DailyPost 399
CATALONIA – REFERENDUM – SPAIN
National boundaries were carved out in post the Second World War age & countries after countries got created. The process seemed to have been completed by seventies & not much has changed since them, some extreme examples like Kosovo & Southern Sudan notwithstanding. Spain took its final shape with the constitutional referendum in 1978. Before the Catalonia issue hitting the international headlines, our subconscious mind, globally was convinced of the fact that the drawing of international borders has been a process of the past.
Catalonia brings to the surface the complexity which is wrapped in the concept & reality called nation. The simmering are always there. The DNA of the democratic nation state is evasive, when faced with historical, complex & protracted issues. The solution generally found is legal / constitutional & more often than not, its permanence is much less than we imagine it to be. Is democratic leadership enabled to get into extremely protracted issues & come out successful through negotiation & rational bargaining. In the pulls & pressures of democratic politics & governance, how much is it possible to provide unflinching focus to issues of immense complexity. Issues remain unresolved.
This is broadly the Catalonia story. Now getting into a different trajectory. In a way self – determination as a political concept is up in full war cry. Referendum is the tool. The constitutional validity of the Catalonian referendum is in question. Referendums always are. Sometimes, results create a totally different narrative. The autonomous state is up against the federal centre.
The cat is out of the bag. Nobody knows how to handle the situation now. Trust, the kernel of modern democracies goes completely missing . No idea whether it was ever there. Democracy of convenience is no democracy. Issues have to be handled straight & square or we will keep revisiting ages / stages of historical past.
PROTRACTED HUMAN ISSUES NEED LONG TERM UNFLINCHING FOCUS FOR SOLUTIONS.
Sanjay Sahay