How can you say that we Indians are diverse? Sometimes, what does this diversity leads to?
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Answer:
The most striking feature of the Indian civilization has always been its plurality and diversity. It is this heterogeneousness which has made the Western world look upon India with admiration and label it as the “mother of all civilizations” and the “super continent”. The existence of multiple religions, cultures, languages, social groups etc within the territory of India has enabled our country to truly enjoy the boons of “unity in diversity”. But the real question pertains to toleration and non discrimination rather than pluralism and diversity. Pluralism does not guarantee toleration nor does diversity guarantee non-discrimination.
We Indians keep talking about the fact how our country is home to the largest number of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains in the world. We also have a large number of Buddhists, Zoroastrians and Jews besides having the fourth largest Muslim population in the world. But what we often tend to overlook is our country’s shameful record in terms of controlling communal violence. The genocide of the Sikhs following the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits with the escalation of Islamist militancy in the Valley of Kashmir in the late 80s and early 90s, the targeted killings of Punjabi Hindus during the days of Sikh insurgency in Punjab, the post Babri-Mosque demolition riots, the pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat and the brutal massacre of Christians in Kandhamal at the hands of Hindu fanatics are a reflection of the gross religious intolerance which has gripped India.
Answer
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The most striking feature of the Indian civilization has always been its plurality and diversity. It is this heterogeneousness which has made the Western world look upon India with admiration and label it as the “mother of all civilizations” and the “super continent”. The existence of multiple religions, cultures, languages, social groups etc within the territory of India has enabled our country to truly enjoy the boons of “unity in diversity”. But the real question pertains to toleration and non discrimination rather than pluralism and diversity. Pluralism does not guarantee toleration nor does diversity guarantee non-discrimination.
We Indians keep talking about the fact how our country is home to the largest number of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains in the world. We also have a large number of Buddhists, Zoroastrians and Jews besides having the fourth largest Muslim population in the world. But what we often tend to overlook is our country’s shameful record in terms of controlling communal violence. The genocide of the Sikhs following the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits with the escalation of Islamist militancy in the Valley of Kashmir in the late 80s and early 90s, the targeted killings of Punjabi Hindus during the days of Sikh insurgency in Punjab, the post Babri-Mosque demolition riots, the pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat and the brutal massacre of Christians in Kandhamal at the hands of Hindu fanatics are a reflection of the gross religious intolerance which has gripped India..
Besides instances of communal violence, these communities hold deep prejudices against one another which extend to living in segregated localities and ridiculing each other by means of name calling and muck throwing. Despite being a numerical minority, the Jain community in India has been denied minority status and hence, they do not avail of minority welfare schemes which they are entitled to. The demand for declaring Jains as a minority community is over a century old but it doesn’t seem likely that it would happen so in the coming future. In the region of Ladakh, there have been tensions between the Buddhists and the Muslims. While the Buddhists have accused the largely Muslim administration of Kashmir of neglect and discrimination while allotting funds and developmental projects for Buddhists, the Muslims have suffered due to an economic and social boycott placed on them by the Ladakh Buddhist Association. The two denominations were also gripped into deadly riots in the year 1989.
The Parsi community in India is among the most literate and well organized religious groups but their population has been consistently decreasing in an extremely alarming fashion over the last few decades. If the trend continues, Parsis would soon become extinct in India. This issue of declination in the population of Parsis was also discussed upon at great length during the recently held World Zoroastrian Congress. So far, the government has not taken this issue with due seriousness and the political insignificance of the Zoroastrians has ensured that the mainstream media doesn’t give this issue national prominence. One of the most iconic evidences of Indian toleration has been the complete absence of anti-Semitism in India except for the misdeeds of the Portuguese colonizers. The Jews of India have largely been at peace but it would be noteworthy to mention how famous Jewish actresses like Ruby Myers and Susan Soloman had to adapt names like Sulochana and Firoza Begum, respectively to gain acceptability in the nascent industry of Indian cinema. Doesn’t the changing of names to suit audience preferences reflect a severe blot on the composite culture of our nation? We have forgotten about the role played by Jews in the early years of Bollywood and their stories of struggle remain hidden in the darkness of history. It’s encouraging to see documentary filmmakers unravel the mystery associated with it by means of their freelance initiatives. Bollywood movies have popularized that aspect of our polity where a lady of Catholic origin stepped aside for a Sikh to be sworn in as Prime Minister by a Muslim President but the crude reality lies in the realization that religious minorities in India are hugely under-represented inside Parliament and in other government services.
Another significant threat to India has been the curse of caste. The kind of barbarism which was meted out to Untouchables, popularly known as Dalits, has no parallel in human history. Caste discrimination continues to be a reality and Dalits in India might no longer be stopped from accessing public roads or travelling in railways but they are still subjected to large number of inhumane atrocities. Entry into temples is restricted, access to public lakes is still a dream and inter-caste marriages are nevertheless quite low.
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