I often hear the platitudinal cry for "National Integration" repeated in the mainstream media - usually uttered by some pseudo-secular politician canvassing for votes. More often than not, the notion of the nation, and its integrity is narrowly confined to the idea of religious unity. We are repeatedly reminded of the dangers of religious nationalism, as if nation-building is the exclusive domain of the self-proclaimed secularists. I often wonder - how much of the hate-mongering that takes place in the name of religion is actually a reaction to obsessive secularism? Could it be, that by harping on the religious fault-lines in the Indian nation, by actively classifying sections of the population as "religious minorities", our 'secular' leaders consciously (and shamelessly) accentuate those rifts? Is true secularism not meant to be defined by the complete abstinence, on the part of the state, from the proclamation of any sort of religious identity, be it that of the minority or the majority?
I do not seek to deny the very existence of religious divisions in the Indian nation - that would be presumptuous, even foolhardy. Yes, we have stood divided at multiple points of our history. But I beg to ask - which modern society has not lived through checkered chapters in its history? The Americans had Slavery, the British had Colonialism, the Europeans had Fascism/Nazism, the South Africans had Apartheid. Most major modern civilisations have skeletons up their cupboards - but no country seeks to make those apparitions the centre-pieces of political debate. One simply moves on. Wounds heal, sins are atoned for, reconciliation follows. Keeping the bogeyman of religious division alive - through discrimination, appeasement and false sympathy - is regressive thinking at best; and a dangerous, debilitating threat to nationhood at its worst.
Amidst the din of religious-identity politics (masquerading as secularism), what tends to get lost is a threat which, I believe, is far more potent in its 'nation-breaking' ability: Racism. I dither to classify regionalism (or at least separatism) in the same bracket - for in my opinion, that devil lies interred in the cemeteries of India's twentieth-century-past (the recent bout of peace in Kashmir could be evidence?). Racism, however, is alive and kicking in twenty-first century India. Episodes such as the recent murder in Delhi of a young student from Arunachal Pradesh, and the assault on Ugandan women in the same state, only underscore the point - that Indians are a deeply racist people. That we, as a civilisation, have extremely debauched, depraved notions of race, skin-colour and genealogical superiority. And, sadly, these racist notions are furthered by our politicians (people like AAP leader Somnath Bharti), our movie stars (who shamelessly endorse skin-lightening products) and I dare say, our parents and community-elders. The latter's greatest failure lies in bringing up an entire generation, reinforcing in them an 'Us' vs. Them' mentality.
What has been systematically ingrained, must also be systematically purged from the psyche of a nation - we must stop indoctrinating our children into believing that people from North Eastern India, are in any way, different from the rest of us. We, as a society, must learn to celebrate duskier role models, not seek to bleach them in inane television commercials. The tacit, slow subversion of India's National Integrity is progressing through these, outrageously well-accepted notions of race and colour. The greater enemy, they say, is not one who is visible - rather, the one who is hidden, ensconced in the deepest corners of our social consciousness - it is about time that we hunt it out and exterminate it from this country.
I do not seek to deny the very existence of religious divisions in the Indian nation - that would be presumptuous, even foolhardy. Yes, we have stood divided at multiple points of our history. But I beg to ask - which modern society has not lived through checkered chapters in its history? The Americans had Slavery, the British had Colonialism, the Europeans had Fascism/Nazism, the South Africans had Apartheid. Most major modern civilisations have skeletons up their cupboards - but no country seeks to make those apparitions the centre-pieces of political debate. One simply moves on. Wounds heal, sins are atoned for, reconciliation follows. Keeping the bogeyman of religious division alive - through discrimination, appeasement and false sympathy - is regressive thinking at best; and a dangerous, debilitating threat to nationhood at its worst.
Amidst the din of religious-identity politics (masquerading as secularism), what tends to get lost is a threat which, I believe, is far more potent in its 'nation-breaking' ability: Racism. I dither to classify regionalism (or at least separatism) in the same bracket - for in my opinion, that devil lies interred in the cemeteries of India's twentieth-century-past (the recent bout of peace in Kashmir could be evidence?). Racism, however, is alive and kicking in twenty-first century India. Episodes such as the recent murder in Delhi of a young student from Arunachal Pradesh, and the assault on Ugandan women in the same state, only underscore the point - that Indians are a deeply racist people. That we, as a civilisation, have extremely debauched, depraved notions of race, skin-colour and genealogical superiority. And, sadly, these racist notions are furthered by our politicians (people like AAP leader Somnath Bharti), our movie stars (who shamelessly endorse skin-lightening products) and I dare say, our parents and community-elders. The latter's greatest failure lies in bringing up an entire generation, reinforcing in them an 'Us' vs. Them' mentality.
What has been systematically ingrained, must also be systematically purged from the psyche of a nation - we must stop indoctrinating our children into believing that people from North Eastern India, are in any way, different from the rest of us. We, as a society, must learn to celebrate duskier role models, not seek to bleach them in inane television commercials. The tacit, slow subversion of India's National Integrity is progressing through these, outrageously well-accepted notions of race and colour. The greater enemy, they say, is not one who is visible - rather, the one who is hidden, ensconced in the deepest corners of our social consciousness - it is about time that we hunt it out and exterminate it from this country.
