India and Different Religions
Unity in Diversity in India India is probable the only country in the world where people belonging to different religions, castes and creeds, speaking different languages, having different cultures, different modes of living, different clothing, different feeding habits, worshiping different gods and deity live together in harmony and believe to be the children of one mother-Mother India. They are one nation at large. They are governed by one central authority, have one Prime Minister, one president, one Supreme Court and one army chief. This is why we say we have unity in diversity.
Geographically India is a vast country so much so that even one of its states in bigger than many countries of Europe. But the whole country is well bounded by nature. In the north is the Himalayan Range. On the other side is the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian sea. This provides, natural geographical unity to INDIA we have different religions in India. Apart from Hinduism we have the followers of Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity and Parsees. But Hindus form the greater majority. There are, no doubt, different factions, sections and sub-section but basically we all believe in the theory of Dharma and Karma.
The theory of rebirth, purification of soul, salvation, Heaven and Hell holds good for each and every one. We untidily celebrate the festivals like Holy, Diwali, Charismas, Budh Jayanthi and Mahavir Jayanthi. This provides unity in diversity. India philosophy has developed on India soil. It has not been borrowed from anywhere. This has blended the various cultures together. There are differences in overall conception of gods, and modes of worship. These changes have been gradual due to interaction of different groups. But the ultimate aim of achieving salvation and the fear of Hell keeps them all bound together.
Very important characteristic of Indian society is the coexistence of different ethnic groups. These groups formulated inter-group behavior. Hence there is no mutual interference as also no merging of their identity. There might be some drawback in our constitution such as separate provision for different castes; particularly the backward and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes but industrialization policy and agrarian reforms have generated a new secular outlook giving rise to a new culture. Members of different castes and communities and followers of different religions have come together in forms, factories and educational institution.
As a result different cultures have been blended together thereby bringing unity among them. We have a cultural unity in India in as much as our philosophy of life, our customs, creeds and traditions are basically, more or less, the same. The institution of marriage, the very foundation of a society, exists all over the country and most of the rituals and sanskars are similar everywhere. Emotional unity plays its own part. The name of Bharat Mata brings us closer and closer together. In spite of different languages and dialects, Sanskrit, the language of Vedas, brings us all together because Sanskrit is the mother of all languages.
The outstanding features of Indian culture responsible for bringing unity in diversity may be summarized as follows: We Indians lay emphasis on spirituality, not on material wealth. Religion has the most important place in India. We believe in Karma and Sanskar. Performance of duty is our religion. Religion tolerance is the unique feature of religions in India. Hence there is no difficulty in coexistence of follower of different religion. Hinduism, which forms majority of the population, has the capacity to absorb all good cultures. It has either absorbed the immigrant cultures or has largely influenced them. We have a very broad outlook. We preach and follow religion and spiritualism without ignoring married life and worldly things. We firmly believe in freedom of thought and freedom of expression because such freedom enriches the culture which then becomes dynamic. Although unity to the desired extent has not been attained but all attempts by foreign agencies to disrupt it or disprove it have proved futile. We might be subject to regionalism and casteism in trifling matters but we always rise to the occasion in times of need such as foreign interference or invasion on our territory. This is sufficient to prove our unity in diversity.
