Where is the Divide?

Do Indians believe in their tribe more than they think themselves as Indians? We had a discussion in the class. I still remember what a colleague said: “All communities have a sense of superiority that they want to impose on others. Honour killings are a proof of that.” And one friend said that most of the Indians are not educated enough to see the big picture.

To me, the old statement “Anekta mein Ekta” (Unity in diversity) still holds valid for India. The willingness of Indians to be associated with their caste or credo is nothing wrong per se, until it comes in the way of others. India is a multi cultural country, there is no denying that. It is needless to write the aspects of diversity that exist in India. But above all what matters is: Indians invariably are tolerant and revere others’ religious or cultural beliefs. That is why we have made it so far!. That is why we as a nation have not fallen apart while many other former British colonies fell preys to religious fundamentalism and tyranny. That is why we are still by large a peace loving junta, except when political powers make us vulnerable. Tell me a country where religious riots, racism or hate crimes have not happened.

Problem exists not in India or the Indians. Problem exists when we indulge in narrow wishful thinking. Problem comes when we are far from the ground realities, and try and compare India with other countries, which are homogeneous because of their size which in many cases is less than an Indian city or state. I hope we are wise enough not to fall in this trap of wishful thinking of having a ‘homogeneous’ country.

For me, extremely diverse cultures having completely different practices and beliefs are just fine; until they don’t impose their superiority over others. In India, we have never done that. But petty politicians want us to believe that ‘we are the best’ and ‘our God is better than theirs’. In almost all states of India, there are regional political parties, which try to enrage a regional sense of pride and exploit that for political benefits. It is sad that many of us fell into such traps many a times. These traps only make us think, research and debate the North-South divide, the Hindu-Muslim divide or the caste divide.

When I moved to Mumbai and knocked at the door of my neighbour, he asked my surname and whether I was a Maharastrian. It was up to me, either to believe that people in Mumbai are racist, or to neglect this as an exception. I chose the latter. And I hope you too see the larger picture.