The acceptance of the above ideas should be increasing in that order, because it holds true for the first two, or at least, it is now a fashion to look down on regionalism and only talk about nationalism. And that gives ones opinion a complete acceptance to the educated, modern and cosmopolitan club, which everyone wants to be in.
So, why not go a step ahead and put in the third idea, 'rationalism' and see how it changes the scene. With all that happening in Mumbai, one man got all the bad media for raising an issue, which was made a taboo to talk about over the years. There is no denying, the issue might have been used to fare better in the hustings, but there would be no smoke with out a fire. There should be no condoning the violence unleashed on the innocent migrant but there is a need to treat the disease and not the symptom.
Now there are these cities which keep supporting migrants, and the states which keep producing them and dispersing them all over the country. Yes, the constitution gives the right to movement to any where in the country, but it also strives to achieve a welfare state. So using this right of movement so ruthlessly on a city by a sea of people does not go down very well. Technically it is all fare and fine but the issue is not all that black and white.
How does not trying to address a problem help the situation? Are we trying to encourage this mass migration to cities in the name of being a national citizen? In that case, we might as well hope for an unrestricted intercontinental migration for being a world citizen, (it might sound illogical, since there is no such world constitution).
Whose city is it anyway? This is what we hear in the media today. Should it not be something like 'Whose problem is it anyway?' which addresses the cause for such a movement of people from those ill governed and less opportunistic places. Should we not be talking about the betterment of those towns and villages to check this influx of people into already choking cities?
Now which is a bigger mistake? The governments (which again translates to people) of those states not doing enough for keeping its people in the state, or somebody who tries to bring the problem to the notice of the nation.
May rationalism prevail over all other isms..
-Aditya
