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Karnataka flag: Important to provide context to the debate

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​The Karnataka government's decision to appoint a Committee to examine the feasibility of the state having its own flag has evoked nation-wide interest and as expected has got caught up in the political cross fire. While the BJP leaders have denounced the move as it goes against the principle of One Nation One Flag, the Chief Minister has cautioned that it is merely a proposal that is being examined and asserted that it does not violate the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The issue is likely to snowball into a major controversy, given the fact that the state goes to the poll in the coming year and political temperatures are already rising. Unless handled with tact, given the strong emotional overtones that the issue can evoke, it could gravitate into a major controversy.

Karnataka flag: Important to provide context to the debate

It is important to provide the context to this debate. Given the political circumstances in which the Indian Constitution came to be written, the members of the Constituent Assembly rightly focused on the need to fortify the unity of the country. The Constitution does not use the word federalismto describe the Indian polity but consistently refers to Union-State relations. Article 1 of the Constitution clearly outlines that India, that is Bharat is a Union of States. This underscoring of the Unity dimension was unequivocally reinforced by the constitution makers through the constitution. Single citizenship, a single integrated judicial system, a single constitution (save for the state of Jammu and Kashmir) were all part of this focus on maintaining the unity and integrity of the country.

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During the six and a half decades of the working of this Constitution, much water has flown below the political bridge. One saw the assertion by the states of India of their legitimate autonomy and many would argue that the States of India have emerged as the new Centre of Indian politics. Especially since the 1990s with the emergence of a competitive party system, states have come to play an important role in defining and deciding trends in national politics. This has also significantly altered the nature of the political narrative on Unity and Integrity. While the Unity of India is considered paramount and sacrosanct, the new narrative has also focused on the need to privilege and celebrate diversity as a way of strengthening and fortifying unity. Many would argue that in terms of rhetoric we have moved from Unity in Diversity to Unity through Diversity. The argument here is simple. Recognizing and celebrating the diversity that India represents is one way of allowing differing segments of society to strengthen the bonds of ownershipfor the idea of India. The fabric of Indian unity, it can be argued is by weaving in the multiple strands of diversity and assuring that diversity its legitimate space. In that sense it can be argued that One India One Flag is to be recognized and respected but this does not go against the logic of allowing the states of India to have their own flag. While the National Flag enjoys a status of supremacy, the state flag gives the states too an identity.

If one were to take the example of other federal systems like the United States and Germany the states (Landers in Germany) each have their own flag. Even newer federal systems in developing countries which have privileged diversity, like Ethiopia, Nigeria and Malaysia, have a national flag and each of the states of the federal system have their own flag. A new democracy that is taking baby steps towards federalism - Myanmar - has its national flag and all the seven regions and seven states have their own distinct flags. Thus, across the world the states of a federal system having their own flag does not represent a threat to the Unity of the country as the National flag is clearly a national symbol and paramount even as the state flag represents the state identity and is a recognition of the fact of diversity.

One needs to add another subtle dimension to the ongoing debate. The current discussion on the state exploring the possibilities of a state flag needs to be viewed in the backdrop of a parallel debate on the way that spread of Hindi is being championed by the Central government in the states of South India. While over the years, the people in Karnataka have not been averse to the use of Hindi in their state and have seen its widespread presence especially in the electronic media, there has been a rising resistance to the way in which the spread of Hindi language is being aggressively advocated. For many the protest against Hindi is not against the language per se, but against the political domination that the language represents. Unless handled with care and caution, the aggressive manner in which Hindi is sought to be imposed could well pave the way for a strong anti-Hindi counter agitation, especially in the non-Hindi speaking states. This is a language divide which at this stage of our social and political development we would well do without. The move towards a separate state flag needs also to be seen in this context as representing a desire to protect an important and distinct regional identity.

One of course needs to add a word of caution. In all debates linked to language and regional identities there is always the danger of such movements being taken over by parochial elements who have their own hidden agendas. While speaking for the protection of diverse identities within the frame of a larger national identity, it is well possible that such movements could be hijacked by vested interests to serve selfish parochial and deeply divisive ends. One needs to protect oneself from such a danger. It is important to re-assert the point that while unity and the efforts towards national integration need to be placed on a premium the fact of diversity that this country represents cannot be perennially placed on the back burner. One needs to create a win-win situation in which diversity is celebrated even as the unity of the polity is sacrosanct. The danger in all such debates is that along the way, the narrative assumes unanticipated overtones and does more danger than good to the working of the political process in particular and society in general.

(Dr. Sandeep Shastri is a leading political scientist)

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