Kerala to Catalonia – comparisons on triggers for secession and catalysts for unity

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Catalans this week seems to have voted overwhelmingly to secede from Spain and form an independent nation. The independence movement is anchored on economic and cultural factors and in this context I am doing a comparison here between the position of Catalonia within Spain and that of Kerala within the Union of India. And I ask the question what are the specific triggers for secession and what are the catalysts for unity?

Parameter
Catalonia to Spain
Kerala to India
Comments
GDP rank
1st
9th

GDP (per capita)
5th
10th

HDI rank
Not available
1st

% of Population
16%
2.75%

% of Land area
6.3%
1.18%

% contribution to GDP
19%
4.4%
Pulling more than their weight
Tax vs public spend
+10 Billion EUR
Not available
Big gripe for Catalans
National military spend as % of GDP
4.24% (Spain)
17.6%
(India)
Having enemies around promotes unity
Cultural individualities
High
High
Own language, unique religious mix, historical and cultural uniqueness factors promotes secession
Possibility of being part of a larger geo-political-economic block even after secession
Yes - EU
Not likely
Decentralized yet federated is the aspiration.

Source :
Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranked_lists_of_Spanish_autonomous_communities
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41474674
http://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/Budget-2016-Where-the-money-comes-from-and-where-it-goes/article14130547.ece
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Kerala

Though economic disparities and inequalities have and will contribute to strengthening independence movements they are not the only contributors. For instance the availability of options to be part of significant geo-political-defense unions while continuing to being independent are fueling some of the independence movements (for example in EU block). On the other hand having common enemies to security and higher national defense spends seems a strong catalyst for unity.
Another driver I see for strengthening of local identities and possible independence movements are the emergence and growth of right wing nationalist parties. This may be a bit counter-intuitive, I believe nationalist politics that aim to foster and strengthen right wing sentiments work against the very goals they set themselves in diverse cultural environs like that of India where nationalism is a complex multi-layered idea as can be currently seen playing out in Kerala. The nationalist party ruling the federal government in India is trying to impose and propagate ideas that it feels is core to the Indian nation but is completely alien to certain parts of the country (attempted beef ban, failed imposition of Hindi as a national language, Vamana jayanthi celebration are good recent examples). So the very initiative to grow nationalism can lead to counter-nationalistic ideas in diverse and delicate cultural fabrics like that of India. Looser federal systems on the other hand will foster better national unity as is visible in the relative longevity of the US federal system. In summary the governance systems that are better suited to ensure wider unity in nation states are the ones that are inclusive, federal yet decentralized in structure and have some enemies around for good measure!!

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