NOVEL NEXT Chapter 980: Reaction of the people
24th October 1677
After Vijay returned to the capital, he formally announced the addition of two new states through a new Imperial Bill, a bill that granted full legal recognition from both the government and His Majesty the Emperor for the inclusion of Khalsa Nagari and Tibet into the great family of the Bharatiya Empire, now expanded from 23 to 25 states.
Of course, the buzz in the empire was not small,
"An empire of 25 states, the greatest since the reign of Emperor Ashoka," declared the headline of The Times of Bharat.
"What does the inclusion of Khalsa Nagari and Tibet mean for the Empire?" asked Bharatham Daily, its bold headline carrying a tone of national pride.
"The tragedies behind the accession, how two separate misfortunes led two peoples into the protective fold of Bharat," wrote The Observer, reflecting on the deeper events that shaped this historic moment.
In a similar way, all the major regional and minor newspapers in the empire only wrote about the latest and the biggest news as of late, and that is the addition of two new states into the Bharatiya Empire.
Reading the newspapers was a great delight to the people of the empire, be it the old man who sat with his friends under a banyan tree and bragged about his knowledge of the world,
"Let me tell you, ignorant fools, Tibet is a big place to the north of the empire, all the monks go to Tibet for practice, and do you know that Mount Kailash is also in Tibet?"
Be it the middle-aged housewife aunts who all gather in that one aunt's house to always gossip and talk about other people's lives,
"Sister, you said that your cousin's brother-in-law went to Kalsa Nagari for work, didn't you? Now look, Kalsa Nagari is becoming part of the empire."
Or even the office workers who tried their best to make their work less boring by chatting to each other,
"So have you guys heard..."
"About what..."
"About the two new states..."
"Of course we have, unless someone is living under a rock or in dense mountains and jungles, everyone should know about this news by now."
"So what do you guys think?"
"Think about what, it's obviously a good thing."
"That is true, but don't you think that Tibet is a little bit too big? It has already become the largest state in the empire. If a government is formed in this state, will it not become too powerful?"
Discussions were taking place across the empire about all aspects of the integration. Most people, if not all, had good things to say. They were excited, especially since the empire had expanded without a major war. Still, there were some who felt a bit concerned about this inclusion.
Their worry was whether the empire's economy could handle the cost of integration and the investments needed. Of course, such concerns were not very common, but they were not unheard of either. Many sharp minds in the empire had quietly noticed the same thing.
Just as the Bharatiya economy had started to recover from the earlier crash, the plague arrived and slowed everything down. Then, as the economy finally reached the same level as before the crash, the empire moved to add new states. While this is a positive step in the long run, in the short term, could it stretch the empire's finances too thin?
Capitalising on or realising the doubts of the people, many business newspapers in the empire, like Business Weekly and other newspapers, started to write about the ripple effect that can be caused due to the new states' integration in the empire's economy.
Of course, this led to another wave of information dissemination, this time by specialised newspapers that focused on specific aspects of the integration. Desh Anand discussed how the political landscape might change, Janmukhi Rangmanj covered the topic of civil rights and how they will be affecting the people of the new states, and the Vijayanagar Chronicle explored the historical background of Khalsa Nagari and Tibet.
Even regional newspapers, like Surat Samwad, joined the conversation by publishing a thoughtful article about the existing industries in the new states and how they could be used to ease the financial burden on the empire. It proposed a model where the development of the new states could begin using their own economic base, with the empire serving as a catalyst and support system rather than bearing the full cost alone.
This newspaper and the novel ideas caused waves in society, especially among the business folk who loved the idea of using the state's own money to build itself.
Due to this, the newspaper even reached Solanki Puri Govt, where Narasimha Modi, the Chief Minister, personally had the writer of the article write a detailed report and submitted the report to the central government as a possibility that can be considered.
Apart from all these things that were going on in the empire, a roundtable conference was also held jointly by the major newspaper companies in the empire, namely Bharatam Daily, Times of Bharat, and The Observer, bringing together major political speakers from all over the empire to talk about what they had seen and what they felt.
