Multiculturalism
in India: A Wonder to the World
K.
V. Dominic
(paper presented at K L University, Vijayawada, A.P. India on 29th March 2016 which won great applause from the entire enlightened audience)
The concept of multiculturalism originated in the
1970s and was used in Canada for the first time to tackle the problem of
immigrants. Then it spread to other countries like Australia, USA, UK and some
countries in the European Union where immigrants of different countries of the
world lived and settled. Since assimilation and homogenization failed, multiculturalism
has become inevitable and thus the governments adopted it as an official, political
policy.
Multiculturalism is defined as the state of
co-existence of diverse cultures. Culture includes, racial, religious,
linguistic, etc. which may have differences and distinctions in customary
behaviours, cultural assumptions and values, patterns of thinking and
communicative styles. It also aims at the preservation of different cultures
and their identities within a unified society as a state or nation.
‘Multiculturalism’ is now used not only to
define disadvantaged and maginalised groups like tribals,
linguistic-cultural-religious minorities, LGBT, disabled, etc., but also
immigrants who may come under ethnic, religious minorities as well as minority
nations and indigenous peoples.
Multiculturalism
is applied by the government, philosophers, politicians, writers, critics and
scholars for human society alone, but to me it includes non-human beings,
plants and the planet itself. As we say that human beings in a society or
nation should live as members of a family irrespective of their race, religion,
caste, language or gender, it is necessary that we should live in harmony with
other beings, both animals and plants. To me this universe is a big concert or
symphony, a harmony of diverse notes. All creations play their role in
concordance, but man tries to play discordant notes--stands against the
rhythmic flow of the system. Let me quote a few lines from my poem
“Multicultural Harmony” published in my poetry book Multicultural Symphony:
Multiplicity
and diversity
essence
of universe
From
atom to the heavens
multiculturalism
reigns
This
unity in diversity
makes
beauty of universe. (Dominic, Multicultural
Symphony 15)
As man is the
latest evolutionary being, he should respect other beings and plants which have
greater legacy to claim in this universe. Human beings can’t live independent
of non-human beings or plants. Hence when we try to eliminate or destroy
non-human beings and plants we are eliminating ourselves from this planet. Let
me quote again from “Multicultural Harmony”:
You
may live here
Let
other things also live
Since
you are selfish and greedy
you
take more than
what
is due to you
Other
beings struggle for necessities
whereas
you are after
comforts
and luxuries
You
become rich
pushing
hundreds of your neighbours
to
the abyss of starvation.
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
your
greed for delicacies
extinguishes
other beings
Your
greed for luxurious shelters
exterminates
trees and forests
Your
construction mania
defiles
the sky and
topples
the climate
You
turn your villages to towns
and
become more and more civilized
but
less and less cultured
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Your
indiscriminate felling of trees
chased
away all birds
Many
have become extinct now
In
place of cuckoos and nightingale
which
lulled you to sleep
mosquitoes
disturb your slumber
through
injections and drone. (Dominic, Multicultural
Symphony 20-22)
Now coming to the second part of my paper—Multiculturalism
in India. India is the best
example of multicultural society where people speak 122 major languages and
1599 other languages. Unity in diversity is the beauty of India and the Indian
Constitution assigns equal rights, privileges and duties to all people
irrespective of gender, caste, class, community, language and religion. The Indian society has been multi-cultural,
multi-religious, multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic from time
immemorial. At the same time our country has been confronted with forces of divisiveness.
Hence the biggest challenge before major multicultural countries like India is
to preserve the pluralistic tradition and to bring the various communities into
the mainstream society by promoting the spirit of multiculturalism.
Unlike multicultural nations like
Canada, Australia, USA, UK and European Union countries, where people of
different cultures look very much like in their physical size and facial
features, dress, language, food habits, religious practices, way of life etc.,
people of India show clear distinctions in their physique, dress, language,
food habits, religious practices and rituals. This unique unity of India in the
midst of multicultural diversity and enjoying unlimited freedom as the largest
democracy in the world is the beauty of India which is a wonder to the world. But
as we see around us now there are real tests for our multiculturalism.
