Our country is often found to be fighting the internal issues that are more demanding than the external enemy. These internal issues not only shifts the governments focus on the problems but also help the enemy from outside to find avenues to attack the sovereignty of our country. Our country is sovereign, secular and democratic. In democracy there is room for every voice, there is room for disagreement and dialogue. Our country has been a very positive example for implementing the democracy in a very hormonal way. The development initiatives are in line with the country’s agenda to keep the sanctity of the parliament and democracy which are the pillars of our country. There has to be a collective approach among many age groups and all generations to come together to fight for the well being of our nation.
The reason why our nation has to be more cautious about its secular credentials is quite obvious. There are many recognized religions that need not agree with each other philosophies. The reason why many religions exist is the very existence of ideologies that are different. Secularism has never advocated for compromising any community’s ideology rather motivates people of all religions to live in harmony with humility. People from all religions respect each other’s religion and celebrate religious occasions in the spirit of brotherhood. These secular credentials are maturing with great understanding among the youth groups in India. Any deviation from secularism is a blot in our nation’s integrity.
There are obvious challenges in implementing secular credentials in a pluralistic society like India. Our people are completely not being oriented about the actual democratic values due to many factors including illiteracy and ignorance. Instead there are some extremist religious or communal groups promoting ideologies in a way to inspire their people to claim superiority over other groups. This can be very well done in the academic interest. There are many organizations that are involved in dialogue and debate. Whereas there are few organizations in isolation indulge in belittling other religions or groups that can lead to communal violence. Communal violence is a greatest threat to our nation’s unity and should be stopped either by discourse or by force. We cannot achieve any progress without achieving communal harmony. Irrespective of the nature of the issue or violation, there is always room for dialogue, debate, descent and reconciliation.
In democracy, any religious group can promote its religion in a peaceful manner. There cannot be force in any manner. At the same time any group can peacefully protest against any difference of opinion and bring the grievance to the government’s notice through media and other valid channels. Instead, irked by some sensitive comments or actions, they end up causing harm and damage to various groups leading to communal violence. This should not lead to intolerance and gradual desecration of the fundamentals on which we are built on and by virtue of which we are being called a democratic and secular nation.
