Why this lingering divide?

This news article was perfectly harmless, but it caused a catfight between North Indians and South Indians in the online forum, causing several posts to be deleted for abusive content.

This is just one example among countless forums on the Internet where North Indians and South Indians sling mud at each other. The North claims that South Indians are dark, dirty, filthy, and make the office stink with curd rice. The South claims that North Indians are loud, smelly, lack culture and fart in public. The North enjoys reminding the South that North Indian movies and food are more popular than their Southern equivalents. The South relishes comparing Bangalore and Hyderabad with Bihar.

But why does this divide exist? Why do Indians give this level of importance to the North-South divide? Why can’t a country which is secular in terms of religion fail to do away with the age-old North-South divide?

One possible answer lies in the question itself: The age-old North-South divide. Maybe Indians find it simply impossible to ignore the fact that North and South India have operated independently for most of their history.

But that does not quite explain. Because in Singapore, there is an equally age-old divide: That between Chinese, Malays and Indians. But Singaporeans have been able to do away with this divide and unite as Singaporeans. You won’t find forums where any of these three communities throw abuse at one another.

I believe that the reason for India’s persistent North-South divide is the constant imposition of North Indian culture on the South. This started soon after independence when Hindi, a North Indian language, was made the national language of India. Every North, South, East or West Indian is expected to speak the national language. A South Indian who does not speak Hindi is subjected to ridicule, abuse and insult. In the realm of cinema, Bollywood hogs the limelight, preventing South Indian and other regional cinema from getting their due. To compound the problem, some North Indian individuals enjoy belittling South Indians, insulting South Indian icons ranging from idlies to lungies to Rajnikanth.

All these have caused resentment among South Indians. So naturally, when Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad lead the IT revolution, South Indians feel a sense of emancipation. When Kerala starts attracting more tourists than North Indian states, South Indians feel vindicated. When Hyundai, HP and Nokia set up shop in Chennai, South Indians feel their time has come. So South Indians have a natural tendency to gloat about whatever few advantages they have over North Indians. North Indians react to this by accusing the South of chauvinism. South Indians respond to that by claiming that it is actually the North which is chauvinistic by constantly imposing its culture on the South. This leads both factions on a wild goose chase without an end. The usual battle lines are drawn, with lungi, idly and Rajnikanth on one side, and Bihar, langota and Laloo Prasad Yadav on another.

In contrast, the communal harmony of Singapore has been ensured by the sensible way the Singapore Government has managed diversity. Malay was made the national language only ceremonially. The majority of Singaporeans do not know Malay, and are not expected to know it. The constitution gives equal importance to English and three other languages, each corresponding to the three communities of Singapore. Instead of following the melting pot model where diversity is minimized, Singapore follows the mosaic model, where each component retains its unique identity and also becomes part of a beautiful whole. There is no reason for any community to feel they have been given a raw deal.

Once India starts following this model, the North-South divide will cease to be an issue. When Hindi ceases to be the national language, South Indians will have one less reason to complain. When South Indian cinema gets the same international recognition as Bollywood, South Indians will have another reason to feel fairly treated. When an Indian who does not know Hindi is treated the same way as an Indian who does not know Kannada, there would be no reason for South Indians to accuse the North of imperialism.

These changes need to happen at every level, right from the government to the individual. The North-South divide is not going to disappear just by willing it away.

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