India and its inclusive reality
2021 is going to be the year when India is going to be 75 Years young as a modern state. At the time of partition, India made a conscious decision to retain cultural, religious and ethnic diversity. After having witnessed one of the largest migrations ever in human history accompanied by a Tsunami of bloodshed, people would have imagined India and Pakistan as mirrors of each other in terms of treating the communally minor populations on their respective sides.
The freedom fighters from the Indian side always dreamt of an India for all and made sure that the secular India was clearly explained in the Country’s Constitution. The Muslims who had chosen to stay in India were leaping in faith by choosing to stay in the place they were born.
India magically erased the wounds of the partition very soon and settled down as a harmonious country focussed upon getting rid of the aftershocks and left-backs of the Colonial rule which had drained India dry for over 200 years. In this journey, India was always resolute and passionately working for the uplifting of the minorities, especially Muslims who had had to face most of the wrath from the British Masters, who considered Muslims as the main force behind the mutiny of 1857.
Muslims were less educated, less respected and majorly had lost most of their land holdings to the cruel economic offences of British imperialists. It has been 75 years and an Indian Muslim although still at crossroads in getting over his/her traditional outlook, still has an equal set of rights available which he/she can use to attain the best form of life he/she deems fit for him/herself.
In today’s time when the whole South-Asia is under a peculiar phase of minority persecution, be it China with Uyghurs, Pakistan with anyone who is not Muslim, Sri Lanka’s recent diktat of banning Burqa and Madrassas, or Myanmar’s open massacring of Rohingyas, we have India as the only country that on an institutional level is dedicated to working for the welfare and development of its minorities. India constitutionally recognises it’s religious and lingual minorities and has special provisions enshrined in the Constitution which provide minorities with more than a level playing field when it comes to equality of opportunity as well as access to education.
Indian minorities have been specially considered while drafting the Constitution of India which has based the functioning of India as a non-religious nation when it comes to dealing with its citizens. Exclusively, a whole section of Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution guarantees a full range of rights for freedom of religious practice. India as a state celebrates all its communities and as a nation is founded on the principle of diversity. This diversity has been proposed as a unique precursor to India's unity.
There have been hiccups in the journey of 75 years but not on the institutional level but on a social level, which, in a country like India, where people adhere strictly to religious influence are natural. The reason that I call it natural is that faith is held very dear by the people in the subcontinent which is a thin line to tread upon.
Therefore, a conflict over a minor issue can turn ugly at the speed of wildfire. These faceoffs have been lately conceived or presented as issues of national debate due to the prejudiced prism through which the incumbent Central Government of India is viewed by the all- knowing and self-proclaimed liberal media. Many people seem to villainies the Indian Government over some legislations that have been made by it over the last couple of years since its re-election to power.
In July 2019 the practice of triple Talaq got banned and many critiques took this legislative reform as interference in the practice of Islam. For years Muslim women had to remain on edge fearing the day their husbands would leave them by just uttering the three words without any confrontation or negotiation or even contemplating the chances of working on the relationship. The people who have been all vocal about speaking about women’s rights could not utter a word of appreciation for such a progressive move made by the Government.
Then came August 5 2019, and Article 370 which had been reduced to a discriminatory vestige of its original form, got amended to open up the erstwhile state to the rest of India for investment and exchange. This article was an embodiment of discrimination that did not fall in sync with the contemporary scheme of Globalised and egalitarian social exchange. This article was also discriminatory to the women of J&K who would lose their entitlement to being a resident of the region just on account of marrying a person from the rest of India. This historic legislation which many have called unjust was the most overdue measure that J&K needed to get the virus of separatism out of its functioning.
Then came the turn of the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was taken to be discriminatory against Muslims of India while it had nothing to do with the natural Indian Muslims. The law was a provision to provide citizenship to the persecuted minorities of the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh where persecution of the minorities was evident and India as a diverse land wished to welcome the persecuted and not the persecutors. Although the scenes turned ugly and mass protests were seen to be held across India, but the protests in themselves showed how democratic India is as a country where citizens have the right to openly oppose legislation and even the right to move to the court for challenging the legislation.
Leaving aside the conflicting side of affairs, and sticking to the inclusive nature of India, we must take into account the number of policies that are dedicated towards the empowerment and welfare of minorities. Currently, more than twenty welfare policies covering education, skill development, and employment are dedicated to the welfare of Minorities in which Muslims have the highest share. The religious bodies of minorities are being recognised and even supported in their activities by the state and they have been put in charge of looking after various social affairs that a community is facing. Thinking of India as a majoritarian state accounts for villainizing every religious community of India and making them look like enemies of each other which they completely are not.
India was, is and shall remain an inclusive country that celebrates its diversity and loves its every citizen equally and indiscriminately.
Mir Junaid is an alumnus of the Law School of Kashmir University. He is a writer, a social activist and the president of Jammu Kashmir Workers Party. He can be reached on Twitter @MirJunaidJKWP
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