SOUTH INDIA STANDS WITH NORTH INDIA.

BY K P PASWAN

Can it be said that socio political conditions of southern India provide favourable condition for Europeans to settled in India?

This blog is exclusively related to this subject. In the past Europeans had trade link with modern Kerala, a Malayalam speaking state of Southern India, Christian missionaries were welcomed by the ruling family and several Churches were established. Later on, with spread of Islam we find Muslims traders from Central Asia arriving in Kerala. Modern Tamilnadu and undivided Andhra attracted Europeans and these foreigners established trading centers preached Christianity, defeated local kings and established foreign rules. Southern States are clouded by Dravidian culture and some scholars claim Dravidian were in touch with the people of Indus but such claims are only of academic interest and common people are least interested in knowing these speculations about their ancestors.

There is nothing common in southern states. One state is under the rule of communist. Karnataka is being ruled by BJP, Telangana and Andhra are under different political party while DMK is ruling Tamilnadu.

 There is little doubt that Tamil language is one of the oldest languages and the Tamil people love their language and Dravidian culture. They vehemently oppose imposition of Hindi, a language widely spoken in India. Hindi is flourishing because it is not being imposed and people in Southern States are encouraged to learn Hindi.  In modern India people are free to go any part of the country and English can never be a language of communication of the majority of the people. Homesickness is not embedded in the DNA of the people of southern states. They are going to different parts of the world and some of them are occupying higher position in many MNCs. Dravidian are generally opposed to Tamils Brahmins who are known for their orthodox traditions but their contribution to Indian philosophy is unmatched. There are certain fanatics who are in the habit of exaggerating their unique culture, it is so because lack of interaction with the people of other parts of India. Professionals from the south are doing fine jobs in Hindi belt and barring exceptions there is no report of racial discrimination. Finest Hindi movies were produced in Tamilnadu. A true incident is described.

All languages in India have a common source. Some of the languages are evolving while a good number of ancient languages are found as reference in books. A few unknown intellectuals who may safely be called as headless chickens are making tall and false claims of origin of a few languages and races.

 When Ms Jayalalitha was the chief minister of Tamilnadu, a group of seven officers belonging to most glamorous services of India  paid a courtesy call to the lady CM. Meeting between the CM and officers lasted for nearly half an hour. Out of seven officers, three were from Hindi speaking areas. When they introduced themselves, Jayalalitha started speaking in chaste Hindi. This is a true story. One of the officers posted in EU still maintains that Jayalalitha spoke better Hindi than a particular PM of India who was known as a fiery speaker in Hindi-she was one of the most efficient Chief Ministers who evinced keen interest in development of Tamilnadu. She did not patronize the LTT.

 Tamils are proud of their language which they consider rich in literature. They propose English be made the official language of India which is not going to materlise even in distant future. India is a dangerously polarized society and southern states are not different in political ideology prevailing in other states.  Caste ism, nepotism and corruption prevail in South India like Northern India. It is also a fact that modern Tamilnadu was not completely under the rule of Mughal but the British ruled South India and British influence is still seen. Some of the excellent learning centers are situated in South India but there are overzealous persons who are not intellectuals but false propagators of the glory of language and culture and it is these people who are crying imaginary imposition of Hindi

 A good number of Tamil speaking people are found in Sri Lanka. One fanatic Catholic named Prabhakaran tried to carve out an independent sovereign state in tiny SriLanka and Tamils affiliated to DMK extended logistic support to the separatists. Rajeev Gandhi was assassinated by the separatists. Of course, SriLanka Sinhalese were to be blamed for discriminating against the Tamils. Than we have the state of Kerala where the people speak Malayalam. A large number of Malyalis are working in the middle east and for some unknown reasons Kerala is also known as the land of God, this is surprising as Kerala is perhaps is the last stronghold of communist philosophy.  Majority community that is Hindus is likely to lose its status of majority in the coming census in Kerala, and if this happens than it does not augur well for the unity of India as Kerala is also exporting jihadist to Afghanistan and other countries being ruled by lunatics.

ANDHRA AND KARNATAKA. These are two states, moderately influenced by Dravidian culture. Anti-Hindi feeling is not strong and a large number of North Indians laborers and technocrats are working in these two provinces. In the past Muslims rulers conquered large swathe of the region and Islamic influence is visible but politics and the governance is not different from. Caste rivalry in South India may be compared with caste-oriented politics in Hindi belt. Influence of cinema actors and actress was apparent in Karnataka which is now gradually diminishing. Cooperative federalism is the demand of the day and unlike Tamilnadu,  demand of separate sovereign nation has so far not noticed. But it is pertinent to note that secessionist movement in Tamilnadu is also not seen. Some of the unknown   disgruntled and anti-Hindi chauvinists in Tamilnadu are daydreaming of a separate sovereign land which is likely to die in a course of time.

Division of Andhra into two states vindicates the stands that language cannot be the binding force. Language evolves and die, so many languages have died in different parts of the world as. No language in this world claims to be the oldest language and India is not an exception.

Southern states are certainly more developed than Hindi belt. A large number of manual laborers from northern India who speak only Hindi are thronging to different industrial towns in Southern states and they are not complaining of  discrimination on the basis of language.

 Laws and order situations in southern states is better than northern states but that alone cannot be the sole factor for encouraging the foreigners to settle in India. Eating of beef is not uncommon in Kerala but in other southern states beef eating is taboo while in Hindi belt mere utterances of Beef will result in mayhem and bloody riots.

FINAL THOUGHT. A few foreigners may find south India  very interesting  but there is nothing in southern states that may encourage foreigners to settle in India.South India stands with north India.