Today, I won First Prize in Communal Harmony Essay Contest, organized by National Foundation For Communal Harmony, New Delhi and LBS Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.
Essay Topic: Communal Harmony and the question of cultural identity
“Let the noble ideas and deeds come from all
sides”
--- The Rig Veda
(Word’s oldest scripture)
The Beloved of the Gods, the
king Piyadassi, honours all sects and both ascetics and laymen, with gifts and
various forms of recognition. But the Beloved of the Gods do not consider gifts
or honour to be as important as the advancement of the essential doctrine of
all sects. This progress of the essential doctrine takes many forms, but its
basis is the control of one's speech, so as not to extoll one's own sect or
disparage another's on unsuitable occasions, or at least to do so only mildly
on certain occasions. On each occasion one should honour another man's sect,
for by doing so one increases the influence of one's own sect and benefits that
of the other man; whileby doing otherwise one diminishes the influence of one's
own sect and harms the other man's. Again, whosoever honours his own sect or
disparages that of another man, wholly out of devotion to his own, with a view
to showing it in a favourable light, harms his own sect even more seriously.
Therefore, concord is to be commanded, so that men may hear one anothers
principles and obey them. This is the desire of the Beloved of the Gods, that
all sects should be well-informed, and should teach that which is good, and
that everywhere their adherents should be told……
---- 12th Major Rock Edict of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (3rd
century BC)
WE,
THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a
SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith
and worship;
EQUALITY of status and opportunity; and to
promote among them all;
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of individual the
unity and integrity of nation;
IN
OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY
ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION
--- Preamble
of Indian Constitution
Above three historical
texts (and this is not an exhaustive list) come from three different eras of
Indian history separated by a huge time distance but all three converge into a
theme message and the objective of harmony among the masses of India in
particular and world in general. The openness of mind as extolled by Rig Veda,
‘the tolerance of others thoughts and beliefs’ as written in the edicts of
Ashoka, the doctrine of Sulh-i-kul (universal tolerance) propounded by Mughal
Emperor Akbar and the preamble of Indian Constitution all underscore this
fundamental idea of humanity. These ideas are more important now than they were
in any time of Indian history. It is imperative for India and her citizens to
strive for the ideals of communal harmony and ‘harmony of different cultural
identities in conformance with Indian identity’. Within India we can be
Marathi, Telugu, Tamil or Gujrati but outside of India we are only Indian.
India can only truly advance after achieving these ideals.
Cultural identity is
the function of certain customs, behavior, traditions, language etc local to a
region and as long as this manifestation is not hijacked or exploited to suit
some ulterior motives of a person or an organization at the expense of other’s
cultural identity, India and Indians can live in harmony without any conflicts
among different identities.
Communal Harmony
India is a country of
mammoth size with a very complex history; birthplace of numerous religions
(Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism etc) and cultures (Telugu, Tamil,
Kannada, Bengali etc) ; refuge of numerous cultures and religions (Judaism,
Zoroastrianism etc). India is also enriched by the religions and culture
originated in Middle East, Africa, Europe and elsewhere like Islam,
Christianity, Pop culture, Rock etc. Numerous tribes and countries had invaded
and migrated to India since time immemorial and after those invasions and
migrations the invaders and migrants merged with the people of India like
Aryans, Kushanas, Hunas, Shakas, Indo-Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Mongols,
Mughals etc. So it is difficult to define the culture or identity of India thus
making the definition of cultural identity more difficult.
