alternatehistory.com

IOTL, the southern Indians, known as dravidians, have developed as a relatively distinct ethnicity (or, more accurately, conjunction of ethnicities) from the northern, indo-european speaking indians. In the last years of the British Raj, a complex identitarian situation arose which allowed states such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Burma to become independent of India proper.
The dravidians, however, chose to stay in India and instead bargain for a fair position and autonomy within the indian state, rather than go independent. There were certain "dravidianist" figures such as Periyar Ramasamy, who even managed to become quite famous among the Tamil populace. But, for reasons out of my knowlege, their ideals didn't translate into dravidian independence.
So, i ask: is there any way for dravidian nationalism to grow large and separatist enough for India (or the british decolonization council) to decide giving independence to southern India?
If an independent Dravidia is possible, then how does it affect the situation of tamils in Sri Lanka?
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