(Rahul Joglekar is a London-based journalist.)The intensity of the Scottish referendum was lost on me until I visited Glasgow last week.
I was aboard a train transporting dozens of Labour MPs (the Labour party is the main opposition party in the UK) who were going to Glasgow to hold "NO" campaign placards at Geroge Sqaure. As they stepped out of the train station, a man in a cycle rickshaw was ready and waiting -- for a peculiar audio ambush. "March of the imperialists" was blaring from his speakers as he announced on a microphone -- " bow to your imperial masters, Glasgow" -- teasing the MPs who had come down from London. No prizes for guessing what way he was going to vote in the referendum.
Later on, a heated argument between a placard carrying unionist and loudspeaker wielding Scottish nationalist became a street spectacle with over two hundred onlookers gathering within minutes to contribute to the fracas.
All along, the view from London had been -- you cannot take the Scottish referendum seriously. It was allowed to happen because it was known that most Scottish people would not vote to separate from the union.
And then, one opinion poll in the
Sunday Times newspaper send a shock wave through London's ruling elite. Instead of the Prime Minister calling Alex Salmond's bluff and ending his career, the PM suddenly looked vulnerable. In what seemed like a panic attack -- the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of opposition all rushed to Scotland. It all looked quite desperate.
And the opinion polls continued to show that the referendum was a cliffhanger.
I was in Edinburgh as the polls opened. At a polling station that I visited - I heard all kinds of voices -- yes, no, not decided, not telling, independence for Spain, Indian students wanting to inflict on Britain what they did to India, polish immigrants hoping for a brighter future in an independent Scotland - and a transvestite who was dressed in English and Scottish colours!
And while I was on three hours sleep from the previous day, no one could sleep on counting day. But within a few hours it became quite clear that there won't be a "freedom at mid-night moment". Fifty-five per cent Scots decided not to leave the union. 5 percent more than the percentage of the electorate needed to let this happen.
Surely the Prime Minister, the Queen and the establishment must have been relieved.
Alex Salmond has now resigned and the referendum can be forgotten like a bad dream.
Or can it?
Because in my opinion -- there are lessons in this not just for England but many countries across the world.
The writing is on the wall to all governments is - don't simply ignore separatist movements. Emotive campaigns in smaller areas targeting a few people are nowadays easier to run and manage than in the past. Governments should be seen to be working hard to not alienate people with separate identities and sub-nationalities who live as part of a bigger union.
The Scottish referendum should remind those in power anywhere in the world that unity in diversity cannot be achieved if development, opportunity, democracy stop at the gates of big cities or just a few regions. Inequalities are dangerous to the health of great nations.
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