Prelude: A Rightist group in India has stopped "missionary schools" from distributing chocolates to kids on Christmas. They have further ordained that students should stop addressing teachers as "Fathers", but rather address them as "adhyapak mahoday" (Rough Translation: Mr. Teacher).
There was another news item doing the rounds recently that the Human Resource Development Ministry (HRD) of the Government of India, was considering making Sanskrit mandatory in schools.
"Our defense is in the preservation of the
spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands,
everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of
despotism around your own doors." (Abraham Lincoln)
Now, the concept of the "Indian way of life" seems to have become a much misused concept. The Rightist understanding of this concept is basically a "majoritarian conservative" understanding of the cultural ethos of India. The first step towards identifying the cultural ethos of a nation should be towards analysing its historical roots.
The idea of India as a nation as it stands today can be construed as a colonial construct. The post-colonial understanding of this idea is varied. Though its a given that 'a' civilization existed in India since the beginning of recorded history, its definitely a 'leap of faith' to state that the 'idea of India' has existed since then. Even at the height of the Mughal empire, most of the Southern states were never directly under the control of Mughals and same can be said about the North-Eastern states. In the modern times, there were large tracts of 'Pre-Independence' India which were controlled by monarchs. Thus, even legally till the time of signing of the instrument of accession, the people of such 'princely states' owed their allegiance to the king and not to some mythical ruler of 'India'.
Thus, the concept of India as a modern monolithic political entity(as it stands today), only took shape in the colonial and post-colonial times.
As the 'idea of India' itself is a colonial construct which gained precedence in the post-colonial era, it is tough to imagine the existence of a 'pan-Indian' cultural ethos. The cultural spectrum of India inculcates vast variations within its multitudes. For example, some societies in India are strictly patriarchal and patrilineal whereas some are matriarchal and matrilineal.
The Constitutional Assembly understood the importance of preserving this diversity as necessary for the very existence of India. The opening words of the Constitution as it stood originally stated, "WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure all its citizens: ... LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship...". Thus underlining the importance of protecting the diverse cultural background of India. Further, Article 29 of the Constitution of India, reads as follows,
"Article 29. Protection of interests of minorities.- (1) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same...."
Thus, it is clear that the fathers of our nation dreamed not of an India where a monolithic majoritarian culture was imposed but rather imagined a nation which respected and promoted the diverse cultures of its people.
Though, right wing majoritarian groups have always existed and have been trying to 'forcefully' promote a conservative and majoritarian culture of India, but in recent times the instances of such 'promotion' have been on the rise. This seems to be a disturbing development on two fronts, as being discussed below.
Firstly, the sheer ignorance about the importance of cultural diversity to the unity and integrity of India, is worrisome. The imposition of an 'alien' majoritarian culture on a minority society, is liable to result in disastrous circumstances for such nation. This is clear from the reactions received to any move towards enforcement of Hindi over the Southern states or imposition of a national ban on cow slaughter. Any move towards an imposition of a majoritarian cultural ethos will always be met with justified resistance, and in many cases will lead to increasing fundamental tendencies amongst the various minority cultures. We don't need to look far to see the disastrous consequences of such actions for a nation, where the erstwhile East Pakistan separated from West Pakistan, to form the new nation of Bangladesh. One of the major reasons for this split is attributed by historians to the imposition of the Punjabi cultural ethos of west Pakistan on the Bengali population of East Pakistan. Thus, it is important for people who believe in the idea of India, to understand that the cultural diversity of this nation needs to be preserved to maintain the unity of this country. Its illogical to imagine that a person who doesn't speak Hindi; or celebrates Christmas; or participates in pre-marital relationships, is not an Indian. The Constitution of India, the beginning of all that is Indian, itself provides for protection of the 'way of lives' of its various minorities. Its high time we as its citizens inculcated the same ideas in ourselves. Thus, the right wing groups, if they actually seek to preserve the unity of India, would do well to preserve and promote the cultural diversity of this country.