When
Jews were persecuted in Europe and in Middle East (after the fall of Temple of
Solomon) India gave them refuge, and they lived peacefully for next 1800-2000
years in India, enriching the culture of India. India still has beautiful
synagogues in Mumbai, Kochi etc. No one persecuted them in India except the
Portuguese rulers of Goa. Zoroastrians also got refuge in India when they were
facing persecution in Persia (now Iran) in 7th century AD and now
India proudly has the largest population of Zoroastrians (called Parsis in
India) anywhere in the world. Parsis contributed immensely in the freedom
struggle of India, her economic development, her education sector etc. Some of
the big names are Dada Bhai Naoroji, Pheroze Shah Mehta, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw,
JRD Data, Homi Jehangir Bhabha etc. Mahatma
Gandhi once said about Parsis “I am proud of my country, India, for
having produced the splendid Zoroastrian stock, in numbers beneath contempt,
but in charity and philanthropy perhaps unequalled and certainly unsurpassed”
It is
true that Turks, Afghans, Mongols, Mughals etc invaded India many times, looted
and destroyed its temples, killed its people and converted its people to their
religion (many by use of force) but it is equally true that they defended India
from further invasions, integrated India politically, reformed the
administration of India, enriched the architecture of India and its culture. After
Ashoka no one tried to create a harmonious and tolerant India for next 1800
years except Akbar and Akbar was the son of a foreign invader Humayun.
Although
there had been many conflicts, battles and wars between Hindus and Muslims yet
they lived and still live peacefully for many centuries as neighbours and as
brothers in different parts of the country. They fought may be for less than 1% of the
time but these conflicts have been exaggerated to a momentous proportion and
the peaceful existence for more than 99% of the time has been belittled. The
likes of British Historian James Mill (1773-1836) started the cult of communalization of Indian history
by treating Hindus and Muslims as two different people and he named Hindu
period and Muslim period as two historical periods in his book “The History of British India”. Since
then we all have been zealot followers of his cult and Indian history and India
has been taking this beating; Muslim Heroes have become villains of Hindus and
vice versa, eg If Prithviraj Chauhan is the hero of Hindus then Muslims have
Muhammed Ghori to counter him and vice versa etc. The rise of various
fundamentalist groups in early 20th century and the partition of
India on religious lines in 1947 further strengthened this spurious cult. It is
very unfortunate that people miss many times deliberately that Hasan Khan
Mewati (Muslim ruler of Mewat region of Haryana) allied with Rana Sanga (Hindu
ruler of Chittor) against Muslim invader Babur, similarly Muslim artillery
expert Ibrahim Gardi led Muslim artillery unit in Maratha army in fight against
Ahmed Shah Durrani in epic third battle of Panipat in 1761 etc; such examples
are numerous; now how can one decide a Hindu hero and a Muslim hero. I leave
the answer to the followers of that cult.
India’s
largest minority has been paying a huge cost of the partition of 1947, many of
their majority community brothers charge them of betrayal in 1947 and even now
they question their patriotism. Minority community is often seen at the
receiving end in most of the riots, their causalities are often in disproportionately
large number compared to their proportion in the population of the country. It’s
not in interests of the country to leave its largest minority (other as well)
alienated and underdeveloped. The rule of law should be applied in a just and
fair manner without taking into account the religious identity of one group or
the other. Our media and investigating agencies should also show
professionalism in their methodologies else our country may have to pay a
larger price in future. “Let justice be
done though the heavens fall” should be the motto of our agencies.
Cultural Identity
Like
many religions India is home to many regional cultures (Kannada, Tamil, Telugu,
Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Manipuri, Naga, Odiya, Gujrati, Marathi
etc)) and this is a matter of great pride for any country but even this matter
of pride has been exploited to further the cause of cultural chauvinism of one
group over another. Eminent Lawyer Nani Palkiwala once said “We have millions
of Bengalis, Marathis, Gujratis, Biharis etc in India but we have very few
Indians”. In the fight for resources (water, land, jobs etc) these
identities have been used to further the cause of one group against the other. Anti-Hindi
demonstrations in south India first in 1930s and later in 1960s were in a way
protest against the alleged cultural invasion of south by north; similarly the
protests against Kaveri Water Dispute Tribunal decision took the issue of
Kannada identity versus Tamil identity. Many
regional parties have got success in their constituencies by using or
exploiting these issues by bringing cultural identities or religion in picture.
The recently formed regional party in Maharashtra is another apt example.
The
formation of states based on language concretized this identity on one hand but
on other hand it also strengthened the concept of India by showing that Indian
identity is not antithetical to regional identity. The formation of states on
language basis gave rise to the demands of states based on ethnic basis (mainly
on the basis of tribes etc) and now we have about 7 such states namely
Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Arunachal
Pradesh. The demand of a separate Tamil nation in south India has no takers now
because people have seen that Indian identity is not different from Tamil or a
regional identity rather Indian identity is formed by many such regional identities
or in other words Indian identity is an integration of all regional identities.
The flagrant demand based on regional identity has very few takers in India
today and this is a tribute to our constitution and its democratic nature.
The
history of India tells us that India prospered whenever there was peace and
harmony among masses of India (Ashoka, Akbar, Zainul Abidin of Kashmir etc) and
India declined whenever there was disharmony among the masses (Aurangzeb, later
period of Delhi Sultanate, later Rajput period etc). It’s up to us to make our
decision wisely.
Conflicts: Cultural Identity
As discussed above India is home to a
large number of cultural and ethnic groups. These groups vary from Naga people
(they used to practice head hunting almost 50 years back) to highly civilized
urban people (a significant percentage of these people are involved in foeticide
and selective abortions); from miniscule Jarawas (less than 200 in number) to 90
million plus Bengalis. Someone has
rightly said – “If you say something
about India, the opposite is equally true”. There are divisions even in the
seemingly uniform ethnic group mainly based on caste and religion. So in a seemingly
ethnically uniform village one can find divisions like Muslims, Hindus, Christians,
Brahmins, Scheduled Castes etc. There are so many divisions and contradictions
in Indian society but even then these societies live with each other in
relative calm and harmony compared to the perpetual warring societies of Middle
East and elsewhere. The invisible glue
of mother India glues us together; this glue is not magic but the value system
that governs the lives of all the Indians, codified in the Constitution of
India. This value system gives hope to the last man in the queue, most deprived
man in the village many such people.
The major causes and occurrences of conflicts (all of them
are driven by string social, political, ethnic, religious and cultural
identities):
·
Conflict
over resources
o
Kaveri
River Water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
o
Dispute
over Telangana in Andhra Pradesh
o
Krishna
River Water dispute mainly among between Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh
o
Naxalism
o
Assam
issue/ULFA
·
Political
power
o
Kashmir
conflict
o
Bodo
conflict
o
Gurkhaland
conflict
o
Khalistan
movement of 1980s.
o
Extremism
o
Assam
issue/ULFA
·
Language
conflict
o
Anti-Hindi
demonstrations of 1960s in south India
o
Conflict
between Maharashtra and Karnataka over Belgaum
·
Religious
conflict
o
Hindu-Muslim
conflict
o
Hindu-Christian
conflict
o
Extremism
·
Caste
based conflict
o
Caste
based violence
o
Naxalism
·
Tribal
conflict
o
Naga
conflict
o
Other
conflicts of North Eastern India
Indian
constitution provides ample safeguards to protect the culture and interests of
various groups and makes special provisions for protection of the culture and
interests of minority ethnic groups (based on tribes, religion, language etc).
These provisions are enumerated in Part 3 (Fundamental Rights), Part 4
(Directive Principles), Part 10 (Scheduled and Tribal Areas) and part 17
(Languages) of Indian constitution. India has been able to solve various
serious conflicts like Khalistan conflict, Assam conflict, Naga conflict (to a
significant degree), Krishna and Kaveri water disputes, Language conflicts etc
by working within the framework of the India Constitution. The conflicts among various
groups take serious shape only when these provisions are not implemented in
letter and spirit. India should take serious learning from the example of erstwhile
Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was the major country of South East Europe, consisting
of a large number of ethnic groups like Serbs, Slovenes, Croats, Albanians etc
and two major religions Orthodox Christianity and Islam. It remained a unified
country till late 1980s but the rise of Slobodan Milosevic trigged the decline
of Yugoslavia. His concept of “What is
good for Serbia, is good for Yugoslavia” eroded the faith of other ethnic
groups in Yugoslavia and after series of bloody war Yugoslavia disintegrated
into Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro,
Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thus what is good for Uttar
Pradesh does not necessarily mean good for rest of India; the same is the case
with religion what is good for Hindus does not necessarily mean good for
India.
