Since the genesis of this world, man has been fighting over territory, customs, and various other issues domestic to this earth, which find no form outside of this physical existence. However, despite their trivial nature and inconsequential manifestation, man’s agonies refuse to die down.
We are caught in the mire of hatred, bloodshed, and strife. Instead of ending with the loss of innumerable innocent lives, these issues become gargantuan in nature by virtue of being passed on for generations. Thus, entire bloodlines end up hating other such familial ties on account of their spirit of loyalty towards the smallest unit they inhabit-family.
Although the futility of wars has been discussed and exhorted by several disillusioned scholars, yet, we continue to strive for material gains. The world is simultaneously dealing with the Syrian Crisis, the Libyan Crisis, along with that of India and Pakistan.
There is no peaceful sanctuary in this world until man learns to understand that there is no end to violence and bloodshed and fighting umpteen wars will only change the power dynamics for short duration’s, only to be upturned a few years later.
Yet, this is merely the vision of a Utopian world. Today, while man refuses to see the bigger picture, he has to contain the upheavals in the smaller areas. The modern world exists on the concept of countries or nation-states which invoke the spirit of patriotism and nationalism within their inhabitants, thus, giving rise to unstated sense of competition among all such units and spurring them onto the race of development, with no regard for the similarity of species in all such inhabitants of these units.
These ideas of patriotism and nationalism are restricted, yet burgeoning. The race is getting more robust, and our ideas of nationalism are getting even narrower. Thus, the slightest hint of retrogression of our polity or economy will lower our spirits and prestige in the world arena.
Going by this spirit of “winner wins all,” Indians have been at a loss when it comes to comparison with other nations. Most nations have imbibed this spirit of brotherhood and unity. They hardly have internal turmoil, and even when they do, their means of redressal are far superior to ours. All these practices have pushed them ahead of us in the battle of survival and kingship.
India is a land that practices “unity in diversity.” It has a rich legacy of cultural and religious multiplicity living as a cohesive unit.
This land has stuck together despite the modern era bringing numerous internal feuds, big and small, thus, compartmentalising supporters into various factions. India has stayed through all this and more. But, the threat of destruction, division, and annihilation of this land of the myriad faiths and practices- India, looms large.
On an optimistic note, however, it is reassuring to note that unity is natural to the Indians. Even before India became what it is today, in terms of geography, polity, and economy, people living in proximity knew how to accept the differences among them. Peace had been the cornerstone of the Indian populace.
It is when these differences and the organic acceptance of them was highlighted to us, that we became aware of their existence. The people were made to believe that harmony is a vice when it comes to protecting your race and bloodline. They were brainwashed into believing that perpetuating differences can lead to the extinction of the “pure race” and pollute the religious and cultural practices of their own.
Decades later, we now have an understanding of the ulterior motives behind the initiation of such ideas. We understand the subterfuge, the manipulation, and stratagem of our conniving conquerors and colonisers. We have suffered on their account, but also on our own mind.
We were a land of superstitious, vastly illiterate people. Our ideas were influenced mainly by the mythological accounts of our ancestors, and we refused to believe the scientific theories that were contributed by the learned in our land. Thus, it is we who have contributed to this disruption of unity and harmony on our soil.
Communal Problems
From the word go, India has been mired in a plethora of internal conflicts. All of these stem from class, culture, and religious differences. While the former two have been contained to a great extent, religion has only taken on a more gargantuan form than before. There have been clashes and riots in various states of this nation regarding religious shrines and their preservation.
The slightest hint of sacrilege in these places is taken care of with gory violence. Life has been difficult for those who wish to forget these conflicts and resume good relations with their friends of myriad religious affiliations.
The problem of regions is another thorn in our side. The north-east region of this subcontinent has been isolated from the mainland for the longest time. Indians seem to disregard people of the north-east. They are dissed and mocked, on the basis of their Mongoloid features, as belonging to other such nationalities.
It has been difficult for them to cope with this alienation. They have also had to bear the brunt of aggressive attacks on their person by people who are unwilling to accept them.
While we are on the subject of the region, the elephant in the room cannot be avoided. Kashmir, the paradise on earth, is far from it. It is ridden with bullets in the bodies of its non-disabled men. It is ridden with the trauma of women losing their sons, brothers, and husbands to a never-ceasing struggle of land and citizenship.
At the very essence, the land is the home, of brainwashed men willing to sacrifice this heaven to achieve another heaven in their afterlife, and on the other side, the men who are trying to bring peace to this area and protecting the lives of its inhabitants only to lose theirs in the process.
Decades of incursions, wars, negotiations, and hate speeches later, the warring nations are still unable to sort these problems. But, the land has now become home to conflicting ideologies within the country itself. They are divided on who they wish should rule their land. They are divided on the question of their sovereignty.
The recent abrogation of Article 370, that now ends the conflict altogether has given rise to a new one. Can the government take such a step without conferring with the inhabitants of the area? Will it be beneficial now? Was it the right step? With such questions swimming in their minds, factions have further formed in the region. Peace is the topmost prerogative of the government of this region, but the internal strife continues.
Dissecting the Disharmony
While all these regions swarm with the infestation of anti-social elements, it is important to understand how this discord is affecting us. Even as the government and authorities are hard at work trying to assuage our tensions and rising tempers against each other, it is apparent that we have lost our sense of brotherhood.
Dogmas have replaced intellectual discussions and “live and let live” is not our motto. The theory of the origin of the state has many versions, but each one of them suggests that the state was a conscious choice of human beings. We have entrusted our safety and well-being to it with mutual agreement.
Now, even as the state fulfils its end of the deal, we fail to do so. Compounding the pressures of administration, we refuse to comply with the laws that govern us and make us human beings in spite of our baser urges that direct us otherwise. We are selfish beings.
We fail to understand the idea of humanity towards all. We do not identify with all our fellow beings, but the least we are capable of, in the modern era, is to identify with our nation and ensure its development through peace and harmony.
Conclusion
The idea is simple. Peace and harmony so as to work together towards a developed India. But the path appears difficult because along the way are big rocks in the form of religion, caste, and class. They threaten to impede our progress. But what remains is for us to understand that these are human-made concepts.
They are for our upliftment and should not be considered the cause of all our troubles. Internal harmony is not something that can be imposed on us by external bodies like the court or government. Such orders can only suppress our burgeoning desires of vengeance and violence. The need of the hour is to remove these negative ideas from our minds completely.
The result of our incessant fighting manifested itself in the recent lack of gusto on the biggest Muslim festival of the year in the strife-torn valley. People have had to suffer for decades for this tussle for territory. People of this country should remember the ideals borne by the great men of our land who condemned unnecessary violence and condoned peace and prosperity for all.
This is India, the Golden Bird that has lost its glory. It is time we restored her to her original glorious state with combined efforts of the hands of the various castes, complexions, and religions because all of them comprise India and India is home to them all.