SOCIOLOGY CLASS XII
The Challenges of Cultural Diversity
सांस्कृतिक विविधता की चुनौतियाँ
The term 'diversity'
emphasises differences rather than inequalities.
India is a nation of great culturally diversity, having different communities defined by cultural makers such as religion, language, sect, race or caste. These diverse communities are part of a larger entity like nation, then difficulties may be created by competition or conflict between them.
Cultural identifies can present tough challenges.
Cultural identifies are very powerful-can arouse intense passions & are able to mobilise large numbers of people.
Sometimes cultural differences are accompanied by economic and social in equalities can provoke opposition from other communities.
Situation becomes worse when scarce resources like rives waters, jobs of govt. funds have to be shared.
Many divisive forces tearing apart the unity & integrity of our country- communal riots, caste wars, demands for regional autonomy....
But in spite of them India has not only survived as a nation, but is a stronger nation-state today.
The importance of community identity. (सामुदायिक पहचान का महत्व)
Every human being needs a sense of stable identity.
Our community provides us with languages (our mother tongue) and cultural values. It also anchors our self identity.
* Cultural identity is ascriptive; based on birth & belonging rather than acquired qualifications.
People feel a deep sense of security & satisfaction, emotionally attached
People react emotionally or even violently whenever there is a perceived threat to their community identity.
* Ascriptive identities and community feeling is Universal.
All are equally committed and loyal to their respective identities. (Motherland, Mother tounge, Family..)
But it is possible to come across people who may not particularly committed to one or the other aspect of their identity.
Then each side in the conflict thinks of the other side as a hated enemy. In the heat of the moment, it is very hard for people on either side to see that they are constructing matching but reversed mirror images of each other.
Everyone is always fighting for truth, justice, equality.
Sometimes both sides are indeed equally right or wrong: at other times may judge one side to be the aggressor and other to be the victim.
Communities, Nation And Nation-States.
A nation is easy to describe but hard to define.
Nation is a sort of large scale community- it is a community of communities.
Nations founded on the basis of common cultural, historical and political institution like a shared religion, language, ethnicity, history or regional culture.
Assimilation policy aim at persuading, encouraging or forcing all citizens to adopt a uniform set of cultural values and norms.
Integration policy aim to restricting public culture to common national pattern while a non-national cultures to be limited to the private sphere.
Regionalism in the Indian Context
Regionalism in India is rooted in India's diversity of languages, cultures, tribes and religions.
It is also encouraged by the geographical concentration of these identity markers in particular regions and fuelled by sense of regional deprivation.
Multi-ethnic & Multilingual provincial states: Bombay (Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada & Konkani), Madras (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada & Malayalam)
After Constitution adoption the units of colonial era had to be reorganised into ethno-linguistic states in response to strong popular agitations.
Linguistic states helped in strengthen unity.
States Reorganisation Commission (SRC)was implemented on 1st Nov,1956.
After Independence congress hesitated on the formation of states on the principle of language.
Vigorous movements among Marathi & Kannada speakers across Bomabay & Madras presidencies.
In Oct,1953 Potti Sriramulu died seven weeks after beginning a fast unto death. His martyrdom provoked violent protests and led to the creation of the state of Andhra Pradesh. It also led to the formation of the SRC in 1956.
Language coupled with regional and tribal identity as the most powerful instrument for the formation of ethnonational identity of India.
Indian federalism (powers of the States and Centre) has been a means of accomodating the regional sentiments.
However, all linguistic communities have not got statehood. For instance, in the creation of three new states in 2000, namely Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal and Jharkhand, language did not play a prominent role.
A combination of tribal identity, language, regional deprivation and ecology resulting in statehood.
Respecting regional sentiments is not just a matter of creating states, this has to be backed up with constitutional provisions defining the powers of the States and Centre in list of subjects.
In Concurrent list, the areas of governance both states and center are allowed to operate.
The Nation-State and Religion-Related Issues and Identities
Religion based issues broadly divided into two related groups- the secularism-communalism set and the minority-majority set.
Questions about minorities and majorities involve decisions on how state is to treat different communities that are unequal in terms of numbers and/or power.
Minority Rights And Nation Building
Indian nationalism was marked by an Inclusive and Democratic vision.
Inclusive because it recognised diversity and plurality.
Democratic because it sought to do away with discrimination and exclusion for equitable society.
The term 'people' has not been in exclusive terms referring to any specific group defined by religion,caste, race,ethnicity.
Rabindranath Tagore on exclusive nationalism, the whole people is being taught half-truth, untruths, misrepresentation of other races and cultures According to Tagore, exclusive nationalism created a sense of Superiority for one’s own race and culture.
In light of exclusive nationalism, Ideas of Humanism influenced Indian nationalists.
