Delimitation and the South
The issue of delimitation in India appears to have upset leaders of the southern States, with good reason. To begin with, the South Indian States contribute significantly to India’s economy, with higher per capita income and better human development indicators. If despite this they end up having less representation in Parliament, it could add to concerns about an unfair distribution of central resources. If political power shifts more toward the Hindi-speaking States, the fear of marginalisation may increase. This could deepen regional tensions. But there are possible solutions. Instead of focusing on population alone, representation could be linked to economic and social development indicators. There could also be steps to ensure that States have more control over policies affecting them. Finally, there could be an increase in Rajya Sabha seats for the South Indian States to balance the seat losses in the Lok Sabha.
Md Sabir Hussain,
Arrah, Bihar
The last word
The debate on the nation’s languages has been revived and may appear both opportune and cynical to many, and a need of the times to others. Many Indian languages are far too older than even global tongues. India has had its share of civilisational onslaughts with many alien tongues but was able to tackle them by assimilation or assertion, to the benefit of its cultural enrichment.
States south of the Vindhyas, zealously linguistic, resisted Sanskrit. The anti-Hindi agitations are of recent memory. However, the compulsions of modern-day technological advances saw many States embrace English to manage their technical interface. Great civilisations have thrived on diversity and vanished on inward-looking, isolationist credos or a false sense of superiority, be it in race, religion, language or any other.
R. Narayanan,
Navi Mumbai
Published – March 01, 2025 12:24 am IST