98. Respecting diverse school of thoughts
India is a diverse country with people from various religions, caste, and diverse schools of thought coming together and representing India in its true form. While this makes sense in theory, it is much harder to practice and function in real life without harming this diversity.
The Indian political scenario is one example of a diverse school of thoughts which fuels domestic to nationwide debates on a regular basis. Different political ideologies have divided the public in categories such as pro or anti government. Sadly, the ‘anti government’ is at times considered synonymous to ‘anti national’. This tells the public that while our constitution does provide us the freedom of speech, exercising it can be dangerous at times.
In an article published by the Election.in titled ‘Political Parties in India and their Ideologies’, the author writes, “The only factor that explains the mushrooming growth of political parties in India is the difference in ideology. While some of them are pro-liberalisation, some are anti-capitalism. The ideological differences also exist in the social sphere with some political factions swearing by Hindu nationalism and the rest seem quite content with progressive westernisation. It is this multiplicity of ideologies and their practitioners that make Indian politics a difficult yet an interesting case study.”
The ideologies are further fuelled by the political parties especially at the cost of a religion. While I understand and respect the difference of opinions that people have. Encouraging hate and disdain towards a certain religion or community which has the potential of leading to community riots is something that I have a problem with.
Devdutt Pattanaik once said something that struck a chord with me. While addressing the audience at an industry event in September 2019, he said, “Diversity is appreciating not everybody will understand or wants to understand you. When you get that, you calm down.”
This made me think that one can hold on to their opinions and beliefs while still respecting the others for thinking differently. This may seem difficult to practice but is worth giving a thought.
The Indian political scenario is one example of a diverse school of thoughts which fuels domestic to nationwide debates on a regular basis. Different political ideologies have divided the public in categories such as pro or anti government. Sadly, the ‘anti government’ is at times considered synonymous to ‘anti national’. This tells the public that while our constitution does provide us the freedom of speech, exercising it can be dangerous at times.
In an article published by the Election.in titled ‘Political Parties in India and their Ideologies’, the author writes, “The only factor that explains the mushrooming growth of political parties in India is the difference in ideology. While some of them are pro-liberalisation, some are anti-capitalism. The ideological differences also exist in the social sphere with some political factions swearing by Hindu nationalism and the rest seem quite content with progressive westernisation. It is this multiplicity of ideologies and their practitioners that make Indian politics a difficult yet an interesting case study.”
The ideologies are further fuelled by the political parties especially at the cost of a religion. While I understand and respect the difference of opinions that people have. Encouraging hate and disdain towards a certain religion or community which has the potential of leading to community riots is something that I have a problem with.
Devdutt Pattanaik once said something that struck a chord with me. While addressing the audience at an industry event in September 2019, he said, “Diversity is appreciating not everybody will understand or wants to understand you. When you get that, you calm down.”
This made me think that one can hold on to their opinions and beliefs while still respecting the others for thinking differently. This may seem difficult to practice but is worth giving a thought.
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