Communal Harmony is very much required in a composite culture based country like India. What does that mean to us? In simple terms, it is respecting the ways of living of other communities based on religion or caste without any prejudice. It was thought of as a moral precedent for peace in the society. But in the globalized world of today it becomes a necessity to have communal harmony. Lack of it, affects the development at all levels.
Why do we look at other communities with prejudice?
Its because of the environment in which we have been brough up in general and the insecurity of the communities in particular. Ask yourself that are you a secular person? ofcourse yes.... But think of a person from other religious background or caste and now ask yourself, can I allow him/her to be my business partner, life partner or simply do you give your flat for rent to him/her?
Some of you may well say yes, but with a little bit of discomfort and may not even do so when the situation demands. So, what should we do?
We need to be rational in judging others rather than stereotyped. It is something like this... You might have seen a Christian/Muslim/Hindu doing an act which you feel wrong and happened to see the same act by the same community person next time also. We tend to generalize the action for the whole community and say something like... these people do in this way only.... I know them well........ This kind of generalization may well serve you judge the person in no time but it surely leads to an irrational act or more precisely you are making use of stereotypes.
What can be the long term solution? It appears to me that a change in the environment variable is a must, atleast for the children in the developing stage of their personality. The source can be in the form of parents, peers, or educational system. Further, it is relatively easy to implement it at the school level by teaching the importance of communal harmony.
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