Regional parties and leaders have begun to believe that their ideological differences with the ruling NDA at the Centre provide the authority to do what they like. The report about the DMK government in Tamil Nadu intending to enact legislation that will ban the use of Hindi in the state for hoardings, or the singing of Hindi songs, screening of Hindi films, etc., indicates a complete misreading of the constitution under which it was elected. Any act against the unity and integrity of India deprives the government of the legitimacy it has under the law. All the claims that the DMK makes on the basis of race, language, caste, culture or economy are not what provide it the right to represent the state’s people. Electoral victories are not a handover of sovereignty or ownership rights.
There has been an element of secessionism in the DMK’s ideology based on ethnicity for a long time. It was what led it to support the catastrophic LTTE movement in Sri Lanka. There is nothing in history that supports this theory, as there was no separation of the Tamil people from the rest of India on the basis of geography or religion. Before the British, the region comprised kingdoms that had a continuity of marital, traditional, as well as religious links with the rest of the sub-continent. What constitutes the state at present devolves entirely from constitutional provisions, just as in every other state. Even new states have been formed in the years after independence, including Uttarakhand.
The problem, of course, is that the ruling party is desperate to retain power by whatever means it can. Considering the fact that it is losing popularity because of its misgovernance, and anti-incumbency is being reflected in numerous ways, it is hoping to stoke racist sentiment in the hope of returning to power. The kind of abuse targeted at ‘Sanatan Dharma’ has been a symptom of this approach, and it is only the weakness of the system that there have been no legal repercussions.
Tamil Nadu is not the only state going through this process. West Bengal under the TMC also has become disassociated with constitutional governance. It is more like power has been handed over to contractors, who can do what they like at their respective levels as long as votes are corralled for the ruling party through coercive means. Such dilution of India’s sovereignty is unacceptable and corrective measures are urgently needed.
