I have been an immigrant all my life in India and outside. In India I have lived in many parts except my home state of Tamil Nadu. So the obvious question to ask is; can there be Indians who are immigrants in their own country? The answer, in my view, would have to be an unqualified yes.
 
So as a Tamil if I make Bengal my home am I an immigrant there? Affirmative, there are no two ways about it. The same goes for a non Maharashtrian living in Maharastra or a Tamil in Bangalore. Lets us face it, we are a little different from other countries and can therefore not apply the commonly used yardstick to define immigrants. As Indians we have a right to live anywhere in India, that goes without saying but it still does not alter the basic truth. I live outside of my state, I become an immigrant. Delhi perhaps is the only place which does not qualify.
 
I remember the time when we travelled from Delhi to make Kolkotta our home. I was a school going kid then, appalled at the poverty and the filth of Kolkotta. Typical of kids of that age, I would not shy away from expressing my opinion about it to my Bengali friend. One day he simply got fed up of my ranting and asked that I make some other city my home. That shut me up good and proper. In hurt silence I came back home and related the incident to my mother. I was expecting sympathy , what I got instead was a lengthy lecture on how my comments could get me into trouble and why I had no business denigrating the city in the first place as we were guests here. She had it figured then.
 
Raj Thackery can be a south end of a horse. But in some perverse way he has a point. He is merely exploiting what is obvious to everybody. Mumbai is being run by immigrants. They work harder, have taken away jobs from the local Marathi populace and have come to make Mumbai their home permanently. And more importantly some keep a very high profile and many are politically active and not averse to flexing their muscle. So Raj Thackery picks on the most high profile of them all and makes a wicked case for Mumbai for the "Marathi Manus". This theme appeals to many, particularly the unemployed and disenchanted.
 
Is Mumbai an exception.? Actually no. Just find out why Gujaratis are not liked in New Zealand or in Kenya and Uganda. What is this fuss US politicians make about HB1 visas? If big business was not so dominant in US, I wonder if Sulekha would still be the "largest international network for Indians". Why were Bengalis harassed in Assam in the last decade? Ever heard of Norman Tebbit? A British politician who coined the "Tebbit test" that required immigrants to support the English cricket team irrespective of their country of origin.  It is the same thing everywhere, only given the state of our political discourse, this issue takes on a jingoistic overtone.
 
There are larger issues at hand here. The trouble is not with immigrants, it is with so many of them as is the case with Mumbai. When you have immigrants from one state flocking to another because their own state has such an abysmal record for providing livelihood, this is the likely result.
 
This is going to hurt but has to be said. Our problem sadly is Bihar and UP. And by that I do not mean its people, I hasten to add (what does it say about us if I have to qualify this), but their economic woes. These two states are dragging India down. I can speak for Biharis having lived in their midst.  Hardworking, affable and industrious you will find them everywhere. And they have suffered often becoming victims to terrorist attacks in Kashmir, Assam and Punjab. They have been let down by an apathetic and corrupt state whose record even by India's standards is dreadful. Witness Lalus fifteen year  of misrule in Bihar. Much of the same goes for UP and its people.
 
India's Human Development Index would take a manifold jump if these two states start reforming. What hurts many is that despite their backwardness they dominate the political agenda of this country. Many states (particularly the south) are beginning to chafe at this perceived injustice and are increasingly striking out on their own. Tamil Nadu and Gujarat already have, Karnataka ,AP ,Bengal and Orrissa are trying to. A more aware citizenry at some point will ask why states which show little inclination to develop have such a disproportionate say in the country's affairs. That will be the beginning of some serious trouble for India.
 
What is the point of this story? 

Till this economic chasm between states is not bridged, Raj Tackery will not be the only one asking these uncomfortable questions.

Note: This was posted earlier as "An immigrants tale" . I am reposting this in response to the news topic "Raj Thackeray and divisive politics".  I did not expect this to appear as a separate blog!!!.