Unity in Diversity

Unity in Diversity is the idea of brotherhood among people from all the different caste, colour, culture, and creed. It is the socially accepted notion by which living with people who hold different beliefs becomes blissful.

Applying the concept of ‘Unity in Diversity’ in a society can have numerous advantages. Living with people of different religions renders one to be more aware of his fellow’s beliefs. It provides an opportunity for an individual to develop a tolerant attitude towards those who may not have the same opinion as himself. In a society with diverse group of people a group project is always contributed with valuable suggestions coming from each of the member which reflects his own background. Adding to the list of advantages we cannot forget how well everybody bonds once we start respecting each other’s culture. This bonding is what connects people to each other and it is the most essential aspect of a peaceful society.

For a country like India which is home to a whooping population of 1.3 billion people, ‘Unity’ among its citizens is of utmost significance. India’s admirable unity among its citizens is evident by the fact that people here are living peacefully with each other for many centuries. Unlike most other countries India has always been welcoming to people from every background. Speakers of 22 different languages reside in India. It is considered as a wonder that a country with residents from as many as 9 different religions lives peacefully under the same laws, celebrating each other’s festivals. I remember, as a child, our family used to go the Gurudwara whenever we got a chance and we often used to visit a Dargah that was near our home. It was never that my parents taught me or my brother that a person going to the Church, Mosque, or Gurudwara is different than us in any humane way.  That is the kind of culture that we have built in our country. We have become habitual of living with people that may or may not have the same beliefs as ours.

For a long time, India was considered as an impeccable example of ‘Unity in Diversity’. Though in recent years, attempts have been made to disrupt this concept solely for the purpose of some cheap political gain. All of us remember the plight that came over our country during the Gujarat’s and Muzaffarnagar’s infamous riots. As a resident of Muzaffarnagar, I witnessed the sorry condition of our town at this time firsthand. Politicians kept using innocent people as mere puppets to fulfil their greedy conspiracy. Major political parties played their roles as instigator to galvanize Hindus against Muslims and vice versa. At the end the riots only left some otherwise happy households feel desolate. Similar situation was observed after the Gujarat riots.

These kind of toxic attempts at dividing people are only taking our country backwards. In order to keep progressing at the steady rate that we have now gained we need to implement better functioning of the laws and get over these bleak attempts to disrupt our society. We, as a society, need to be smarter than those trying to control us for their selfish motives. Indians just need to keep living the way that we have been living since centuries; we know how to live together happily and that is by respecting each other.