Question

Bonds of unity in India

Answer 1

Notwithstanding the various diversities evinced in India, there are the bonds of unity which are located in a certain underlying uniformity of life as well as in certain mechanisms of integration. This has been reflected in the observation of Herbert Risley, the census commissioner in 1911. He says “Beneath the manifold diversity of physical and social type, language, custom and religion which strike the observer in India there can still be discerned … a certain underlying uniformity of life from the Himalayas to Cape Camorin.

Unity amidst diversity is visualized in the geo-political sphere, institution of pilgrimage, tradition of accommodation, tradition of interdependence, emotional bond etc. M.N. Srinivas observes that the unity of India is essentially a religious one. The secret of India’s survival, the continuity of her culture, the enrichment and growth of her heritage, has been in this capacity, this rare gift, to greet the Unity underlying the Diversity. Therefore it could embrace and contain, absorb and assimilate people of all races, religions, castes and creeds.