India Campaigning For National Integration

Press, Volume C, Issue 29699, 18 December 1961, Page 26

India Campaigning For National Integration

[By V. M. NAIRj NEW DELHI. India has launched an intensive campaign to weld the nation’s multi-religious groups into a single communitydedicated to work for the progress of the country. The campaign for national integration is led by the Government and has the support of all secular political parties in India.

By means of public meetings, speeches and the press, it is hoped to bring home to the people the need for harmony and unity among the various communities and religious groups in the country. The campaign aims at achieving what has already been written into the Indian Constitution —equality of opportunity and rights for all Indians, irrespective of caste, creed or community. India has a secular democratic Constitution. In the last 14 years, the Government has been trying to create a society of equal rights, as envisaged in the Constitution.

But some recent incidents in scattered parts of India have focused attention on the weak links in an otherwise united India. Linguistic rivalries and lingering grievances by some sections of the people touched off disturbances in Assam, Jabalpur and the Punjab. Partition Legacy

According to observers, some of these grievances may be partly justified. Some were legacies of the twonation theory which led to the partition of the Indian sub-continent into Moslem Pakistan and secular India 14 years ago. Some others were instigated by sectional groups, accused by the Government of trying to disrupt the delicate fabric of Indian unity. But all can be traced to two aspects of Indian national life which have, of late, disturbed New Delhi. These

are the continuing squabbles over language, and complaints by some sections of the minority communities about “discrimination" in the matter of employment and other economic opportunities. Of the two. the language problem is considered the most disturbing factor. India has 14 major, officially recognised. regional languages, each spoken by 1.000,600 people or more.

Almost all the 15 Indian States have been carved out on the basis of linguistic groupings, with each State having its own regional language. Where there are substantial minorities speaking another language, however, demands for recognition of that language as a second language of the State have often led to political agitation and sometimes tension and riots.

The danger of these petty squabbles to the national unity will now be impressed upon the people through intensive publicity in the com. ing months. India’s third general election, scheduled for next spring, will provide a public platform for this campaign. The grievances of the minority communities of India constitute the second threat to Indian unity. Out of the 438.000.000 Indians, about 84 per cent, are Hindus, about 10 per cent. Moslems, about 2.5 per cent. Christians and the remainder belong to small communities such as Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and tribesmen

Moslem Problem The problem of the Moslem minority is the biggest cause for concern. Although official India has never discriminated against any particular community, the Moslems of India have often complained of discrimination When India and Pakistan were formed in August, 1947, hundreds of thousands of Moslems who had their homes in the Indian part of the sub-continent moved to Pakistan. But millions of others chose to stay where they were. Later, thousands of those who left returned, feeling that their future lay in India.

Some Indians, however, accuse the Moslems of never ideritifying themselves com-

pletely with India and of even nourishing a secret loyalty for Moslem Pakistan. This has inevitably led to an element of suspicion being attached to some Moslems, they claim.

The speeches and activities of some Moslem leaders are alleged also to have contributed to this suspicion. Moslems complain, for example. that they are being discriminated against in employment opportunities and other walks of life. This assertion is contested by the Government, which says that it has consistently tried to enforce its policy of promoting communal harmony and equality of opportunity and rights for all Indians.

There are many Moslems tn high government and ministerial posts, both in New Delhi and elsewhere. There are two Moslem universities which give special attention to the education of Moslem children, while many other institutions work exclusively for the welfare of the Moslem community. But some sections of the Moslem community continue to nurse a secret grievance. New Delhi has declared that this is not in any way justified when viewed against official policy. Recently, prominent Moslem leaders in India themselves took the initiative in trying to bring the entire community to identify themselves with the hopes and aspirations of secular India. The first Moslem convention held in New Delhi was attended by more than 600 prominent Moslem leaders. While some of the speakers referred to the Moslems’ feelings of being treated as second-class citizens in Republican India, others were quick to stress that the fault lay partly with the Moslems themselves, in as much as they tended to stay apart instead of adjusting their outlook to the changed conditions in the country. The Moslem convention also realised the danger of a revival of communalism. and criticised those of their community. as well as others, who tried to whip up communal passions. Among the resolutions passed by the Convention was one demanding a ban on all communal political parties, and strict and