Sunday, December 12, 2010

Communal Harmony: India’s Foremost Character and Necessity - Dr. Ravindra Kumar



For thousands of years Bharat, that is India, a land of unity in diversity has maintained a distinctive position among the nations of the world. People from diverse communities have lived together in India although the majority community consists of followers of one particular religious-belief; for, secularism and communal harmony have always played a vital and significant role. In other words, communal harmony is the basic character of India, a prime necessity for the life of the nation. In this regard, I can venture to say with certainty that with the constant increase in development at all levels and in all walks of life, where the process of globalization is expected to multiply many folds, the relevance and importance of communal harmony in India will also expand. Accepting the realty of communal harmony will be an obligation even for those handfuls who try to shatter it from time-to-time.  
There are the followers of different faiths, religious-communities and sects in India. They speak many languages and carry out their day-to-day practices on the basis of different local-regional traditions and values. Through coordination between so many natural-geographical diversities of this huge land tract and prevailing circumstance, Indians work for their livelihood. They accept this reality, maintain courage and enthusiasm, and step forward. This is in fact the best option before Indians. Therefore, strengthening communal harmony at regional-national levels is a necessity of India.

Further, India is the largest democracy of the world. History of democracy in India goes to the remote past. This system of governance is in fact quite suitable and conducive to the nature of inhabitants of this country. Not only had this, for the unity of India, particularly in the achievement of political unity of the country, democracy played the vital role. Despite numerous glitches and expected evils, democracy largely contributes to strengthening communal harmony in India. In other words, it emerges as a strong force for maintaining the solidarity of the nation. However, the need of the hour is to make democracy the centre and basis of belief for the maximum possible number of people, all religious-community, sects and sub-sects. Besides ascertaining the stability of the country, it can also contribute making India as a leading force of the world in these days of increasing process of globalization.
Therefore, increasing communal harmony is essential for India; there is no other alternative to it. 

No comments: