By TCN News
New Delhi: Social diversity emerges in a different perspective when looked at patterns of nature where the operative theme is diversity. The Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari stated this here today while delivering inaugural address at the “2013 Annual Conference of State Minorities Commissions” on the theme ‘Sensitivity of the Majority, Responsibility of the Minorities in Secular India’.
Referring to homogeneity as an essentially a limiting concept, the vice President said it is evident that diversity in society as in nature is a reality, and that the central challenge is not diversity but the management of diversity. Its quantum varies from society to society, state to state and system to system. In India, it has been accepted down the ages as a fact of life and is reflected in the plural nature of our society. Independent India’s Constitution endowed it with a secular polity and a democratic state structure.
He said that the Constitution is premised on the ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity and promises them to all citizens. The basic principle is equality before the law and equal protection of the laws. Away from generalisations in formal and legal terms, an assessment of the ground reality pertaining to minorities needs to cover four areas: (a) identity (b) security (c) share in the fruits of development and (d) role in decision-making. He said that given the complexity of our societal landscape and its variables, the articulation of grievances by different religious minorities has varied in content and intensity. While some are sporadic, others seem to be endemic.
Speaking on the occasion K. Rahman Khan, the Union Minister of Minority Affairs said diversity is the strength of India and unity in diversity is the uniqueness of our country. India is a diverse country since thousands of years and co-existence and tolerance is a part of Indian culture and ethos, added. Unfortunately, the partition of the country affected this great tradition of co-existence, tolerance and respect. The partition on the basis of religion further created wedge between Hindus and Muslims, which led to communal divide within the societies and a certain sections among Hindus and Muslims took advantage to perpetuate communal tensions. The biggest challenge to the Indian nation and also to the majority community is how to fight such forces, that try to disturb the harmony in the country. The occasional outburst of clashes and after-effect is a blot on Indian secularism and its culture. More than the minority, it is the responsibility of the majority to fight such elements, in their own interest and in the interest of the nation. The minority too has the responsibility to respect the sentiments of the majority and co-operate in safeguarding the religious and cultural heritage of the majority. The minorities should learn tolerance and respect the majority sentiments, the Minister said.
Tracing the genesis of the concept of minority protection, the eminent Jurist Fali S Nariman, said that on the twin judicial principals of universal inherence and inherent inalienability the protection of minority rests with every Nation State. The group who lay claim to be a minority must have a national consciousness, an identity, a sense of belonging to the nation. Cautioning to avoid the extreme views, he suggested to follow the middle path by quoting the words of Justice John Wallace, the former Chairman New Zealand Human Right Commission-“the minority view is generally right provided the minority can carry the majority with it.”
Wajahat Habibullah, Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) thanked and assured all present to carry forward the task of NCM as per the advice and deliberations of the conference.
Organized by the National Commission for Minorities, the theme of the conference this year is “Sensitivity of the Majority and Responsibility of the Minorities’ in Secular India”. The Conference which is being scheduled for one and half days would have 3 Sessions. The topics for the 3 Sessions would be “Achieving Communal Harmony”, “The Role Minorities must play in securing National Defence and Public Security” and “Education and the Minorities – Access and Form”. Each of the Sessions would be addressed by eminent Speakers who are experts in their respective fields.