For a country that does not tire of harping on the ‘unity in diversity’ mantra, it does come as a big shock that social acceptability is still dependent on one’s community and religious beliefs. The atrocious incident in Haryana for instance, where a group of upper-caste Rajput men allegedly poured petrol and set on fire a family of Dalits, killing two children in the process, is an example (“ >2 die as Dalit family set afire in Haryana ,” Oct.21). It is rightly claimed that India is, by and large, still a terrible place to be a member of a lower caste community. It has been the same for decades now, despite untouchability being banned in our Constitution. Such inter-caste violence draws more attention at a time when there has been a new surge in Hindutva politics, a lot of it coming from elements in the party in power at the Centre.
Tolerance toward people holding opinions different from one’s own has reached an all-time low, to an extent that citizens have to think twice before voicing their opinion. The politics over beef consumption still continues to consume the whole nation, setting it in frenzy despite the truth that we are a nation of multiple communities owing allegiance to various faiths and having been granted the liberty to practise them.
Pachu Menon,
Margao, Goa
It is surprising that there is greater demand — mostly from unemployed people from the upper castes — to do away with caste-based reservation and introduce one based on economic status instead, when Dalits and other lower castes continue to be treated as outcastes. In Haryana, they are burned alive; in Uttarakhand, they are not allowed to worship in a temple; in Madurai, they are not allowed to worship a Pipal tree, in Uttar Pradesh, they are harassed continuously. Worst of all, many dismiss such incidents as isolated acts coming from an ill-mannered section. We still have a long way to go before we translate our egalitarian constitutional ideals into actual achievements.
Rajnish Singh,
Almora, Uttarakhand
A culture of intolerance, hatred and jingoism is gradually gripping the country. Public thrashing, deliberate hate campaigns and violence are the means of protests for these people against anyone who even slightly deviates from their monolithic definitions (“ >Beyond the blackening ,” Oct.21). Both Gautama Buddha, who fought against Brahminical dominance, and Mahatma Gandhi, who altered the very definition of protests by adopting non-violence, are being gradually forgotten.
India is a land of multiple minorities — linguistic, religious, racial and ethnic. Hinduism has always been an accommodative religion. Attempts to re-define this country in terms of the 3H’s — Hindi, Hindu and Hindustan — would be a disaster.
Punya Jyoti Boruah,
Lakhimpur, Assam
The secular fabric of this country is being torn apart like never before. Communal hatred and distrust and religious bigotry have become more visible. Blackening of faces, throwing ink at an individual, burning alive Dalits, killing someone for his food choices, all these factors compel me to ask: have we really progressed as a society? Has the growth in GDP numbers led to, even to some extent, a growth in harmony and tolerance, in a shedding of communal differences, in the bridging of caste fissures? Till such differences remain unresolved, India will never find a place in the comity of developed nations.
Rahul Jain,
Kota, Rajasthan
