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India with a diversity of cultures has people belonging to different religions and speaking a variety of languages. Yet, they are all Indians. The Constitution of India has defined national territory, and laid down basic parameters for harmonious and equal development of all citizens without any discrimination of caste, creed, religion and sex.
The Constitution also guarantees life, liberty, equality, fraternity, justice -- political, social and economic, worth and dignity of human life, individually and collectively for one and all. It provides for protection of our motherland, the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.
The common thread of national integration and communal harmony, ingrained in our composite culture of unity amidst religious, cultural and lingual variety, encompasses ancient, medieval and modern India, alike. From times immemorial, bards and folk lore have carried forward the messages of harmony and unity of our people in their diversity and maintained the saga of their composite cultures of co-existence. In the ancient times, the system of justice, equity and fair-play based on Panch Parmeshwar and unity of our people was in vogue. Bards and folk lore helped maintain unity of our people. The underlying messages of Sarva Dharma Samman, Vasudeva Kutumbakam, Proupkaro Dharma, Atma Rakshato Dharma, Shanti and Ahimsa that India gave to the world are of utmost relevance today in unifying mankind in general and holding together our people in harmony, in particular.
In the medieval India, Bhakti Movement by contemporary poets and bards carried forward the messages of the common stream of oneness of our people and oneness of our nation to unify and unite our diverse people further. In the modern times, since Independence our people have inspired collectively social justice, individually constituted the source of all human freedoms and rights and nationally, overpowered by developmental imperatives, evolved India into a unified vision of social justice and liberty, indispensable for the growth of the nation and the individuals with dignity and personal honour to all for unhindered flourishing of their geniuses. Our Constitution enshrines all human charters, declarations and civilisational laws, securing the worth, dignity, liberty, equality and justice for one and all.
So the basic infrastructure for maintaining national integration and communal harmony has been put in place by our system of governance based on democracy and the rule of law. But in the recent past, divisive and fissiparous elements tried to disrupt composite harmony of our people through campaign of hatred, calumny and discriminations, when religions took a tinge of extremism, violence and hatred and secularism was given a distorted perception. But it goes to the credit of our people and their penchant for resilience, liberalism, tolerance and peaceful co-existence that they let such rabble rousing pass as a temporary phenomenon. Once again people of India through the 2004 General Elections to the Lok Sabha reaffirmed their abiding faith in the innate goodness of our composite culture of unity in diversity.
The United Nations Human Development Report-2004, has inter alia, appreciated India’s secular democratic credentials and her age-old tradition of co-existence. The Report, compliments India in four areas: (a) national identity in a multi-social and multi-religious context--National identity need not imply a homogenous cultural identity. Efforts to impose one can lead to social tensions and conflicts; (b) faith in democratic institution and guarantee of equal rights and opportunities; (c) religious festivals and holidays as part of cultural ethos--religious festivals and cultural holidays are celebrations of the country’s diversity; and (d) mutual co-existence despite occasional tensions.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) commissioned Report is a world-wide acknowledgement of the fact that the so-called semi-literate or illiterate majority of India is more prudent in showing respect to followers of other religions than is the case in many developed nations of the world.
The Report further reveals, as is evident from India’s performance on indicators of identification, trust and support, its citizens are deeply committed to the country and to democracy despite its diversity and highly stratified society. Their performance is impressive when compared with that of other wealthier democracies.
Summing up, the Report says India needs to push up its standards of living so that India improves its rank from the present lowly 127. The task is not too difficult because a unified nation respecting all its citizens and guaranteeing them equal opportunities can ride faster on the road to development than a fragmented nation where discrimination of all sorts is part and parcel of life.
Ancient national identity, genius and heritage, devoted to peace, progress and unity in human family, interactions with cultures, ideas and thoughts, interwoven in the mainstream of national life, contemporary national struggles of other countries for realization of concomitant aspirations and ideals of people, modern world developments, and evolutions of Constitutions in pace with universal human commitments, have helped modern India achieve peace, security and freedom, observance of individual human rights, food, shelter, education and development for all the Indian citizens and compliance with international obligations.
Human rights, individual, collective, civil, political, social, economic, cultural, developmental constitute the new over all religion of humanity uniting the fundamentals of all religions and ‘isms’ of the world, emerging as overriding aims and objectives of all individuals, peoples, societies, governments, and states, proclaiming emancipation and development of all sections of the human society, individually and collectively. All these emerging developments are leading India to strengthen oneness of the people and the unity of the Nation.
**Freelance Journalist
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