To avoid conflicts there should be equality among various
groups and masses of India. Equality has many dimensions:
·
Political
o
Equal
rights in the electoral process
·
Economic
o
Equal
opportunities in economic progress of the country, inclusive development
·
Social
o
No
discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, color etc
o
Equal
opportunities in social development of the country
·
Cultural
o
There
should be cultural equality among various cultures. No culture should dominate
at the expense of others. The folk culture, tribal culture etc should be given
equal importance as given to classical culture (as manifested in classical
music, drama and dance) of India.
To a large extent Indian constitution provides for these
equalities but implementation of these objectives depends on every India. I
know many people in Delhi and elsewhere who call person from North East as
Chink or Chinki (in highly derogatory manner, this can be seen in popular
Bollywood Film “Chuck De India”) and I also know many people in Bangalore who
use equally offensive term for people from north India. If we need laws to
remove this trait then it’s a shame on all of us. We should not need laws to
implement some very basic ideas, these should be very natural.
Former
captain of Indian Cricket Team, Rahul Dravid makes an interesting observation
in his Bradman Oration 2011 (excerpts taken from his speech):
…….. Let me tell you one of my favourite stories
from my Under-19 days, when the India Under-19 team played a match against the
New Zealand junior team. We had two bowlers in the team, one from the north
Indian state of Uttar Pradesh - he spoke only Hindi, which is usually a link
language for players from all over India, ahead even of English. It should have
been all right, except the other bowler came from Kerala, in the deep south,
and he spoke only the state's regional language, Malayalam. Now even that should
have been okay as they were both bowlers and could bowl simultaneous spells.
Yet in one game, they happened to
come together at the crease. In the dressing room, we were in splits, wondering
how they were going to manage the business of a partnership, calling for runs
or sharing the strike. Neither man could understand a word of what the other
was saying and they were batting together. This could only happen in Indian
cricket. Except that these two guys came up with a 100-run partnership. Their
common language was cricket and that worked out just fine ……
This example
from the field of Cricket can be taken anywhere; Indians need to develop a link
language, link culture, common understanding and a common value system to
cancel the differences among them. Fortunately we have a common link language
in form of Hindi/English, a common culture in form of our films, Cricket etc
and common value system in form of our constitution. The only thing lacking is
our moral conviction to make that seemingly impossible 10th wicket
partnership of 100 runs.
Conclusion
Eminent Jurist Fali Sam Nariman writes
in his autobiography ‘Before Memory Fades’
that “If minuscule number of Parsis can
contribute in such an immense proportion in the development of India then the
largest minority of India can also make huge contribution if rest of Indians
show faith in them”. This is an apt description of a major problem that
India as a country has been facing since 1947. This problem is more pervasive
and blistering north of river Narmada. What has happened centuries ago should
not be allowed to create problems in 21st century India. Violent
past should not be allowed to make our present and future violent. Every
country has experienced horrible invasions and massacre and India is not an
exception. Moreover, Indians have discriminated its own people by various ugly
forms of caste based discrimination. But
what has happened, happened. We all should learn from our past mistakes and try
to make our present and future less violent and more magnanimous. India has
enough space for all religious, cultures and identities to live in peace and
harmony but has no space for wars and conflicts. Communal harmony and cultural
identities are not antithetical to each other; cultural identity is glue that binds
the community together while communal harmony harmonizes the relations between different
communities.
Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta Maurya patronized Jainism, his
son Bindusara patronized Ajivika sect and his grandson Ashoka patronized Buddhism,
and they did that without discriminating against other sects and religions. We
desperately need this respect, magnanimity and tolerance in current era. Our
civilization has always believed in good of all, always been magnanimous; it’s
a high time that we all become worthy inheritors of this great civilization.
sarvé bhavantu
sukhinaḥ , sarvé santu nirāmayāḥ |
sarvé bhadrāṇi pashyantu , mā kashchid_duḥkha-bhāg-bhavét||
(May all live happily. May all enjoy good health. May
all see auspiciousness. May none experience distress. May peace prevail
everywhere)
