Between Zakir Hussain and Mohan Bhagwat, lessons on the importance of diversity

Islam was introduced to India through the Arab invasion of Sind in 712 CE and established itself more widely during the Mughal period. A majority of Muslims converted to Islam, either under duress or voluntarily, to escape the indignities of the caste system. Christian Indians trace their roots to the arrival of St Thomas in Kerala where he is believed to have started proselytisation by converting the Malabar Jews to Christianity in 52 CE. At various junctures, people of other faiths like Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Bahaism too sought and found refuge in India.

Today, centuries after Christianity and Islam came to its shores, India’s religious composition is as follows: Hindus: 79.8 per cent; Muslims: 14.2 per cent, and Christians: 2.3 per cent. Given these numbers, and the statistics of steadily falling fertility rates across all of India’s religious groups, it is not only specious but dangerously inflammatory to preach that Hindus face a demographic threat.

In 1996, American social scientist Samuel Huntington offered his “Clash of Civilisations” thesis. It posited that the world would be divided along civilisational lines, with clashes occurring not between ideologies but between fundamentally diverse cultures and religions. India, with its huge cultural and religious multiplicity, appeared a prime candidate for fulfilling Huntington’s dire prediction.

So far, India’s bold democratic experiment of embracing diversity, promoting tolerance and fostering economic and cultural interaction, has helped it build a relatively peaceful environment for its citizens. But has India managed to defy Huntington’s prognosis about the inevitability of a clash between the Islamic and Hindu civilisations? Time will tell, but let us look at straws in the wind.

Past governments did, cynically, and short-sightedly, indulge in “appeasement” of minority communities for electoral gains. The pendulum has now swung to the other side, and far from appeasement, our minorities face discrimination and intimidation. Threats to places of worship, demolition of homes, social and economic boycotts, and the menace of lynch mobs are some of the hazards they encounter today. As hate and bigotry are openly preached by religious figures and public functionaries, the administration’s lassitude and the media’s silence appear to convey tacit approval.

Poll after poll has shown that divisive politics and polarisation have, unfortunately, become potent electoral weapons. But here, two questions beg answers: Will religious polarisation enhance or undermine our national security? Does winning elections take priority over national interest?

The price of this unending quest for accretion of political power will eventually be the breakdown of social cohesion and a rise in internecine tensions/violence. It is the impact of such a situation on the nation’s security that our military leaders hint at when they, guardedly, mention the threat of a “two-and-a-half front war”.

The “two fronts” refer to threats posed by current adversaries in the neighbourhood. It is the unknown “half front” emerging from a possible, breakdown of social cohesion that could pose an equal peril. Should sectarian strife be superimposed on the existing Naxal insurgency, terrorism in Kashmir and ongoing violence in Manipur, the cumulative threat would constitute a substantial challenge to India’s security forces.

Historically, the prime causes for India’s succumbing to foreign invasions have been the absence of internal cohesion, coupled with myopic leaders who, time and again, failed to rise above parochial interests and confront threats. Elsewhere, in the world, leaders, from Garibaldi to Bismarck and from Tito to Nelson Mandela, are remembered as nation-builders, because they united people of diverse ethnicities and religions, and moulded them into nationhood.

Given their huge popularity and electoral mandates, it is entirely within the power of India’s political leadership to re-direct popular opinion away from the divisive rhetoric that seeks revenge for “historic wrongs”. Our talented youth need to be engaged not in religious zealotry, but in constructive endeavours that emphasise social cohesion and nation-building through science and technology. No nation has prospered by accentuating its own internal schisms, and the fate of states like the USSR, Yugoslavia and Pakistan are reminders of the fragility of heterogeneous entities.

The ancient concept of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” which translates into “the world is one family” has deep roots in Hindu culture, and it is this lofty philosophy, that lends credibility to our claims of being a Vishwaguru, or “world teacher”. In India’s multi-faith society, social cohesion is vital for prosperity and security.

In June 2022, addressing a gathering in Nagpur, RSS Sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat asked the most pertinent question: “Har masjid mein shiv ling kyun dekhna? (Why seek a Shivling in every mosque?). And answered it thus: “… hamare yahan sabki manyata aur sabke prati pavitrata ki bhavna hai” (…here we have respect for everyone and revere all beliefs). And on December 19, 2024, he said: “We have been living in harmony for a long time. If we want to provide this harmony to the world, we need to create a model of it.”
Let us pay heed to Bhagwat ji.

The writer is a former chief of the Indian Navy