme Court decision if done.

• Destabilization of South Asia: If the South decides to rip away, the GDP, resourcing and manpower capabilities will be cut by almost half. On prowl China and Pakistan will edge into Kashmir and the LoK will be pushed further down. This will lead to the viable existence of the CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Coridor) and destabilize the situation in South Asia.

• The Beauty of Co-existence: Do we need a situation like the Koreans are in? Sure enough, this separation is not going to happen without ruffling a few feathers. The existing hatred among people (caused majorly by politicians and war-mongers) will intensify. It is always a laborious task to change what is functioning the way it already is. Families, business and relationships will be broken and left to suffer- a repeat of what happened on either side of Germany (an exaggerated claim).

• Risk of internal fall out: We should not forget the fact that the new state would comprise of four major states with each speaking its own language and following its own culture and the chance of a further fall out is too high.

• Raw Material Dependency: The South is still dependent on the North for raw materials like Steel, Mica, Petroleum, Natural Gas, Copper and Lead. In addition to this, they would also have to import Wheat, Maize, Groundnuts and Millets.

• The Drainage System: With Global Warming taking over and the imminent need of unification of rivers, a separate South will lead to more uncertainty.

• Need for Defense: As a young and branched off state, budget allocation to building up defense would be incredibly difficult. It would be worth noting that most of India’s weapons now are imported and with a small GDP and budget, importing/building new equipment would be almost impossible. Traditionally, the Southern States have not been even among the top 10 contributors to officers being sent to the defense.

• Lack of Enterprise: Statistics are not needed to prove that fact that people in the North are generally more inclined towards enterprise. With the South cutting off its ties from the North, in house enterprise would take a hit. As a result, import will increase changing the economic equation.

Well, I am sure I’ve left you in splits. Do we all want to go through this? Certainly not. Yes, as a South Indian, I bleed when my center takes away my money and put me to further misery. Yes, I hate the center for trying to impose Hindi on me and yes, I am pained when I see my countrymen being wrongly motivated to lynch a person carrying beef. But I am educated enough to understand that it is the politicians, the men in power, the ones who are doing wrong to consolidate their position who should be held responsible.

With the shameless terrorists, cunning Pakistan and the sly China looking at us like hawks attempting to swoop down, we should emerge from the ground as a single entity making the world look up to us.

India, like I said, is a wonder. It is a miracle, our sheer existence here is…

Note: These are personal views of the author only.