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Opinion
India Divided
by J. Ajithkumar
If the age-old saying “united we stand, divided we fall” is the basic
mantra that holds a nation together, Indians have the least such spirit
in their thoughts and doings. In ancient times it was the Kings and
Kingdoms that divided us. Then it was the turn of invaders and occupiers
to keep us divided. Among the occupiers, it was the British that
excelled in their ‘brilliant’ ways of divide and rule. And when an
opportunity presented before us to have our own government, we drafted a
constitution that segregates Indians into majorities, minorities,
scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and what not. Though our constitution
makers were kind enough to provide at least some directive principles to
work towards national integration, the subsequent law makers rivaled one
another in further dividing the society for their own gains. With the
latest amendments to our constitution, Indian nation and Indians stand
completely divided socially and economically into forward castes,
backward castes and even other backward castes. Democracy as practiced
in India has failed as a form of ideal government for a billion strong
people who have the cultural and economic potential to ‘rule’ the whole
world. Instead we are fast degenerating into a country where anything
can be done at anytime anywhere by anyone, either Indian or foreign.
Quite ironically, the only factor that unites Indians now is the
physical fear from Pakistan and China.
Politics of Divide
If the colonial British were past masters in their patented policy of
‘divide and rule’, the subsequent breed of Indian politicians peer in
the degenerative policy of ‘divide and win elections’. It goes to the
negative credit of Indian politicians that none of them have ever
presented a draft bill in the parliament which will treat all Indians as
equal before any piece of legislation. There are always preambles to
divide Indians on the basis of region, religion and nowadays castes. The
concepts of minorities and secularism, which are integral parts of
western democratic systems, are creating havoc in Indian nation as
square pegs in round holes. If all Indians are to be treated as equal in
every respect, where is the need and relevance of special provisions for
minorities? And if all religions are equal and the Indian nation has no
conventional religion of its own, what is the logic of secularism? The
only class of people who are interested in these divisive concepts are
the politicians and that too for winning the elections. And once
elected, these ‘secular’ politicians forget the common man and vie with
one another to get maximum benefit for their religion, family and
region.
The current politics of divide in India can be overcome only by
electoral reforms. If the viewpoint of every one is to be reflected in
the parliament, there should be representatives from all sections of the
society. The best way to achieve this is to go in for proportional
representation. The monopoly influence of some sections over electoral
politics, which is nothing but getting votes by hook or crook, is
shunning popular voice to be heard in our parliament. Family politicians
and professional politicians are nothing but the visible forms of
undesirable developments in our electoral system. If major political
parties are allotted seats in the parliament proportionate to the votes
they could garner, we can expect to have representation from all
sections of the society. There would be no need for the state to enact
laws reserving seats for women or Dalits. It would be upto to the
political parties to do so and they will be forced to do it. The only
aspect that needs to be ensured is to have regular democratic elections
within these parties. And why not make it mandatory to use the same
Election Commission to ensure free, fair and periodic elections in each
of the recognized political parties? The populist politics of divide can
be eradicated once for all from our country in no time.
Pride the Past
There are certain basic facts about successful nationhood that many
‘learned’ Indians do not want to accept. One of them is the pride factor
about our own past. Even a small country like Japan could literally rise
from ashes after the nuclear holocaust only and only because of their
immense pride about their past. It is not that everything about Japan in
the past was good and golden. They too had their own self-defeating
customs and cultural debacles. But all of them are always proud about
the good aspects of their great history. In psychology we have
established that no human being without self-respect can become a
successful one. Similar is the case with nations. Unless and until all
Indians, irrespective of their present status, feel proud about the
positive elements of our 5000 or more years old history, India cannot
regain its rightful leadership among world nations. Those who do not
respect themselves can never expect others to respect them.
For many Indians, the major stumbling block in feeling proud about an
ancient India is the religious aspect of it. This can easily be overcome
if we realize the simple fact that Hinduism is only a way of life, quite
unlike the other established religions which are organized and well
defined. For an all inclusive Hindu way of life, anyone who is worthy of
being worshipped is considered an incarnation and Ishwar is
present in everything animate or inanimate. That is exactly why India
and Indians had no inhibitions, nor reservations in receiving
messengers, missionaries and migrants from any part of the world. For an
impartial observer there is nothing that is objectionable about ancient
India in how it treated all the foreign ideologies and men. Indian
shores always welcomed new ideas and ideologies, unlike many other
nations that are still reluctant to open up. The knowledge based society
of ancient India was so proud about its rationality and robustness that
it never had any fears about its sustainability. Even today there are
plenty of novel ideas lying unexplored in our ancient texts for anyone
willing to research with an open mind. All that is required is a bit of
pride about our own past.
India and China were at the same ‘bus-stop’ of opportunities twenty
years back. Both had the same potential and resources to excel, and
India had the added advantage of more exposure to international skills.
When the bus of developed nations came by, we refuse to climb claiming
so many excuses. Our leftists had problem with the color of the bus,
some influential sections had problem with the driver and some other
sections had reservations on the conductor. The communist but
nationalistic leaders of China had no such problems. In the interest of
their nation, they were determined to get in and take their rightful
place inside the bus. What is it that is missing in our political
leadership, but found in abundance in countries like China, Japan and
Germany? It is not knowledge, skills or expertise. It is only the
national spirit and love for the nation.
August 13, 2006
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Opinion
The Week of August 13, 2006
Can Corrupt Politicians Preserve Freedom? by
Rajinder Puri
Dreams on Independence Day by Ramesh Menon
India's Vision of Peace with Pakistan is a
Mirage by Dr. Subhash Kapila
Sri Lanka : Back to the Future by Col. Rahul
K. Bhonsle
India Divided by J. Ajithkumar
Political Promotion of Global Islamic Terrorism
by V. Sundaram
Friendship and Culture for World Unity by
TA Ramesh
Communicating with Kids by Garima Gupta
How Long does it take to Rebuild Trust? by
Gary Direnfeld
Geo Hazards: Are we Prepared? by VK Joshi
Lore of the Bean by Dr. V. Sankaran Nair
Cricket Crises by Dr. Prasenjit Maiti
My Multicultural Neighbors by Dhiraj Raniga
A Veritable Cornucopia by Pradip
Bhattacharya
The Story's the Thing by Pradip
Bhattacharya
Bheel Mahabharata: The Rape of Draupadi by
Satya Chaitanya
Oneness in Hinduism by Dr. Madan Lal Goel
What is an Avatar? by C.R. Gopalakrishna
Asomiya: Handpicked Fictions a
Review by Jennifer M. Bayer
India: The Narrow Minded by Kusum Choppra
The Real Bihar by Naghma Masroor
Cleopatra A Story by Dibyendu Ghosal
Introduction to HTTP Cookies by Ruchi Gupta
London: The Most Expensive City in Europe by
Rajesh Talwar
Freedom at Dawn by Prakash Pathre
Heritage Cuisine - Misal by Vikram Karve
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