HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Concern At Growing Communalism

Dinesh Chandra

THE just-released United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report focussing on  “Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World” expresses serious concern over the rise of communalism in India and the danger it poses to an otherwise “cohesive” nation.

“India, despite its secular tradition, has experienced considerable communal violence, with rising intensity: 36.2 per cent of casualties due to communal violence since 1954 occurred in 1990-2002”, says the report. 

Citing instances of increasing coercive measures on the part of the communalists to subdue the minorities, it says the “website of the Bajrang Dal accuses the Indian State of appeasing anti-national elements (Muslims) and demands that Indian Muslims prove that they are not the heirs and followers of past invaders who destroyed Hindu temples”.

“Modern India is facing a grave challenge to its constitutional commitment to multiple and complementary identities with the rise of groups that seek to impose a singular Hindu identity on the country”, it says adding that the threats from these sections “undermine the sense of inclusion and violate the rights of minorities”.

“Recent communal violence raises serious concerns for the prospects for social harmony and threatens to undermine the country’s earlier achievements” which it terms as “considerable” saying “historically, India’s constitutional design recognised and responded to distinct group claims and enabled the polity to hold together despite enormous regional, linguistic and cultural diversity”

Praising the country’s performance on indicators of “identification, trust and support”, the report pays tribute to Indians who are “deeply committed to the country and democracy despite the diverse and highly stratified society”.

“The performance is particularly impressive when compared with that of other long standing and wealthier democracies” it says stressing that “ the challenge is in invigorating India’s commitment to practices of pluralism, institutional accommodation and conflict resolution through democratic means”.

The report also lauds India for demolishing myths like “diversity is bad for development”. “India has managed its diverse cultures with pluralist policies and 15 official languages and made remarkable progress in economic growth and in health and education”.

The report is also appreciative of “affirmative action” taken by India to “reduce inequalities between groups”.  “The allocation of government jobs, admission to higher education and legislative seats to scheduled castes and tribes has helped members of these groups climb out of poverty and join the middle class”, the report says.

In a pioneering examination of identity politics around the world, the report argues that “cultural freedom should be embraced as basic human rights and as necessities for the development of the increasingly diverse societies of the 21st century”.

In a wide-ranging analysis of identity issues in scores of communities and nations, the report looks at many different policy approaches to multicultural nations and communities, from bilingual education and affirmative action to innovative systems of proportional representation and federalism.

The authors of the report argue that all people have the right to maintain their ethnic, linguistic and religious identities and stress that adoption of policies that recognise and protect these identities is the only sustainable approach to development in diverse societies.

In his foreword to the report, UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown says, “If the world is to reach Millennium Development Goals and ultimately eradicate poverty, it must first successfully confront the challenge of how to build inclusive, culturally diverse societies”.

Citing empirical evidence, the report debunks myths like multiethnic counties are less able to progress economically or some cultures are more thrifty or entrepreneurial than others and some cultures have democratic values that others lack. (INN)