Recently, Tamil Nadu regional leaders have started calling the ‘Central’ government as the ‘Union’ government. Not just in their words, but also in their official press statements, the leaders use the term ‘Union’ to refer to the central government. But why is it only now that this new ‘union’ is being used? Many messages are said to be hidden inside this one word. These leaders use the word ‘union’ to dismiss the idea of India as a single country. They claim India is a union of ‘many nations’.
The question of whether the term “union” is appropriate may arise. It is quite okay to use the term. Even the official press releases from the Government of India calls itself as the Union Government.
However, the problem with the DMK and its sympathizers calling it as ‘Union’ government is that there lies a separatist undercurrent. The problem is separatist thought, such as the implication of a separate Tamil country or a separate Dravidian country in the usage of the phrase ‘union.’
Names such as the United States of America, European Union, United Arab Emirates, Soviet Union have different undertones. These names refer to the confederation of various provinces, countries, and regions. For example, the European Union is a federation of different European nations and a nation can leave the Union if it wants to. A nation part of the European Union has he right to secede but in India, the states do not have the right to secede.
New Trend
After winning the Tamil Nadu Assembly election in May 2021, the DMK and its allies, with the exception of Congress, refer to the Central government as the Union government. It is true that Article 1 of the Indian Constitution refers to India (Bharat) as a “Union of States.”
According to B.R. Ambedkar, there is an underlying reason for the Indian Constitution chose to use “Union of States” instead of “Federation of States” even though the constitution is federal in structure- 1. The Indian federation is not the result of an agreement among the states like the American federation 2. The States have no right to secede from the federation.
The term “Union” is used because India is indestructible and only for the sake of convenience of administration India is divided into several states. Parliament can dismiss a state government using the provision under Article 356 of the Indian constitution, which implies that states are a subordinate structure to the Parliament.
Unions such as the USSR, the United States of America, and the United Arab Emirates are destructible unions of indestructible states. The Indian Union, on the other hand, is an indestructible union of destructible states. It means that parliament can pass legislation to reduce, increase, or modify the boundary of states. The country exists without the states and states on its own do not exist. This is one of the fundamental premise of the Indian constitution.
The only issue with referring to the central government as a union government is the idea behind this realization of constitution definition, and many ministers continue to claim that the central government does not exist without states and that the central government does not have voters on its own.
These regional leaders, who wish to implant separatist seeds in the minds of the younger generation, keep referring to India as a “Union.” Regrettably, the mainstream media is also hyping this terrible behavior by regional leaders.
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