wMaliciously ridiculing social media is now a tool of choice for political parties. The latest example of that ugliness came from several BJP leaders in Bihar, as well as the party’s Uttar Pradesh spokesperson, who made blatantly false statements. Claimed The viral post states that Bihari migrants are being killed in Tamil Nadu. Elsewhere, two sporadic murders – neither of which involved Tamils – were equally false. Held responsible Caste hatred towards Biharis by Tamils. The post sent shockwaves among lakhs of migrant workers in Tamil Nadu. The police have registered a case against the rumour-mongers; But as is the case in these cases, disinformation spreads quickly because it is designed to appeal to people’s fears and prejudices. The truth, meanwhile, in all its boring complexity, is hardly worth pursuing.
While political parties are plunging to new lows, it is useful to understand why millions of people migrate from the Hindi heartland to South India in search of work. Consider the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The total population of these six states is around 52 crores (52 crores). If they were a country in their own right, they would be the third most populous country. In 2018, these six states combined had almost as many factories as Tamil Nadu – a state with a population of 70 million (70 million). And these factories in Tamil Nadu employ more people than the whole of central and northern India.
In addition, wages in southern India are significantly higher as compared to the rest of the country. That is, if you are a person of working age in North India, you are less likely to get a job in the organized sector. And even if you do, your wages are likely to be low. So, many people in those states do what any reasonable person would do: move to places that have more jobs that also pay better. And those places are in South India.
Complicating factors is that the southern states are culturally and linguistically distinct. Therefore, migration has political consequences as do all mass migrations. While the local reaction to these migrants becomes news, the question that all thoughtful citizens should be asking is: Why are there so few factories and so few jobs in North India?
The answer is complex but a simple fact: factories require human capital and are often set up in places that have good governance, adherence to the rule of law and, above all, good educational and health outcomes. For example, Tamil Nadu has a gross enrollment ratio of 84% at the higher secondary level, the highest among large states in the country; Bihar has the lowest at 29%. of Tamil Nadu infant mortality rate — the strongest health indicator in a developing society — is 15 (infant deaths per 1,000 live births) compared to 41 in Uttar Pradesh or 29 in Bihar, according to 2019 Sample Registration System data.
Political parties in Bihar and the rest of north India who are spreading misinformation about the mistreatment of migrant laborers in Tamil Nadu would do well to ask their governments why their states lag behind their southern counterparts in achieving basic governance. It takes real work of democratic participation to fix this, as opposed to spreading fake news or whipping up hatred for political gain.
Read also: Tamils and Biharis are not fighting. Something else is fueling the fear and anger
a constant struggle
The result in states like Tamil Nadu is: what do these societies owe to their northern counterparts? Do they allow their factories to hire workers from poorer parts of the country and therefore lose their progress in labor rights and the virtuous cycle of development where better jobs lead to better outcomes for their societies? Or do they resist the risk of being seen as parochial/protectionist? It becomes even more complicated when one considers the fact that northern India, by virtue of its demographic power, holds the political power in this country; Worse, given the growing delimitation crisis, the expansion of power is bound to happen at the cost of South India.
A clear example of that power being taken to hegemonic proportions is the implicit and explicit push for Hindi, if any Tamil. What frustrates Tamils is that every few years they have to fight with the new central government the same battle they thought CN Annadurai had won for them. The first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu was famous for Said When a move was made in the 1960s to make Hindi the sole official language of India: “Since every school in India teaches English, why can’t it be our link language? Why do Tamils have to study English for communication with the world and Hindi for communication within India? Do we need a big door for a big dog and a small door for a small dog? Let even the little dog use the big door, I say!”
In this day and age, governments do not need a link language. They can simultaneously translate all official documents into different languages. and governments must speak to those who choose it in their own language; It is a matter of democracy. People only need languages to communicate with each other. And that, if migration patterns are any indicator, would be the opposite of what the Indian government wants.
Yet, if anything, the centrality of Hindi has only increased in the last few decades. There are exams for central government jobs that are conducted in Hindi/English but not in any other language. Laws have been made and policies have been implemented that govern citizens in languages they do not speak. Law on taxes, on that! MPs are expected to obtain prior permission to speak in Parliament in the language of their constituents. Union Home Minister Amit Shah openly asked to change Hindi with English wherever possible. And the three language formula in schools, implicitly or explicitly, pushes Hindi to be one of the languages children learn.
When political power and prosperity are combined with such antagonism between two groups, it is only natural that both groups act in ways to claim the gold medal in their imaginary hunting Olympics. A reasonable compromise then is not to formalize link languages or policy making at the level of 1.3 billion people; Instead, decentralize everything to the extreme. Except India is a democracy which encourages the opposite. If you are imagining this sitting in Chennai, it creates a difficult future that looks bleak.
Neelakantan RS is a data scientist and author of South vs North: The Great Partition of India, He tweeted @puram_politics. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)