One of the key strength of India is its multi cultural ethos and
secular fabric. However its secular ethos have been/are being threatened by
communal forces which try to inculcate and foster feelings from
distaste/dislike to ill will and hatred against members of a different
religious denomination. Time and again we have seen the menace of
communalism rearing in its head in its most ugliest forms. Even during times of
inter religious peace, one fears to believe that the monster of communalism is
not destroyed but is always there festering just beneath the surface ready to
erupt at the slightest provocation. That even efforts of great leaders like
Mahatma Gandhiji could'nt find a lasting solution to this problem tells us that
there is something fundamentally wrong in our methods which we have not
addressed till date. Is there a way out?
It is worthwhile to understand how these dislikes and hatred for
other religions arise. Psychologically these feelings are only outward
expressions/manifestations our inner "Prejudices". Prejudice refers
to preconceived opinion or belief that members of a particular group will
behave in a certain fashion irrespective of his/her individual nature. In other
words it refers to negative attitude towards some people for the mere reason
that they belong to a particular group or denomination. These prejudices
are not based on logic, reason or experience and are predominantly learnt
by a process known as "social learning" by way of observing the
behaviors of "significant others" vis parents, relatives, peers etc.
More pertinent to our current discussion is the fact that this social learning
takes root early in our early childhood which gets strengthened over time due
to positive reinforcements received from the parents and others for displaying
the desired ( ie prejudiced) attitude. So any effort to tackle communalism
should factor-in this basic concept.
The best way to tackle a problem is not to avoid it or be
defensive about it but to face it head on. Wrong notions about religion should
not be tackled by attempting to suppressing them but rather we should
attempt to replace them with the right notions. So I am of the opinion that its
high time we include "Religion" in our
curriculum. Presently we do learn about religion indirectly as part of
history but not as a proper discipline. We need to include teachings of all the religions, their scriptures and the
teachings of their gurus. Children should also be taken to the places of worship
of all religions to expose them to their distinct customs and practices. The
idea does not call for a thorough or complete teaching in all religious
scriptures to make them religious scholars but to expose
and educate children about the key and salient principles of all
religions of this world. Psychologically one of the reasons for aversion for a
particular object is foreigness or non-exposure. So mere exposure to the
customs and practices of all religions will have a significant effect on the
overall perception of children. Not to mention that children should also be
exposed to atheist concepts and other view points. By this
exercise children will get an overall perspective which will make them
accept the customs and practices of others and will slowly make them realise
the truth that all religions preach one and the same thing and that the
esssence of all religions is to promote indivdual and social harmony. In sum we
should aim to intellectually equip our children to handle hate
messages/propaganda of some vested interests and not be misguided by
them.
We are at challenging times. It is a sad reality that communal
feelings are so deeply engrained that for some people even the sight of members
of other religious communities elicits feeling of uneasiness. This is a war of
perception and learning and hence unless we intervene at the childhood stage
and tackle the issue at its roots the we may end up being mere witnesses to the
whims and fancies of vested interests exploiting our inner prejudices to the
detriment of our collective peace and well being. Think, act and change.