Secondly, the reactions of the people to such instances of forceful promotion of 'Indian' culture is disturbing to say the least. At one end of the spectrum, there are a bunch of 'neo-liberals', who view every such instance as a step towards conversion of India into a majoritarian dictatorship. There seems to be a lack of balanced debate or understanding of the underlying issues and the need for restraint. The arguments of the 'neo-liberal' segment seem to gain strength from the fact that India is currently being governed by a Right wing party and a 'majoritarian' Prime Minister. Though the 'neo-liberal' argument seems attractive at first, its tough to imagine that there is an underlying design of the government to promote a majoritarian society. Firstly, though the present government might have its roots in Right-wing politics, but it won the current general election on the plank of development, and though 'right-wing politics' might win a party elections in some parts of the country, it is tough to imagine that the same will hold true on the national front. The best example is post-Godhra, though the BJP won the state elections in Gujarat, it lost the national elections two years later. Secondly, even if one were to assume that there is such an underlying thread, it will be political suicide to actually implement such a design across the country. The best examples would be the re-assessing of the plans to make Sanskrit compulsory in schools, and the softening of the BJP's stand on Article 370(special status to Jammu and Kashmir) of the Constitution of India.
This is the point where the other end of the spectrum of responses becomes important. There is a large silent group of educated liberals, which chooses to remain silent as long as there interests are not affected. But it is my view, that it is the power of this silent group which will be a check on any rightist tendencies of the Government or the actions of these 'right-wing' groups. It is important to understand that the Indian society as a whole, is largely conservative, in-egalitarian and unequal, but in the same breath it is important to remember that there is a definite move away from the same, and towards a more liberal and egalitarian society. This process of change is time taking as societies are not evolved in a short time. But, the movement as slow as it is, is definitely present. For example, in the state of Bihar though caste politics is still prevalent, there is definite underlying thread of development which runs through the state politics. This silent group needs to take a vocal stand on such instances, because in democracy, its the liberal intelligentsia which carries the burden of reform. At the end of the day its a question of preserving our cultural diversity and unity as a nation, and therefore its important that the political parties and their affiliated groups understand that there is no political mileage to be gained from such antics.This can only be done by the collective voice of the liberal intelligentsia.
In my humble opinion, the idea of India is well represented in the phrase, "unity in diversity". Though we are all different, we are yet united in the common bond we share as Indians. The words "India that is Bharat, shall be a union of states", doesnot merely refer to a physical union of states, but a cultural amalgamation of all the cultures prevalent in India. This is the true definition of 'Indian culture' and it is our right and duty to preserve and promote the same.
Now, the concept of the "Indian way of life" seems to have become a much misused concept. The Rightist understanding of this concept is basically a "majoritarian conservative" understanding of the cultural ethos of India. The first step towards identifying the cultural ethos of a nation should be towards analysing its historical roots.
The idea of India as a nation as it stands today can be construed as a colonial construct. The post-colonial understanding of this idea is varied. Though its a given that 'a' civilization existed in India since the beginning of recorded history, its definitely a 'leap of faith' to state that the 'idea of India' has existed since then. Even at the height of the Mughal empire, most of the Southern states were never directly under the control of Mughals and same can be said about the North-Eastern states. In the modern times, there were large tracts of 'Pre-Independence' India which were controlled by monarchs. Thus, even legally till the time of signing of the instrument of accession, the people of such 'princely states' owed their allegiance to the king and not to some mythical ruler of 'India'.
Thus, the concept of India as a modern monolithic political entity(as it stands today), only took shape in the colonial and post-colonial times.
As the 'idea of India' itself is a colonial construct which gained precedence in the post-colonial era, it is tough to imagine the existence of a 'pan-Indian' cultural ethos. The cultural spectrum of India inculcates vast variations within its multitudes. For example, some societies in India are strictly patriarchal and patrilineal whereas some are matriarchal and matrilineal.
The Constitutional Assembly understood the importance of preserving this diversity as necessary for the very existence of India. The opening words of the Constitution as it stood originally stated, "WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure all its citizens: ... LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship...". Thus underlining the importance of protecting the diverse cultural background of India. Further, Article 29 of the Constitution of India, reads as follows,
"Article 29. Protection of interests of minorities.- (1) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same...."
Thus, it is clear that the fathers of our nation dreamed not of an India where a monolithic majoritarian culture was imposed but rather imagined a nation which respected and promoted the diverse cultures of its people.