Threat
to multiculturalism comes when a group starts thinking in a narrow way,
considering themselves as superiors to others and show discrimination and
animosity to other groups. In fact can any group—racial, religious or
linguistic—claim to be original or chaste? I have dealt with it in me poem “Multicultural
Harmony”:
Dear
my fellow beings
you
boast of your culture
you
boast of your language
Is
there any culture
which
is not hybrid?
Is
there any language
which
is not mixed?
How
many millions have been killed
in
the name of culture?
Look
into the pages of history
Most
of the wars have been waged
for
the supremacy of culture
Conquest
of cultures over cultures
amalgamated
to multicultural world
How
much Indian is an Indian?
None
can give any answer
Same
who boasts of any nationality. (Dominic, Multicultural
Symphony 22)
Considering the
multicultural society of our country, the Indian Constitution has included
innumerable Acts by which the marginalized sections of the country are given
sufficient protection and special privileges. Thus the scheduled tribes and
castes and other backward communities get reservation in education as well as
employment. Strangely enough only 25% of the Indian population is in the
forward communities. In addition to these reservations two major minority
religious sections—Muslims and Sikhs enjoy special rights in our country. Even
though absence of common civil code creates some problems the government of
India ensures that each religion and its customs are protected in the society.
When we analyse the
recent religious and communal trends in our country we are greatly alarmed to
find that people give undue importance to their religious beliefs and rituals.
National feelings and patriotism are being devoured by the monster of religion.
The present generation seems to forget the fact they are citizens of the
country—the land which gave them birth and sustain and protect till they go
back to the very same land. Thus national feelings and affiliation shall be
uppermost of all other narrow feelings of religion, community, language, region
etc. Just imagine that when we are comfortably sitting here and sleeping well
in our houses without any fear, millions of solders are patrolling on our
borders fighting with extreme climate and even risking their lives to keep us
all safe. Haven’t you recently read of the tragic news of ten Indian soldiers
killed by huge avalanche at Siachen? These
thoughts are sufficient enough to make us patriotic and loyal to our country.
Language plays a
prominent role in multicultural unity. Languages
are the special gifts of man which make him distinct from other animals. They
are manna from heaven and, people, irrespective of space and narrowness of
nation, are permitted to use them as they like. We become more learned and wise
as we learn more and more languages. There is a
tendency among our vernacular writers to boast of their language and
literature. True, we should be proud of our mother tongue and promote it at any
cost. At the same time India being a multicultural, multi-lingual country we
should respect other languages and their literature. Very often vernacular
writers complain that existence and use of English is a hindrance for the
growth of regional languages. Such an antagonistic attitude to English is never
fair as English is the only lingua franca which knits all Indians together. Of
course Hindi is our national language but its function is less in the South.
It’s only through English we can communicate to the world. English is never a
foreign language now, and Indian literature in English is accepted as one of
the literatures of our country. Hence rather than censoring or attacking
English we should promote it and try to get maximum number of regional
literature books translated into English and thus disseminate Indian ethos and
culture to the entire world.
In
fact this world is like a tightly knit nuclear family. As Maha Upanishad says, 'Only small men discriminate. . . . For those who
live magnanimously the entire world constitutes but a family' (“Vasudaiva Kutumbakam”). The multicultural unity of the world should
ultimately lead to the concept of Vasudaiva
Kutumbamkam which means that the world is
certainly one family. Hence the goal of every country and people in this world
should be to live as a member of this big family. Let me wind up my paper
quoting once again from the last section of my poem “Multicultural Harmony”:
Dear
my fellow beings
break
away all fences and walls
Fences
of your petty minds
Compound
walls of your houses
Walls
of your religions and castes
Boundaries
of your native States
And
ultimately borders of your nations
Let
there be no India, Pakistan or China
America,
Africa, Europe or Australia
But
only one nation THE WORLD
where
every being lives in perfect harmony
as
one entity in multicultural world.
(Dominic, Multicultural Symphony
22-23)
Works Cited
Dominic, K. V. Multicultural Symphony.
New Delhi: Gnosis, 2014. Print.
“Vasudaiva
Kutumbakam.” Web. 15 Dec. 2014. http://www.enlightenedleadershipnow.com/Home/power-of-unity-or-oneness/what-is-spiritual-leadership/vasudhaiva-kutumbakam-vasudhaiva-kutumbakam.
