citizen first society
disclaimer: views personal
I usually refrain from sharing any political views, or entertaining questions on my faith, but over the past few days, following the discourse on social media, I have been left concerned.
I felt like putting my two cents in.
I think there's a beauty in this country, the ability to house a culturally vibrant society is immense. However, this also means that a lot of contrasting opinions coexist at any given time, which fundamentally, isn't a bad thing. It only confirms our faiths and beliefs are diverse.
In any society, we might have more than one identity. The ones that currently come to my mind are:
- Cultural grassroots
- Religious beliefs
- National identity
If I were to ask you about your identity, what would you say? Which of these identities would come to your mind first?
We’re often swayed by what grabs us most, especially when it plays with our religious or cultural identities. Contemporary political landscape mostly functions by appealing to this faith; incentivised for political gains. But we should know that our cultural identities (religion/language/state) are subjective and highly personal, we can’t tie it to something greater than it should be.
What's the solution? Should we stop public discourse on religion, lingual affairs, cultural identities altogether?
No. But I do think we, as Indians, need to prioritise our national identity. And coming full circle, we need to be a "citizen first" society.
By "citizen first", I wish to imply that:
- We must actively instil the thought of our nationality as a fundamental identity. By doing so, especially through primary education, a lot of redundant discussions based on religious and cultural misappropriation can simply be minimised.
- The law must proactively serve to protect and penalise, irrespective of identity, so people can have an unequivocal trust in the system and believe that the only thing that's judging them is the IPC.
In a landscape where our faith is constantly used to influence opinions, categorise and challenge us by political machinery, we need a minimum sum that binds us together, something that we all share, i.e. a greater sense of identity as citizens of this nation.
“Indians have been both afflicted and enriched by centuries of migrations. Loyalty to different rulers has dulled our capacity for a single allegiance. Instead, we have developed an extraordinary ability to be compassionate and cruel, sensitive and callous, deep and fickle, all at the same time. To the untrained eye, we may appear colourful and picturesque; to the critical eye, we are but shoddy imitations of our various masters.” ― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Wings of Fire