United Kingdom remains united

Scotland has voted "No" to independence from the United Kingdom. With the results available from all the 32 council areas, the "No" side has won 2,001,926 votes and "Yes" side 1,617,989 votes. Scotland rejected independence by 55 per cent to 45 per cent. The "No" party has been celebrating their victory while the "Yes" party has to bemoan their fate at least till they would realise in future that remaining united was perhaps not a bad idea.
Thursday's referendum, after so many dramas and speculations, has at long last kept the United Kingdom united.
This referendum on independence of Scotland must have evoked poignant memories and aspirations among people in different corners of the world who got their independence and also of those who are still struggling for their freedom.
This Scotland referendum declaring verdict in favour of union with the United Kingdom is also a pointer to note that independence on the other side of the water, in spite of being a lofty concept, may not always bring about cherished fruits and the freedom-loving people on this side of the water have to be told that it is their fait accompli, for better or for worse.
The referendum process has also shown that nationalism often divides, breeds on fear, plays on being the victims and preys on the vulnerable.
Never in the British history has so much time, energy and money been spent debating and discussing the fate of five million people at the expense of the other 55 million. Still, democracy has spoken through this voting a marvellous truth that independence could also be achieved shedding not a drop of blood. It was an experiment to teach the rulers of the world that people have the right to stay together or secede. They have the right even to defy national integrity for the sake of independence. And they should be allowed to shape their fate by vote, not through armed struggles.
How has the British Queen found the referendum result? About 60 years ago when Elizabeth, as a 27-year-old, was crowned in Westminster Abbey she took a ceremonial oath to govern the peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Her coronation gown revealed the standing of the Union, with the elaborate embroidery resembling the four emblems of the United Kingdom: the rose, the shamrock, the leek and the thistle.
The Queen carries Scottish blood and bears the standard of the Scottish heritage. Her mother Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) hailed from an ancient aristocratic Scottish family.
The Queen said she understood there would be strong feelings and contrasting emotions. She said: "Knowing the people of Scotland as I do, I have no doubt that Scots, like others throughout the United Kingdom, are able to express strongly-held opinions before coming together again in a spirit of mutual respect and support, to work constructively for the future of Scotland and indeed all parts of this country.

Heads of states and governments and leaders around the world warmly hailed the referendum outcome. US President Barack Obama welcomed Scots' decision to stay in the UK. "Through debate, discussion, and passionate yet peaceful deliberations, they reminded the world of Scotland's enormous contributions to the UK and the world," he said.
Besides those "Yes" voters who are bemoaning their defeat, there are certainly millions of people outside the United Kingdom who had fervently hoped for an independent Scotland. One of them is Mohamed Al Fayed, the tycoon, who owns the Ritz Hotel in Paris and used his wealth to buy an English premiership football club and owns the 65,000-acre Balnagowan estate in the Highlands of Scotland.
Al Fayed expressed his determination to gift a "statue of liberty" to Scotland. The statue would be an image of the legendary Princess Scota. According to legend, Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh Chencres, took to the seas 3,600 years ago after a quarrel with her father, taking with her two sons and the Stone of Destiny, on which Scottish kings would later be crowned.
Mohamed Al Fayed insists the Scots are descendants of Scota, the Egyptian princess. He also claims his forebears brought the famous kilt to Scotland. The kilt, most often made of woollen cloth, is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands and it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland. Mohammed Al Fayed is also a known name to the world for his son Dodi, who along his girlfriend Princess Diana, had died in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.
Secessionists around the world were looking closely at what was emerging in the fate of Scotland and would have taken courage and inspiration if Scotland had won the chance to be independent.
Quebec held its referendum on a split from Canada. French-speaking Quebecers would have rejoiced a victory for an independent Scotland.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Barcelona on September 11, Catalan national day, demanding a vote on independence. But the Spanish government staunchly opposed saying such a vote was unconstitutional.
As a country with famously diverse provinces, and given its proximity both geographically and culturally to Scotland, it could be seen that the Scottish vote this week would be an important test-bed for independence movements in Belgium.
The Kurdish people have long agitated for a homeland of their own, and paradoxically, now when a united front is needed against ISIS, the Kurds have their best chance of gaining more autonomy in Northern Iraq.
The decisive rejection of Scotland's independence referendum has set off urgency to reorganise the constitutional power in the United Kingdom, which has to change the way the British people are governed. There is growing outcry to make the United Kingdom more like the United States. That means real decentralisation of power. Powers over taxes, spending and welfare have to be shifted away from the central government in London towards the regional administrations that govern Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Britain has long had one of the most centralised governing structures in the Western world, with London-based officials controlling some 95 per cent of all taxes.
The "No" victory may have snuffed hopes of Scottish nationalism. But greater power at the local level could be one of the enduring legacies of the vote, if politicians can agree on a strategy for how to make it materialise.
It is time for the British people to heal their divisions and march forward as a united nation. Amputation, they must have learnt, is drastic when there are other options to try first.

[email protected]