> That means a tightly integrated and mostly centrally controlled state cannot function either if there are multiple religions identities present in the country which by extension means that the state of J&K has no place in present day India.
It doesn't. That is the reason why you see so much bloodshed with one side trying to overpower the other. J&K is not homogenous. The Jammu part is majority Hindu and Kashmir part is majority Muslim dominated (it had a minority Hindu population too called Kashmiri Pandits but they were raped, murdered and eventually driven out by the majority. Read up on "Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_of_Kashmiri_Hindus). The Muslim dominated part wants to break away from the "Union" and form its own Country. Do you see what I have been hinting at? The religious division that was created when India was partitioned continues to plague Indian society even to this day. Now you want the Indian society to somehow forget and forgive all these issues and just join into a bigger Union with states that were created with diametrically opposite ideas? That is impossible! Why would Indian taxpayer want to carry the burden of states that have a hatred for Indians?
> After all, people of this region have so so much in common. Plus, in such a union each "nation" would retain it's identity while having extremely close ties to other "nations of the union" e.g, free trade, travel, etc.
I appreciate your desire for unification on a common ground and I wish for it too. But that is not a probability because of religious intolerance. You can bury your head in the sand and choose to look the other way but that is the reality. Until you have religions that believe that theirs is the "true path" and the rest will go to "Hell" there is no way we can achieve any sort of common ground. Reformation should happen first. Some sticking points that exist in each religious denomination should be discarded as being irrelevant for today's day and age. Now that is very much possible. Hinduism has undergone various reformations over the ages and continues to do so. Sati system was abolished. Caste system that discriminated has been upended by a Reservation system that uplifts the socially deprived. Sure it is not perfect yet but it shows positive intent. But these reformations cannot be a one-way street. If such similar reformations happen in all other religions then you would automatically have unification. If you are only looking at economic/political advantages then that is a poor solution that is bound to fail. Unification should only be on mutual-respect for culture, tradition, religion, creed etc. Things that have real social value. Not money or politics. The former will cement the Union, the latter (example: EU) is a weak foundation that will eventually crumble.
In 1983 when Farooq Abdullah wanted to use J and K’s autonomy to repatriate Jammu Muslims (comparable to if not greater in number than Pandits), Indira Gandhi came in and campaigned on the issue as ‘infiltration’ and her son left the Pandits to twist in the wind in the resulting backlash. In 1978, she sponsored the Sant Nirankari sect in Punjab while giving Bhindranwale a free hand to attack these ‘heretics’ at the same time. My grandfather fled his birthplace of Gulbarga in 1948 after watching Indian Army kill civilians. Please tell me more about Nehru-Gandhi secularism.
I see your opinion is that it's literally impossible for such a union to exist. Sorry for judging and writing up a comment personally targeted at you but I also sense some level of prejudice in your comments. May be (and I hope) I misjudged.
It doesn't. That is the reason why you see so much bloodshed with one side trying to overpower the other. J&K is not homogenous. The Jammu part is majority Hindu and Kashmir part is majority Muslim dominated (it had a minority Hindu population too called Kashmiri Pandits but they were raped, murdered and eventually driven out by the majority. Read up on "Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_of_Kashmiri_Hindus). The Muslim dominated part wants to break away from the "Union" and form its own Country. Do you see what I have been hinting at? The religious division that was created when India was partitioned continues to plague Indian society even to this day. Now you want the Indian society to somehow forget and forgive all these issues and just join into a bigger Union with states that were created with diametrically opposite ideas? That is impossible! Why would Indian taxpayer want to carry the burden of states that have a hatred for Indians?
> After all, people of this region have so so much in common. Plus, in such a union each "nation" would retain it's identity while having extremely close ties to other "nations of the union" e.g, free trade, travel, etc.
I appreciate your desire for unification on a common ground and I wish for it too. But that is not a probability because of religious intolerance. You can bury your head in the sand and choose to look the other way but that is the reality. Until you have religions that believe that theirs is the "true path" and the rest will go to "Hell" there is no way we can achieve any sort of common ground. Reformation should happen first. Some sticking points that exist in each religious denomination should be discarded as being irrelevant for today's day and age. Now that is very much possible. Hinduism has undergone various reformations over the ages and continues to do so. Sati system was abolished. Caste system that discriminated has been upended by a Reservation system that uplifts the socially deprived. Sure it is not perfect yet but it shows positive intent. But these reformations cannot be a one-way street. If such similar reformations happen in all other religions then you would automatically have unification. If you are only looking at economic/political advantages then that is a poor solution that is bound to fail. Unification should only be on mutual-respect for culture, tradition, religion, creed etc. Things that have real social value. Not money or politics. The former will cement the Union, the latter (example: EU) is a weak foundation that will eventually crumble.