Though, right wing majoritarian groups have always existed and have been trying to 'forcefully' promote a conservative and majoritarian culture of India, but in recent times the instances of such 'promotion' have been on the rise. This seems to be a disturbing development on two fronts, as being discussed below.
Firstly, the sheer ignorance about the importance of cultural diversity to the unity and integrity of India, is worrisome. The imposition of an 'alien' majoritarian culture on a minority society, is liable to result in disastrous circumstances for such nation. This is clear from the reactions received to any move towards enforcement of Hindi over the Southern states or imposition of a national ban on cow slaughter. Any move towards an imposition of a majoritarian cultural ethos will always be met with justified resistance, and in many cases will lead to increasing fundamental tendencies amongst the various minority cultures. We don't need to look far to see the disastrous consequences of such actions for a nation, where the erstwhile East Pakistan separated from West Pakistan, to form the new nation of Bangladesh. One of the major reasons for this split is attributed by historians to the imposition of the Punjabi cultural ethos of west Pakistan on the Bengali population of East Pakistan. Thus, it is important for people who believe in the idea of India, to understand that the cultural diversity of this nation needs to be preserved to maintain the unity of this country. Its illogical to imagine that a person who doesn't speak Hindi; or celebrates Christmas; or participates in pre-marital relationships, is not an Indian. The Constitution of India, the beginning of all that is Indian, itself provides for protection of the 'way of lives' of its various minorities. Its high time we as its citizens inculcated the same ideas in ourselves. Thus, the right wing groups, if they actually seek to preserve the unity of India, would do well to preserve and promote the cultural diversity of this country.
Secondly, the reactions of the people to such instances of forceful promotion of 'Indian' culture is disturbing to say the least. At one end of the spectrum, there are a bunch of 'neo-liberals', who view every such instance as a step towards conversion of India into a majoritarian dictatorship. There seems to be a lack of balanced debate or understanding of the underlying issues and the need for restraint. The arguments of the 'neo-liberal' segment seem to gain strength from the fact that India is currently being governed by a Right wing party and a 'majoritarian' Prime Minister. Though the 'neo-liberal' argument seems attractive at first, its tough to imagine that there is an underlying design of the government to promote a majoritarian society. Firstly, though the present government might have its roots in Right-wing politics, but it won the current general election on the plank of development, and though 'right-wing politics' might win a party elections in some parts of the country, it is tough to imagine that the same will hold true on the national front. The best example is post-Godhra, though the BJP won the state elections in Gujarat, it lost the national elections two years later. Secondly, even if one were to assume that there is such an underlying thread, it will be political suicide to actually implement such a design across the country. The best examples would be the re-assessing of the plans to make Sanskrit compulsory in schools, and the softening of the BJP's stand on Article 370(special status to Jammu and Kashmir) of the Constitution of India.
This is the point where the other end of the spectrum of responses becomes important. There is a large silent group of educated liberals, which chooses to remain silent as long as there interests are not affected. But it is my view, that it is the power of this silent group which will be a check on any rightist tendencies of the Government or the actions of these 'right-wing' groups. It is important to understand that the Indian society as a whole, is largely conservative, in-egalitarian and unequal, but in the same breath it is important to remember that there is a definite move away from the same, and towards a more liberal and egalitarian society. This process of change is time taking as societies are not evolved in a short time. But, the movement as slow as it is, is definitely present. For example, in the state of Bihar though caste politics is still prevalent, there is definite underlying thread of development which runs through the state politics. This silent group needs to take a vocal stand on such instances, because in democracy, its the liberal intelligentsia which carries the burden of reform. At the end of the day its a question of preserving our cultural diversity and unity as a nation, and therefore its important that the political parties and their affiliated groups understand that there is no political mileage to be gained from such antics.This can only be done by the collective voice of the liberal intelligentsia.
In my humble opinion, the idea of India is well represented in the phrase, "unity in diversity". Though we are all different, we are yet united in the common bond we share as Indians. The words "India that is Bharat, shall be a union of states", doesnot merely refer to a physical union of states, but a cultural amalgamation of all the cultures prevalent in India. This is the true definition of 'Indian culture' and it is our right and duty to preserve and promote the same.