"Well, it is no surprise that the people of the Khalsa Nagari are overjoyed by the decision taken by His Majesty the Emperor," Satyavarma spoke out with a confident gaze, looking straight at the colleagues who were on the stage and the audience who were looking at him. This feeling made him exhilarated. "Most of the people in Kalsa Nagari are basically Bharatiyas, for them this integration should be like a child returning to the mother's embrace."
" I have personally seen celebrations break out in many places, with feasts being held and fireworks lighting up the sky as if it were the eve of Deepavali. People are celebrating their return to the Bharatiya Empire."
" Of course, the Persians who once lived in those lands, along with the Sikhs, Romanis, and other ethnic groups who had settled in Khalsa Nagari from across the Middle East, are a bit skeptical about the recent developments. But even among them, most are hopeful. Living among the Bharatiya Sikhs and hearing stories of how life is inside the empire, many are now filled with curiosity and growing expectations."
A wave of applause followed as soon as he finished speaking. Satyavarma humbly accepted the appreciation with a namaskar.
The anchor hosting the event also offered a slight namaskar, which he returned with a smile. She then continued,
"Thank you for your input, sir. As always, it was a knowledgeable experience."
"However, there is news that the people of Tibet are lukewarm about this integration; it is said that some people are even showing skepticism about the move of the Dalai Lama."
"What do you think about it?"
Satya Verma was silent for a few seconds, then he simply smiled and shook his head, "I'm sorry to disappoint, Preeti, I am no expert in the matters of Tibet. Perhaps Sir Basavaraj Sarangi could enlighten us."
An elderly man with silver hair and a black shawl smiled cordially, "Thank you, Satya, for your vote of confidence. I really appreciate it."
"Talking about Tibet, Preeti, I would like to remind you and everyone present, there is a saying that the one who wears nothing has no expectations for shoes, and the one who wears shoes cannot wear nothing."
"It is a similar situation that is happening now. For the people of Khalsa Nagari, returning to the Bharatiya Empire is as natural as, like my friend Satya said, returning to the mother's embrace, but for the people of Tibet, this is a whole new territory, whole new culture, whole new rules and way of life. I'm not surprised that they are skeptical, and some people are expressing their doubts."
"In fact, I'm quite happy as things are now, since no riots or rebellions have broken out."
This caused a few eyebrows to raise, and Preeti immediately caught on to this: "Does that mean you think that there is a chance, or rather was a chance, of rebellions and riots when the matter of the integration was announced? How so?"
Basavaraj caught the curious gazes of everyone around him, and instead of responding, asked a question,
"Let's consider this for a moment: what if the roles were reversed? What if His Majesty had not come into our lives, and a person like His Majesty was born in Tibet, and this person went on to reclaim the whole of China, and then this king offered help to, let us say, Ahom, to resist the tyranny of the Mughal Empire? In exchange, Ahom will be part of Tibet, and the two nations will end up signing the agreement?"
"In this situation, will the people of Ahom not be disappointed, skeptical, and extremely dissatisfied with the decision made by their leader?"
"I mean, why go so far as to make a fictional story, this happened when Ahom joined the empire, didn't it?"
"With Ahom as a comparison, I would say the people of Tibet are taking the news more positively."
Everyone quickly understood what Basavaraj meant; they came into a sudden realisation of their own.
"Thank you for your insight, Sir Basavaraj," Preeti did a Namaskar, "However, it is not good to have voices of dissatisfaction in this new largest state in the empire, is it? If this issue persists, how can the integration take place?"
Basavaraj nodded and then shook his head, "It is naturally not good for the people of Tibet to have some scruples, but we can't really control their mouths and thoughts. What we can do is what we did with Ahom, provide all the necessary support and advanced living conditions that the people in our empire are accustomed to."
"In my opinion, this alone is enough, sorry to keep bringing up Ahom, but it is the closest example to what is happening today."
"The people who openly showed dissatisfaction and vowed to leave the country during the Ahom integration with the Bharatiya Empire are now the biggest supporters of the Bharatiya Empire. Even if we want to kick them out, they would not leave."
"So the best solution to handle this problem is to do what we do best, build infrastructure, connect the cities and communication channels, provide living necessities like hospitals, schools, courts, police stations, post offices, set up a civilised management system, introduce rules and regulations, and provide education."
"This should be enough; we don't have to do anything else."