India is a very diverse country. It is well known for its diversity. People who speak different languages live together as a community. People from different caste, creed, religion, gender live together. But do they all get equal rights? Do they get discriminated? Do stereotypes affect the communal harmony? Let’s find out more about Diversity and Discrimination. Introduction
India is one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. It is also the birthplace of many religions like Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and other religions. India is home to at least nine recognized religions. The major religions practiced in India are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the Baha’i Faith are also practiced in India. Officially India has 22 languages i.e. Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Meitei (Manipuri), Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.
However, The Indian census of 1961 recognized 1,652 different languages in India (including languages not native to the subcontinent). There are 22 major languages in India, written in 13 different scripts, with over 720 dialects. There are 3,000 castes and 25,000 subcastes in India, each related to a specific occupation. By this, we can conclude that is extremely diverse.
Prejudices, Stereotypes, and Discrimination -
Differences lead to prejudices. Discrimination happens when people act on their prejudices or stereotypes. Discrimination can be done on the basis of religion, gender, caste, creed, place of birth, language spoken, socioeconomic barrier, etc. Some occupations are considered to be better than other occupations.
Caste rules were set which did not allow the so-called untouchables to take on work, other than what they were meant to do. A lot of people like Dr. BabaSaheb Ambedkar tried to fight against the discrimination against the people of lower caste. Even the Constitution of India has prohibited discrimination.
Conclusion-
The ‘diversity in discrimination’ we practice is frightening. This is us. Every society is unequal, but that does not make our underling attitudes passable. Furthermore we cannot remain blind to the blatant discriminations that we practice and perpetuate. The first step is for us to look within and acknowledge our predispositions. In this honest acceptance of our prejudices, we can hope to find the strength to change. We have to celebrate our differences and see people for what they are: unique human beings. Being a part of any kind of majority does not make it the norm or ‘ideal’. It in fact obligates it to be that much less judgmental, prescriptive and biased.
Article by - SRASHTI JAIN ,
MIRANDA HOUSE (DU)
YouTube channel - " ABHIVYAKTI" By srashti
Link - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHDwQykzLuL_KwDWHDItnQ