My thoughts on the Mail

My do paisa on this:

Though I am no Sherlock Holmes I am guessing,this mail has definitely been composed by a Maharashtrian and in in all likelihood I would have agreed with this wholeheartedly if I was a domicile of the state of Maharashtra and a person who has been momentarily blinded and possessed by "Sons of the Soil" sentiment.

First of all the mail begins with a reference to the suicide of farmers in Maharashtra, which is also a common phenomenon in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.These farmers are cotton farmers and the reason for their suicides are government apathy, the absence of a safety net for farmers, and lack of access to information related to agriculture. The detailed report has been submitted by TISS, Mumbai, my Alma mater, as requested by Bombay High Court.

I am not investigating all the legal angles in this mail and am assuming they are true. What is interesting is that though this mail says that it is not justifying the violence, it also says and I quote, "But has there been any choice Left today ???" LOL. Sick.

I wonder if the composer of this mail ever heard of something called PIL (Public Interest Litigation?) If the law and the clauses therein are so discriminatory to one particular "Zone" why not fight it out legally, rather than beat up poor students form a poverty stricken and politically defunct state. Or is Maharshtra not a part of this country? As far as the question of bearing the burden of BIMARU states like Bihar, MP, UP, Orissa goes...what should one do? cut them off and not deal with them at all. Let the people get poorer there? Suicides in Maharshtra are terrible and death related to abject poverty in Bihar, Orissa, MP, not the problem of a person holding a Maharashtra Domicile Certificate. Or has that person owning the prized domicile forgotten that he is first an Indian and then a Maharashtrian?
(BTW Bihar/Magadh was the richest, most educationally advanced state some centuries back. Now the tables have turned and, one never knows when and how soon it will reclaim its lost glory).

College admissons and employment should happen based on merit and domicile certificate is what the mail suggests. How stupid is that? Coming from a state whose fortunes are based almost entirely on one city Mumbai and Mumbai's success based almost completely on Gujratis, The Ambanis, and Parsis, The Tatas ,who originally hail from Jamshedpur, which is in erstwhile Bihar and now a part of Jharkhand, the solution is hilarious. Or probably the author of this mail has never visited "outsider" unfriendly states like Bengal, which have hardly any big industries. Or the state of Jammu and Kashmir which is governed by the draconian Article 370 which prevents non state subject from owning land in J&K amongst other things. Well J&K is like one big ghost town , banking heavily on tourism alone. There are no businesses, industries and the young have left their hometowns to earn a livelihood.By stopping non state subjects to be a part of the infrastructure the worst affected are the state subjects themselves. Most of the Jammuites including me pray for a day when Article 370 will be removed, non state subjects be allowed in our state, new businesses, and employment generation will definitely follow.

If all the major industries and big businesses of Mumbai were sent back to their owners', state of origin , Maharashtra would be bankrupt today.Bollywood, which is such a big industry was started by the Kapoors, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Anands,Kamal Amrohi of the yesteryears and more recently dependent on Chopras, Barjatyas, Ghais, RG Vermas, Roshans, Bachhans.

I wonder what happens to the Central and private/deemed institutions and research centers which are amongst the cream of the nation like, TISS, IIT, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, TIFR(Tata Institute of Fundamental Research).

The composer of the mail never heard of give and you will get more. My advise to you Mr. Writer...look at the bigger picture and beyond your regional loyalties. There is very little difference between you and the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin who drove away the non Ugandans from his country. At least think of all the successful and happy Maharashtrians outside their home state ..so many of them doing so well in the US and elsewhere. Are they not cheating locals of their jobs?

The last line of the mail actually makes me sick to the stomach and I quote again " Let them also be aware of the Situation that may happen to their Jobs as well". What is he trying to warn us of? There are not many jobs in Bihar, Orissa, MP etc.......lets see you fight for development, job creation, poverty eradication, in these states, which are very much a part of our country too.

"Sons of the Soil" merits an equally impassioned mail about and solely about the failed agrarian sector in Maharshtra which is pure in its Maharshtrian essence/fabric and has not been diluted or rather adulterated by the Marwaris, Gujratis, Parsis and the "Bhaiyyas". It would have actually done a lot good to the state and the Marathi Manoos.

Fight the unfairness in a law, do not challenge the nation state and threaten its unity.