Future Holds 50 States for India?

 

Anshul Sharma,

Editor (Asia: South)

 

NEW DELHI— It may seem only yesterday that the movement for Telangana to be declared a separate state started. However, only few people know that Telangana was indeed a different state in the starting after independence and was merged with Andhra to form Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

Movement to declare Telangana as a separate state has been going on since 1969 but it is only recently that the movement has gathered steam. The first announcement concerning Telangana to be declared a separate state was made in 2009 by the-then Union Minister of Home Affairs P Chidambaram. This decision was met with huge protests and within a month of the announcement, the government announced that no action would be started to declare Telangana a separate state until all parties in the state reached a consensus.

A lot of protests and movements have taken place ever since but now, finally, Telangana is set to be declared a separate state much to the agony of residents of Andhra Pradesh.

There has been a lot of furore in media in recent days regarding the issue. There have been varied opinions about the government’s decision. While some of the politicians like the idea — keeping in mind the 2014 —  and are happy with the opportunities of widening their respective vote banks, some politicians and parties are not happy with this decision.

It would be unfair to comment whether the government’s decision to declare Telangana as a separate state is right or wrong. But one must not forget that Telangana is not the only state that has been demanding to be called a separate state.

With Telangana now, or would be sooner than later, the 29th state of India, it is not long before India has as much as 50 states.

The demands for separate states have been pouring in from across the country — for Kukiland in Manipur to Kongu Nadu in Tamil Nadu, for Kamatapur in North Bengal to Tulu Nadu in Karnataka.

The demands for separate states are the following:

SPLITTING UTTAR PRADESH: Demands for Awadh Pradesh, Poorvanchal, Bundelkhand and Pachimanchal or Harit Pradesh.
BRAJ PRADESH: There is also a demand for creation of Braj Pradesh, consisting of Agra division and Aligarh division and districts of Bharatpur and Gwalior from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
BHOJPUR: The home ministry has also received a demand for creation of Bhojpur comprising areas of eastern UP, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
VIDARBHA: There has been an old demand for creation of a separate Vidarbha by curving out the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.
GORKHALAND: The most vocal demands for separate states came from Gorkhaland, by curving out Darjeeling and its adjoining areas in West Bengal.
KAMTAPUR: There has been a demand for creation of Kamtapur comprising some districts West Bengal, including Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri.
BODOLAND, KARBI ANGLONG: Demands for Bodoland, comprising Bodo dominated areas in Western Assam, and a separate state of Karbi Anglong, comprising the Karbi tribals living areas under Karbi Anglong autonomous district in Assam, are also pending with the Centre.
DIMARAJI OR DIMALAND: The Dimasa people of Northeast have been demanding a separate state called Dimaraji or Dimaland comprising the Dimasa inhabited areas of Assam and Nagaland.
MITHILANCHAL: There is a demand for Mithilanchal comprising Maithili speaking regions of Bihar and Jharkhand.
SAURASHTRA: The Centre has received demand for creation of Saurashtra by curving that region out of Gujarat.
KONGU NADU, COORG AND TULU NADU: Demand for creation of Kongu Nadu comprising parts of southwest of Tamil Nadu, southeast of Karnataka and east of Kerala. Demand for creating a Coorg state, comprising the Coorg region of Karnataka has also been sent to the Centre. There is a demand for Tulu Nadu comprising a region on the border between Karnataka and Kerala.
KOSAL: Representation has also been received for creation of separate Kosal state comprising some districts of Odisha, parts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
KUKILAND: The demand for separate Kukiland, comprising Kuki tribal inhabited areas in Manipur has also been raised.
KONKAN: A demand for creation of Konkan, comprising Konkani speaking part of Western India along the Arabian sea coastline has also been raised.
Garoland: Some people from Garo regions of Meghalaya are demanding for a new state of Garoland.
LADAKH: There is also a demand for creation of a Union Territory for Ladakh that has been pending with the home ministry.
In addition to the above-mentioned demands, there is also a demand for a separate Eastern Nagaland by curving out some parts of the northeastern state.

If all these demands are met, India would have 50 states.

While some would argue that since India is a democratic country it is one of the basic rights of Indian citizens to choose a state for them, they must understand that things are not as simple as they sound.

The process of creating a new state is not simple. And to add to that — as has been recently visible in the case of Telangana — there are other people also who do not want the states to be separated. They want to continue living as part of one state rather than being given a different name for the area they have been living at for several years.

In addition to the public sentiment, creation of new states might create a division between people and that will be an extremely difficult situation for the Indian government.

While the government must pay a heed to the voices or wishes of Indian citizens, it must not forget that for India to remain a democratic country, people should feel that they are Indian rather than being trapped in the web of states.

(with inputs from agencies)

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons (Pradeep90)