When India became independent much emphasis was put on the concept of ‘unity in diversity’, and rarely were there voices dissenting from that opinion. But from last few decades that diversity is more seen as a reason for discrimination. No more it is seen as an asset but obligation which is breaking the bone of the country.

When the reservation idea was presented in parliament, it was never seen as a vote bank politics but as a need of the time which will subsequently help India in developing. When minorities were presented with numerous of privileges it was done with the idea of avuncular majority helping the younger brother who is in need of the support, not as an appeasement policy which will help in upcoming election. The whole country was seen as united, single body, where it was realized that even a pain in a tooth would not allow peace of mind.

More than half a century later, much of that feeling is lost. Where have we gone wrong? How such noble path turned into bumpy road where you have to find road from the potholes? What can be done before all this turns out to be a black hole, attracting even the light of primordial culture of this country?

Today India is more like a golden-egg laying goose surrounded by greedy dogs, who are ready to kill it thinking of a bright future full of gold but forgetting that it is the goose, in totality, which produces the gold. The private interests have overshadowed the collective interest of the country. Corruption, favouritism, riots, reservation policies, anti-reservation demonstrations, anti-secular theories, Hindu-nation ideology, questions about ‘Indianness’, all are just the different names of same beast, personal interest either of one community or the other.

No doubt that there are differences in us, but are they so diverse that we cannot live with them? The answer is simple and bold, NO. I need not give evidence from our great history where the two greatest kings of this country had more secular times than we are having now. It is true that there have been some exceptions and we have witnessed, also, equally fanatic kings, but their number and short time of rule or liquidation of power itself proves that they were not good administrators and people of this nation never supported them from heart.

Ask a person to do something for the country by improving the infrastructure or helping the needy, or simply just ask them not to bribe and the looks which we you will get can scare even a ghost. But ask them why they are ready for slaying the member of other community and you will be given a never ending lecture on the help from it to the future of India. I may be generalizing a lot but exceptions are diminishing day by day. The hate by which an Indian is being imbued is the reason for such vacuous behaviour. Attempt to find the culprit behind this will lead you to the different paths which all will end pointing toward each other.

So from where should we start? I have tried to present few of the pressing needs of the country which, according to me, will help in getting out of this quagmire of hate.

Firstly we need to improve the education system, not only in quantity terms but also in quality terms. Education not only helps in creating employment but also helps in awakening the mind and empowers people to think by themselves what is right or what is wrong. Education policy need not be restricted to the papers only where we have such a good plans that could make even God shy; they are needed to implemented and fast. The plight of public education tells us that we have gone wrong somewhere and we need to improve it before the difference between public education and public schools, who are just in name public, converts itself into a kind of ‘class’. Especially the places which are having more backward people should be focused more urgently.

Secondly the people should be empowered enough to claim their rights from the treacherous bureaucrats and ministers. They should not be allowed to deceit the gullible public and a legislation should be made punishing the ministers, media and mandarins who pass the false information. They should be made to realize the importance of the post with the responsibility it carries. It may sound utopian but it is the need of the time where people are instigated with full planning of the government office holders and difference between truth and lie gets more diluted by such acts.

Thirdly an attempt should be made to save the exploited from getting killed in friendly fire from their own community. All the reservation has done in these almost six decades is that only a ‘handful few’ have been helped, and those ‘handful few’ were already in a much better position than the ones on whose name they took the benefit. It is suggested that in place of having a flat reservation policy we need to have a wild card system policy, where a person should be allowed to use his reservation wild-card only once in a lifetime, whether it be for getting admission in college or getting a job. Also, the reservation should be restricted to the places where there is still any kind of discrimination. It is also to be questioned why still it has been prevalent until now and what has to be done to improve the situation. The people, who never had any kind of barrier because of caste or tribe, should not be allowed to take the drug of reservation which is needed by others more urgently.

Fourthly, Government should realize the urgent need of planned development of small centers which would not only help in relieving the urban centers, which are already crumbling in respect of infrastructure because of immigration from small or rural part of the country, but also would prove fruitful in saving the immigrants from becoming scapegoat of hate. What Hitler did in Germany is a lesson important enough to tell us that anybody can be made a scapegoat and even any human can be turned into a beast when there is a doldrums in the economy. It is our luck that our economy is growing at an envious rate and we are not in that kind of danger of economic depression, but we have already seen many small, but real, versions of this kind of plot.

Fifthly, all those questioners of ‘Indianness’ should be made to realize that India is nation which have evolved from the best of world culture. This nation has seen many conquerors but always has made those conquerors to be a part of India. Nowhere we can find so many cultures, so many dialects, so many religion, so many gods, but except India. This is our strength which makes us a human before giving us an identity of Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Muslim, Jain, Agnostic or even Atheist. Why should be the whole community be blamed if there are few bad spots? Are we perfect and why should we forget that most of the different sections of the society have done some or the other damaging act for the country, whether it is the attack on the religious place of other community or demand for a different country? But we never forgot that they are part of us and always excused as prodigal son of this big family.

Why should be a particular community be blamed, in place of praising, if they have guts to speak against the country who has killed thousands of innocent lives just on the pretext of finding the WMD’s, even after having sanctions over that nation for ten years and even banning import of medicines saying that it could be used for making weapons, subsequently resulting into the death of around five hundred thousand children. Haven’t this country always supported the way towards the development of humans? Aren’t those questioners supporting such barbaric act by impugning the dissenting voice and have they forgotten that even in many other countries there have been country wide protests by the people of every community?

It is suggested that we should realize that this country belongs to no one community in particular, and everybody has equal share in this nation. So, if there is any weak link we need not break the chain but need to transform that weak link into an equal strength one.

We need to realize it and fast, otherwise what the situations augurs don’t seem to be worth rejoicing.