Help me understand - lurks et al

[Rajiv]

Bihar- especial status? Why, bhaaiyaa..chakkar kya hain

[Lurker]

Bihar- especial status? Why' date=' bhaaiyaa..chakkar kya hain[/quote'] A freaking nonsense is what it is Rajeev. In a way also the (sad) signs of time. I hate to say I told you so (and frankly would have been happier if I was wrong) but I have seen this wave of "Bihari" Nationalism lurking under the water. Generally speaking most states in India have a sense of "identity" most often through language and the likes. And so it is not uncommon to see multiple groups of Indians outside India. For the bulk of Hindi speaking states there is no identity as such. Most Hindi speakers identify themselves directly as Indians and later on as Bihari/UPite etc. This does not mean a Tamilian puts Tamil Nadu ahead of India, just that for a Tamilian a sense of Tamil identity was always bigger than that for a Bihari. This has increased over the years when Bihar's economy and law and order has taken a terrible beating. Most Biharis who are capable of making a move are moving outside Bihar, a case of brain and drain within India. And many of these often come back with some horrid stories of how they were attacked in Mumbai or Assam or Delhi. All that had been thought of as part of India. The absence of law and order has meant that economy has been worst hit. Small to medium scale industries have practically shut down. People are, or rather were, afraid to make more money because of kidnappers. There is that famous story of how Anil Ambani cancelled his trip to Bihar because he was on the radar to be kidnapped. Get the picture. Special status would mean Govt of India would have to give lot of money to boost infrastructure, maintain law and order, education yada yada. That part is good and should have been done earlier. But there was no need to grant a Special status simply because every other state will bicker about this now. More importantly an average Bihari may get the taste of if they ask something forcefully, and have the political numbers, GOI will listen to them....this is the part that should not have happened. I remember saying a few times how it is only a matter before a Bihari political party does a Thackeray, a Karunanidhi, a Patnaik and asks for Bihar's say in National polity. Looks like this has started already. xxx