Azadi | Kashmir, Hong Kong, Catalonia Separatism | Explained by Sohail Khan

Separatism

 Kashmir, Kurdistan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Catalonia, Palestine, Taiwan, Kosovo, Greenland, and Scotland

All these places have one thing in common

There have been slogans for freedom in all these places

By different means in different situations,

But there have been separatist demands in all these places.

There have been demands for the creation of a newly independent country

I'd like to talk about separatism in this blog

By taking examples from worldwide, let us examine how countries are formed, how they break down, and how this affects the people. In today's times, if someone has to create a country

There are no international laws that guide you through the process of creation of a country

Azadi | Kashmir, Hong Kong, Catalonia Separatism | Explained by Sohail Khan 

But the 1933 Montevideo Convention specifies four criteria for the formation of a country

A permanent population, a well-defined territory, the existence of a government,

and the capacity to maintain relations with other countries

But there are a lot of countries worldwide that satisfy these four criteria but are not a country

Because the other countries do not recognize them as "countries"

Let us take the example of Taiwan

Azadi | Kashmir, Hong Kong, Catalonia Separatism | Explained by Sohail Khan 

Taiwan is almost a separate country on its own

But only 17 countries recognize Taiwan as a country

For any new country to get a seat in the United Nations,

they need the approval of the Security Council of the United Nations.

which can be vetoed by any of the permanent members of the United Nations

Azadi | Kashmir, Hong Kong, Catalonia Separatism | Explained by Sohail Khan 

So Taiwan never got a seat in the United Nations because China always vetoed it

Because China believes that Taiwan is a part of China.

The same situation applies to Palestine and Kosovo

 Kosovo

Speaking broadly, for your country to be recognized as a separate country,

An important criterion for this that the rest of the countries of the world recognize it as a "country"

and accept it as an independent country.

                                why Separatism?

Azadi | Kashmir, Hong Kong, Catalonia Separatism | Explained by Sohail Khan 

A basic question here is why does separatism arise?

Why do some people in the country feel like they should create a new country?

Experts have suggested several reasons behind this and I divide them into three categories

The first category is cultural reasons

Some people feel that their religion, ethnicity, or cultural is in danger if they continue to be a part of a big country

So they wish to form a separate country of their own

Another cultural reason is that some people hate other cultures

And to consolidate their identity, they want to form a separate country and drive out the minorities

The second type of reasons are economic reasons

Either the people feel that they're extremely poor and that they're being exploited economically,

and the rich are extorting money from us,

Or, on the second hand, like the example of Spain,

The rich people there feel that their money is being used unwisely

and that their money is being uselessly distributed among the poor

The region of Catalonia is one of the richest regions in Spain

This is one of the biggest reasons behind their independence movements

The third category of reasons is injustice. That is, the separatists believe they are being treated unjustly

This could be due to a variety of reasons but usually, it is related to a political decision

That is the government decides that, socially, economically, in the case of freedom

as well as in the case of democracy,

affected the people in a negative manner.

Azadi | Kashmir, Hong Kong, Catalonia Separatism | Explained by Sohail Khan 

In the end, what do you think is the most important thing in this political matter?

In my opinion, the life of a common man is the most important thing here

the life quality the life of a common man might improve or become worse

then historically, it has been noticed that after separatism, there ensue civil wars, violence

and economic depression follows

Economically, growth improves when borders are reduced

This is why I am against separatism because, generally, it results in worse conditions

when viewed from the perspective of the life of a common man

Unity in diversity

"Unity in diversity" is an important phrase here because there are 8000 ethnicities worldwide

If everyone starts to argue for their own country and everyone starts to fight,

then you'd find thousands of reasons to do so

Today, there are several examples worldwide that wherever the borders are reduced

and restrictions are removed between two countries or between two regions,

then there is more economic development and peace and the life quality of the people improve

The European Union is a huge example of this

Germany, Spain, France, and Portugal are different countries

Azadi | Kashmir, Hong Kong, Catalonia Separatism | Explained by Sohail Khan 

but due to The European Union, the same currency is used in these places

There are no borders in between them

Any person living in one country can cross the border and go to the another country without any restrictions

Economic development increases because of the increased trade between countries

And wherever borders are drawn and separatism is promoted in a sense,

difficulties increase in such places

Brexit is a good example of this

Brexit, for the UK, is a terrible thing economically

There are exceptions in such cases too. For example, I consider the Hong Kong case to be an exception

because Hong Kong is a democracy while China is a dictatorship

Azadi | Kashmir, Hong Kong, Catalonia Separatism | Explained by Sohail Khan 

So Hong Kong wants to separate itself from the Chinese dictatorship and wants more freedom and democracy

So it is sensible to support it

In the case of Kashmir,

the removal of article 370 would mean more integration of Kashmir with India

Azadi | Kashmir, Hong Kong, Catalonia Separatism | Explained by Sohail Khan 

The people of Kashmir would be able to live like the rest of the states of India and enjoy the same rights as them

So it has been said but it is not yet visible being translated into action

The way curfew has been imposed there and the way political leaders were detained

the rights like the rest of the states in India are not being granted.