In Uttaranchal, it’s history vs geography

Chauhan sees the move on the BJP’s part to replace the earlier nomenclature of “Uttarakhand” with that of “Uttaranchal” as a clear attempt to subvert the idea of an independent state.

Uttaranchal proponents are also irked over the campaign launched in Udham Singh Nagar against mergingwith the proposed state. Nainital-based Mahesh Pandey puts it this way, “No one here has said that the land of the farmers in the terai would be confiscated. Yet, all kinds of rumours are being spread and fears fanned.”

He expresses distrust of the Akali Dal leaders: “We’ve lived for years in harmony with the Sikhs in the terai. Now suddenly these big leaders, who never bothered about their community people all these years, are raking up animosity against us for their own political purposes.”

However, the fact is that the hill and terai people have long regarded each other with some measure of suspicion. Says a farmer in Bajpur, “Even when Nainital was our district headquarters, we never benefitted from government quotas and reservations. Only those who lived above 550 feet were eligible. Such past behaviour on the part of the pahadis doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

Many Sikhs in Rudrapur also voiced their resentment over attempts of politicians like N D Tiwari, who represented Nainitalconstituency for several years, to create a private fiefdom for the hill people.

Says one farmer, “They see us as outsiders. Yet, ironically, except in the interior regions, most of the hill people like the Joshis and Pants, had themselves come from Gujarat and Maharashtra many years earlier. But they never consider themselves as migrants, they consider us as migrants.”

But the duplicity of political parties and the tension between the people in the plains and the hills are just two of the many hurdles in the realisation of Uttaranchal. For one, those belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes in the hill region — believed to comprise 20 per cent of the hill population — have been extremely unenthusiastic about the idea of a separate state. They fear the domination of the upper castes. In fact, if Uttaranchal comes about, it will be the only state in the country where the upper castes will form 70 per cent of the population, and where there will be no OBC presence to speak of.

“It’s true that noDalit leader has emerged from the hills,” says a local leader. “Financially and physically, they have been suppressed, of that there is no doubt.”

In 1980, 13 Harijans were burnt alive in Kaphaltakhand, because the groom had dared to ride on horseback in a marriage procession. Incidents of this kind are rare but they nevertheless point to a darker reality.

Another major lacuna is a lack of a strong leadership. Ironically, even though Uttarakhand as an idea excited popular consciousness, the party that had spearheaded the movement against reservations and for a state in 1994 — the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal — continues to draw a blank at the hustings. This year’s Lok Sabha election saw the BJP sweep all four seats in the region.

“We give our vote to Lord Ram. We don’t seem to vote for our own people,” admits Pandey, a trifle sadly.

But what could pose the greatest threat to Uttaranchal as a state is the historical schism that exists between the Kumaon and the Garhwal regions. Says Haldwani-based O PArya, who has reported on the region for various newspapers over 40 years, “There are differences in language, customs and attitudes between the Kumaoni and the Gharwali. Kumaon men tend to look down on the Garhwali and there is even a festival in these parts, known as kathauda, which celebrates the victory of a Kumaon king over his Garhwal counterpart.” Arya believes that as soon as Uttaranchal is formed, the two regions will fight each other on every issue, from seat-sharing to ministerships. This is one reason why he, for one, is in favour of two states — Garhwal and Kumaon. Arya’s two-states-for-one approach may not find many takers, but he has yet another solution that seems to invite approval across the board, from Rudrapur to Nainital — and that is the idea of a Greater Uttarakhand. Says he, “A good way out of the present dilemmas is to expand Uttaranchal to include Meerut, Moradabad and Bareilly divisions.” This he believes will reassure people who fear being swamped by the upper-caste pahadi,even as those fighting for a hill state get to realise their dream.

But to even raise such a demand would require a unity of purpose and a committed political leadership, both of which are conspicuously absent in the present scenario. As Arya puts it, “Uttaranchal requires unity, but it seems that we can never be united.”