Unity in Diversity....?

Sadasiv Says...

The recent death/murder of Nido Taniam, the college student from Arunachal Pradesh has brought back to the forefront the rising number of hate crimes in our country.

We pride ourselves for our 'Unity in Diversity'. But are we? What begins as snide remarks against a person purely by their place of birth ("Northie", "Madrasi" etc) or the way they look ("Chinki", "Kaala" etc.) escalates into hate crimes. Migrants from other states are always seen with suspicion whenever a theft takes place. Even if people belong to the same place and look the same, they will still cause violence in the name of religion and caste.

What did our Constitution makers do to prevent such hate crimes? We have special provisions for certain weaker sections of people in our constitution - SC/STs, Minorities, Women etc. We have several laws and welfare schemes for them. But like every concession provided to any section, it gets exploited by the elite in that category (a phenomenon called 'Elite Capture') resulting in further deprivation among the unfortunate.

So what do you think is the remedy?

Holistic education that tries inculcating values of tolerance and respect for differences rather than just cramming us with mostly useless information seems one way. But then, who will teach the teachers for this kind of education? Will it get interpreted as religious teaching?

How about new laws, like making racism illegal? But how will our already strained, improperly trained and mostly insensitive law enforcement mechanism handle this?

Basically, is Unity in Diversity impossible in India?

Paul V Mathew responds

Though the flamboyant brand 'unity in diversity' gives a soothing effect, the truth underlying the fact is desperate. Followed by the 'NE Exodus',  communal riots in Muzaffarnagar, very recent racial attack and death of 19 year old Arunachal graduate Nido Tania, is adding salt to the wounds of North East. Though NE states are in the boarder and susceptible to enemy attack, the policy approach we have should be condemned. In the name of Naxal/Maoist and surveillance,  people are being pressed by authorities through AFSPA, OGH and many other similar draconian laws. The agony, anxiety and aggression of NE friends I met a few months ago, hints a looming crisis. It is very hard to accept the fact that the poor tribal people are being evacuated from their dwellings by mining lobbies with the support of top guns in the name of 'preservation and protection'. Considering its strategic location, resource rich regions, proximity to China and the ever emerging look east policy, politicians and policymakers should come up with more pro active plans for NE people rather than widening the lacuna.    

Racism is a kind of barbarian attitude which is nether good or bad than apartheid. It is not very heartening to realize a survey report which unveils that our country is the forefront for the age old slavery practice and bonded labor. When all the religion and communities proclaims Love and Care, it seems a waterline when the blood becomes thicker than water. It is very desperate to see that our country is still in the per-independent era, while mulling over the matter of caste, creed and religion.

The traditional concepts of laws and regulations are not enough to fill this void. The understanding of 'we are one' and 'we will be one' should be inculcated from the very embryo stage itself. The same should be in our mind while framing Curriculum or imparting values and rituals in all platforms. Time has come to ripe the supreme authority National Integration Council (NIC) to discuss and deliberate on more cultural exchange programs and communal harmony campaigns to bridge all disparities on the name of race, color, complexion, appearance and regional deficits. 

At last a revolution should happen in our minds and that should lead us to a 'paradigm psychological shift' . Let's in our hear and mind realize that we are a nation of diverse people, taste, culture and groups that itself gives us an identity - who need not to be necessary resemble one another.

Deepu said.

'Unity in diversity' can now be used just as a topic for school students to write essays as we did a few years back.Or it can be used by politicians for election campaigns or public speacking. Otherwise it has got no social relevance in the present context. We could see the `lack of unity among Indians decades back when the British authorities subjugated us for nearly 200 years. Eventhough many leaders tried to generate the so called 'unity ', most of them failed and those succeeded unities were fragile too. Towards the end we identified that a mass movement is essential for a change to happen , a mass movement is required for the benefit of all, we united and then we experienced the essesnce of independence.

I too believe that unless we all, ourself assimilate the fact that the racial , religious discrimination is such a social evil, which has to be wiped off as it may affect us also in future, we wont be able to make a difference.I belive that 'a give and take policy' will be an effective and diplomatic tool for this. Why should others remain silent while the harassment happens to a minority class. Lets us support them so that we will get their support in future. Let us remember the thought " An enemy nearby is much better than a friend who is far away".

Paul writes

Enough is enough ! The contribution of chaotic social movements are still debating. That may be a solution in the past. It is in front of our eyes and in the day light many agitations (all over the world) turn futile. The placard "We are confused and scared about our nationality' vehemently persuade us to obliterate all kind of discriminations. But to call a spade a spade - I wonder and wander whenever I storm over 'Our Common Future'. The strategy 'mass movement' is very easy to paint on a canvas, but the modus operandi is still elusive and needs to be evolved.

Mathew Rajan Said,
My thought process links the issues of racial abuse to the simple fact that most ppl in India live in the same place as their forefathers and so They are ignorant as to what the rest of India is like,that they are Indians and not malvi,gujrati,malayali or tamil. We are ignorant of what are customs and traditions of ppl of different regions within the state let alone different states.
We are ignorant frogs in a well .And when a frog of different colour comes in , we behave like kings as we know all the dimensions of the well and use it to subjugate them to atrocities without knowing if they are friend or foe . They may strike back with deadly force or succumb to the injustices .
As Gandhi did,all Indians must do a tour of India once to know the true India.
I believe spreading awareness is the only immediate solution at sight to this social evil that is racial abuse.
And it is high time we took out the system of reservation for SC/ST/OBC as a category and give it only to ppl who truly are in need of reservations.
It was a great plan during the framing of the constitution but now it is flawed & is in reality injustice to the deserving ones.The rich become richer and the poor become poorer .

Sadasiv again
Ignorance and resistance to change are definitely the primary reason. Though feasibility of people travelling all across the country is logistically impractical, the same role ought to be taken up by popular media. Whether it is movies or regional print/visual media, they ought to take it up as a cause to effectively show how people across the country are. Shyam Benegal's Manthan, produced by the farmers of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Federation, was one movie that got mainstream attention to the Gujarat model (Amul brand) of cooperative milk production that got replicated all over the country soon afterwards.

Regarding ensuring reservations are given to the people who deserve it, the biggest question is, how will you determine who these deserving people are? Many a time introducing government machinery for targeting accurately itself causes more problems that it can resolve. Ideally, getting rid of it entirely is the solution, but we haven't reached that level of progress for the backward sections yet. Even the constitution makers envisaged reservations only for a period of 10 years after enactment of the Constitution, but we've seen it getting extended endlessly. 

Finally, I wouldn't brush aside mass movements completely. Look what the AAP movement has done - got the corridors of power insecure about their "entitlement" to be in power and ushered in, at least by the look of things, some amount of cleanliness and accountability in the way political parties function. We've seen the Lokpal Bill passed by Parliament after over four decades of insincere attempts.

Eventually, the only factor that keeps us united DESPITE the diversity is our faith in democracy and thus, our faith in the power of our votes. If nothing, we still think we can throw out the incompetent if we wish so. Ironically, thank vote bank politics for that!

Paul reverts

Let's wait and watch the future of AAP and Lokpal !!!!!