A World Free from the Divisions of Caste, Creed, Colour, Race or Religion

When a baby takes birth in this world, the kind of surroundings he is born into determines his life and labels him by categorizing him in a particular category. He is no more a human being palpitating with life but he is either an American or an Indian, a Brahmin or a Sudra, a white or a black, a Sikh, a Hindu or a Christian. The categories do not end here. How can we miss the city or the region he is the inhabitant of? Thus, every child gets labelled the moment he comes into this world.

Actually, with the progress, that man has made in the course of history, he has been making himself more and more a part of the world that has surrendered itself to the innumerable divisions of caste, creed, colour, race or religion. The more globalized he has become, the greater is the number of categories that divide him.

During the schooling, a child is taught that the world has seven continents. A child takes it for granted that at least members of a continent are the same and equal but this belief is shattered when he reads in the college about the third world countries, ‘the orient and the occident’ and the like. Even those grouped in one group are not given equal treatment. If we talk about racism, it’s not that only the whites bully those whom they call ‘blacks’. Toni Morrison’s famous novel ‘The Bluest eye’ shows that there are the browns’ who dominate and vile ‘the blacks’. So, there are sub-divisions involved in every division. Seeing this situation, E.M. Forster has rightly said, “East is East, West is West and the twain shall never meet.”

The case is the same with religions also. Religion, that is regarded as an anchor for a man’s spiritual and moral life, that is supposed to provide men with a common platform by preaching universal brotherhood, serves to divide men. The Hindus, the Christians, the Sikhs, the Moslems are nothing but the titles given to men divided in the name of religion. Every religion is further divided into sects each of which has its own norms and beliefs which differentiate it from others. In its attempt to propagate a religion, every religion asserts its supremacy and automatically sidelines the other religions by criticizing their practices or rituals. Many disputes and controversies get generated as an outcome of this tendency. Who can forget the Babri Masjid episode or the large-scale riotous destruction and uproar in Punjab and other states over the issue of the Sirsa Guru, Ram Rahim Singh? It caused a wide rift between the followers of Ram Rahim and his opponents or detractors.

The world is divided not only in the names of religion but also according to nationalities. A very common example is of foreigners visiting another country. After the initial lip service given to them, they are often treated with scorn. Visitors often lodge complaints of being harassed or being discriminated against. This feeling of being biased and prejudiced against the natives of another country or region cannot be termed as excessive love for one’s own country or region but as intolerance towards the others. This jealous emotion comes to the forefront as soon as there is a direct contact between the natives and the foreigners. The globalization has worked as a double-edged sword. If on the one hand, it has brought the people living in different parts of the globe in a close contact, on the other it has served to accentuate and highlight the labels of their nationality thereby making them over conscious and over-possessive/obsessive about their countries.

The need of the hour is to ask ourselves what these divisions have given us. Have they helped man and mankind in any way? The only thing that comes to mind is competition and the cut-throat rivalry in every sphere of life. The differences between man and man have increased manifold. These divisions hamper the growth of man. He considers himself either superior or inferior, but never equal with others. Another outcome is the moral and spiritual deprivation of the modern man. The loss of values further aggravates his nature and makes him prone to neurological problems. A universal need has been felt to fill, this ‘rift valley’ of discrimination of so-called’ caste, creed, religion, colour etc. A man should extract inspiration from the ideals of the French Revolution that demanded ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity to live in a happy world. Moreover, we, the human beings are the children of one Almighty God. So we should expel these divisions from our mind and the society by making the earth a ‘happy place’. We should always keep in mind the great words,

“Aval Allah noor upaya,

Kudrat ke sab bande,

Ek noor te sab jagupjeya,

Kaun Bhale Koun Mande.”