Mail Today, November 9, 2009
Editorial
MADHYA Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s call, later retracted, to keep “ Biharis” out of jobs in the state was not an idle slip of the tongue. It is a manifestation of a serious malaise with the country’s politics and its politicians.
Some months ago, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, too, made a similar remark when she claimed that Delhi’s infrastructure was being overwhelmed by labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Such remarks point to the extent to which the national idea of India is being undermined by short- sighted politicians.
In their hope of retaining political power by hook or by crook, they think nothing of inciting feelings against people from other parts of the country or of people belonging to other faiths and ethnicities. This used to be the specialty of the Shiv Sena, but now it seems that other politicians too seem to have caught on to the idea.
Coincidentally, Malaysia, the country that implemented a policy of race- based favouritism, or bhumi putra , is now backtracking because of the backlash among non- Malay races as well as the fact that quotas don’t work. States like Penang have completely done away with racial quotas, and other states have removed them in many sectors.
India, too, needs to take on this “ sons of the soil” issue frontally. Seen at one level the idea is seductive, especially to politicians in search of votes. But at the end of the day, its working usually leads to the target community becoming complacent and dependent, while the communities that are excluded are provided an extra incentive to excel or to migrate to a more friendly environment. Either way, the original aim of the policy— to help the allegedly deprived natives— is not achieved.
It would have been easy to nip the idea in the bud. But our national parties, both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have found it convenient at various points in time to ally with chauvinistic formations. It is no accident that today if the Shiv Sena is with the BJP in Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena plays the role of the Congress stalking horse.
It is downright short- sighted for parties that otherwise oppose separatism of the Kashmir or North- East variety to encourage the separatism of the Thackerays in Maharashtra. Promoting pride in one’s state is a good thing, but that pride must be based on residency, not race, ethnicity or religion.
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