on the top!!

As children we have all read, learnt, and debated a beautiful line that seemed to be the vision of our country – ‘Unity in Diversity’. Unfortunately with the kind of communal tension that this country has seen in the past few decades, it seems that our early political leaders were a little too ambitious in their policy towards religion. A secular State with the right, not only to practice, but also, to preach any Religion has brought us to a bad situation where we have become intolerant towards each other. The presence of Religion and Law, two completely different forms of social control has led to conflict of interests. At many stages both systems have confronted each other on issues like Sati, Purdah, Caste System, Personal Laws, etc.

If we look into our history, Law and Religion have only worked when they corroborate each other. Take the example of the Holy Roman Empire. It survived till the time the religion was connected to the state. Whenever they have been juxtaposed it spelled disaster. Religious wars, Feudalism, Colonialism and other concepts have emerged and passed due to the presence of different controlling forces is society. And now with globalization, Religion has become one of the biggest dividers in this world. We are living in a world where, although, we have come to terms with different nationalities, we haven’t been able to overcome or even respect our religious differences.

Having experienced the world wars, having agreed to have peace among nations, having formed the UN, how come it is that we haven’t been able to address religion. How important is the whole concept of religion to us? Is it high time we make religion a purely private affair? Or must we all have single religion countries? In the face of Human Rights, does religion stand up to its worth? Is religion too retrograde a concept? Is it holding us back from achieving our potential? These are some questions, we, as humans, need to answer.

As a nation, our attitude towards religion and other forms of social order are ruining the lives of people. The manifestations range from Communal riots, Minority Communities, lack of Uniform Civil Code, Moral Policing, Reservation, etc. all of which are weakening us in our endeavour to become a developed Nation. Instead of giving strength to the people religion is providing the cracks in an already fragile foundation of a country. At this stage of our development it is an imperative issue that needs addressing. As Indians we need to think - how do we make ourselves a country of people who walk hand in hand with our heads held up high, ready to face as well as embrace anything that comes our way?

The urgency now is to realize that there is a problem, that it needs to be talked openly about, debated and resolved. We need to ask ourselves questions. And most important is the question we needed to ask long back, and one which is still not answered - “What is our chosen form of social control??”