When is a difference different enough?

It is a generally accepted fact that smaller states tend to have a political system that is more accessible to general public, a system that is more transparent, and a region that can be better governed. However, it is not hard to find examples of small states that have not lived up to that fact, whether it is in EU or India. If population size is the sole criteria to determine whether a state is small or large, then truly India can be split into 50 states, with 2 crores (i.e., 20 Million) for each state on average. Not quite sure that alone should ever form the basis, what if one state predominantly has population that is older, poorer, very young, or illiterate.

If we draw an analogy to the current issue of creating a smaller states (in India or anywhere for that matter) to that of a corporation, as an enterprise GE is really big but by creating smaller organizations within that enterprise, they become more productive. Reasons for creating smaller units could be based on product, market, profitability, etc. Similarly for smaller states, are the determining factors economic, social, geographic, linguistic, political, etc? If we take EU or western Europe anyway, most are culturally slightly different but economically more or less the same, Germany is shade richer than Spain, for example. As the demand for smaller states goes up in India, it is important for the Indian Government to determine the basis for creating such smaller states. Since smaller states are not created but carved out of existing ones a really robust justification is a must, and of course a strong opposition is a given no matter how justified it is – Telangana is a case in point.

India presents a conundrum, – from a distance it is a country with several states that share a more or less common history, behaviors, disposition, food, and clothing. I mean there is little diversity to be seen from a distance - saree, churidar, and a pyjama are identified as very Indian. At a closer look – you will see that each state and regions within each state tend to have different tastes, local influences, languages and dialects, culture, and food. So as one starts to take a microscopic view of India – you would see sharp differences. And that is where the problem is – what differences warrant a separate state? When is a difference different enough? Clearly we know now that language seems to be insufficient – Uttarakhand, Chattisgarh, and Jharkhand are examples. If religion were to be the basis, then there should be a “Muslim state” in India and a “Hindu state” in Pakistan. Religion cannot be the basis as there are all religions residing in each state, as are people of all languages in each state.

The intent of this blog is to initiate a discussion on this subject – clearly all I have are questions, and I would like us to start asking the right questions? Because if we do, answers may become self-evident.