To be effective, the ideas of inclusive nationalism had to be built into the Constitution.
Dominant groups assumed their culture or language or religion is synonymous with nation-state.
But for strong and democratic nation special constitutional provisions ensure the rights of all groups.
Minority groups (numerically less) usually involves some sense of relative disadvantage.
Thus, Privileged Minorities as extremely wealthy people are not usually referred to as minorities.
The members of the minority form a collectivity i.e. they have a strong sense of group solidarity, a feeling of togetherness and belonging.
This is linked to disadvantage because of prejudice and discrimination.
Minority group is disadvantaged in one sense but not in another.
Religious minorities like Parsis and Sikhs may be relatively well-off economically. But may be disadvantaged in cultural sense because of their small numbers relative to majority.
In democratic politics, it is always possible to convert a numerical majority into political power through elections.
This means that religious or cultural minorities are politically vulnerable.
Minorities also face the risk that the majority community will capture political power & use the state machinery to suppress their religious or cultural institutions, ultimately forcing them to abandon their distinctive identity.
Constitutional provisions/ safeguards for the protection of minorities and cultural diversity-Article 29 & Article 30
Communalism, Secularism And The Nation-State
Communalism refers to aggressive chauvinism (one religous group sees itself as a legitimate, superior and worthy with other groups being seen as inferior, illegitimate and opposed.)
Communalism is an aggressive political ideology linked to religion.
In English Communal means related to community Whereas The South Asian meaning may be seen as positive- if sympathetic & negative- if opposed.
Communalism is about politics not about religion.
A communalist may or may not be a devout person, and devout believers may or may not be communalists.
Communalists cultivate an aggressive political identity and prepared to attack everyone who does not share their identity.
Communalism features that religious identity overrides everything else.
Communalism is an important issue in India because it has been a recurrent source of tension and violence.
No region has been wholly exempt from communal violence of one kind or another.
Every religious community has faced this violence in greater or lesser degree, although the proportionate impact is far more traumatic for minority communities. Anti Sikh riots in Delhi in 1984 and Anti Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002.
India has had a history of communal riots pre-Independence times but also have a long tradition/heritage of religious pluralism, ranging from peaceful co-existence to actual inter-mixing or syncretism. (devotional songs and poetry of the Bhakti and Sufi movements)
History provides us with both good and bad examples.
Secularism
Secularism is among the most complex terms in social and political theory.
In western context- separation of church (religious authority) and state (political authority). It was related to arrival of modernity and rise of science and rationality as alternatives to understand the world.
In Indian context- Equal respect for all religions, rather than separation or distancing.
Indian state's commitment to secularism as well as the protection of minorities by giving special consideration. But providing such consideration opponents argue that secularism support favouritism for votes or other kind of support.
In recent times. communalists of all religions have contributed to the deadlock. Despite everything, Indian Constitution and legal structure are effective in handling the communal problems.
Nation building as state driven process of economic development and social transformation. And the people of India, through political participation and election verdicts support a secular constitution and state.
State And Civil Society
State is indeed a very crucial institution to manage the cultural diversity & represent the nation.
State structure- The Legislature, Bureaucracy, Judiciary, Armed forces, Police.....
Authoritarian State-It is a state in which the people have no voice and those in power are not accountable to anyone.
Authoritarian states often limit or abolish civil liberties like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of political activity, right to protection from wrongful use of authority, right to the due processes of the law, and so on.
The Indian people had a brief experience of authoritarian rule during the 'Emergency' enforced between June 1975 and January 1977.
*Parliament was suspended
*New laws were made directly by the government.
*Civil liberties were revoked
*Large number of politically active people were arrested and jailed without trial.
*Censorship was imposed on the media.
*Forced sterilisation campaign.
Civil Society- is the non-state and non-market part of the public domain in which individuals get together voluntarily to create institutions and organisations.
It is the sphere of active citizenship; here, individuals take up social issues, try to influence the state or make demands on it, pursue their collective interests or seek support for a variety of causes.
It consists of voluntary associations, organisations or institutions formed by groups of citizens. It includes political parties, media institutions, trade unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Civil society organizations have an even wider range, with national and international agencies as well as active participation in various movements.
The issues taken up by Civil Society are diverse_
*tribal struggles for land rights.
*distribution of land to dalits.
*primary education reform.
*campaigns against rape and violence against women.
*rehabilitation of those displaced by dams and other developmental projects.
*keeping a watch on the state and forcing it to obey the law and so on
Among the most significant recent initiatives is the campaign for the Right to Information.
Right to Information
RTI Act 2005- Law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 & came into force on 13 October 2005.
Under the act, any person may request information from Public Authority which is expected to reply within 30 days.
The Act specifies that citizen have a right to:
-Request any information
-Take copies of documents
-Inspect documents, works and records.