Diversity in India

Diversity means differences. However, it means something more than just

differences. It means collective differences, that is, differences which mark off
one group of people from another. These differences may be of any sort:
biological, religious, linguistic etc.
On the basis of biological differences, for example, we have racial diversity. On
the basis of religious differences, similarly, we have religious diversity. Diversity
refers to collective differences.
The term diversity is opposite of uniformity. Uniformity means similarity of some
sort that characterises a people. ‘Uniʼ refers to one; ‘formʼ refers to the common
ways. So when there is something common to all the people, we say they show
uniformity. When students of a school, members of the police or the army wear
the same type of dress, we say they are in ‘uniformʼ.
Like diversity, thus, uniformity is also a collective concept. When a group of
people share a similar characteristic, be it language or religion or anything else,
it shows uniformity in that respect. But when we have groups of people hailing
from different races, religions and cultures, they represent diversity.
Thus, diversity means variety. For all practical purposes it means variety of
groups and cultures. We have such a variety in abundance in India. We have
here a variety of races, of religions, of languages, of castes and of cultures. For
the same reason India is known for its socio-cultural diversity.

Various forms of diversity in India:

Religious diversity: India is a land of multiple religions.The Indian population

consists of the Hindus , Muslims ,Christians , Sikhs , Buddhists and Jains . The
Hindus themselves are divided into several sects such as Vaishnavas, Shaivates,
Shaktas, Smartas etc. Similarly, the Muslims are divided into sects such as
Shias, Sunnis, Ahmadiyas etc.
India is a land of numerous religions. It is in view of this religious diversity that
independent India has declared secularism as one of the main principles of its
State Policy. But in spite of the secular policy followed by the state, there have
been occasional communal riots in India causing much loss of life and property.
It is to be seen how far we will be able to cultivate the ideal of secularism in the
minds of our people who are mainly religious minded.

Linguistic diversity: Languages spoken in India belong to several language

families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 75% of
Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 20% of Indians. Other languages
belong to a few other minor language families and isolates. India has the worldʼs
second highest number of languages, after Papua New Guinea.
Hindi has been accepted as the official language in India, English remains an
associate language.
There are 22 official languages in India and they are covered under the 8th
schedule of the Indian Constitution.
These are (1)Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6)
Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali,
(12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu,
(18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.

Racial Diversity:
You may have seen people of different races in India. A race is a group of
people with a set of distinctive physical features such as skin colour, type of
nose, form of hair, etc.
Herbert Risley had classified the people of India into seven racial types.
These are (i) Turko-Iranian, (ii) Indo-Aryan, (iii) Scytho-Dravidian, (iv) Aryo-
Dravidian, (v) Mongolo-Dravidian, (vi) Mongoloid, and (vii) Dravidian.

B.S. Guha has identified six racial types (1) the Negrito, (2) the Proto
Australoid, (3) the Mongoloid, (4) the Mediterranean, (5) the Western
Brachycephals, and (6) the Nordic.
Negritos are the people who belong to the black racial stock as found in
Africa. They have black skin colour, frizzle hair, thick lips, etc. In India some
of the tribes in South India.
Caste Diversity:
India, as you know, is a country of castes. The term caste is generally used in
two senses: sometimes in the sense of Varna and sometimes in the sense of
Jati.
The four Varna are Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.
There are more than 3,000 jati in India.
The practice of caste system is not confined to Hindus alone, we find castes
among the Muslim, Christian, Sikh as well as other communities.
Every society classifies its population into different segments on the basis of
occupation, wealth or education, which are considered main characteristics of
class.
 UNITY
Unity means integration. It is a social psychological condition. It is a sense of
one-ness, a sense of we-ness. It stands for the bonds, which hold the members
of a society together.
There is a difference between unity and uniformity. Uniformity means similarity,
unity does not. Thus, unity may or may not be based on uniformity. Unity may be
born out of uniformity. Durkheim calls this type of unity a mechanical solidarity.
We find this type of unity in tribal societies and in traditional societies. However,
unity may as well be based on differences. It is such unity, which is described by
Durkheim as organic solidarity. This type of unity characterises modern
societies.

1. Geographical unity:
India, though very large in size, possesses geographical unity with natural
boundaries. It is surrounded on one side by the great Himalayas and on the
other sides by the high seas. These natural boundaries give the land
geographical unity.

The term ‘Bharat Varshaʼ i.e, India has always referred to this vast expanse of,
the land expanding from the Himalayas in the North to the Cape Comorin in the
south and from the Brahmaputra in the East to the Indus in the West. Religious
thinkers, political philosophers, poets, statesmen and kings have always
conceived Bharat Varsha in this sense. Even today, Mother India means this vast
expanse of land.

2. Religious Unity:
India is a land of many religions. Even Hinduism is not a monolithic religion. Even
Hinduism is not a monolithic religion. There are a number of sects in it. But, in
spite of all this religious diversity, as Prof. Srinivas puts it, “the concept of unity
of India is essentially a religious one”. Hinduism, being the religion of the
majority of the people of India, provides a basis for unity.

Religious Unity of the country is expresses through the existence of pilgrimage

centres spread all over the country. Pilgrimage centres of great religious value
such as Badrinath in the north, Rameswaram in the south, Dwarika in the west
and Puri in the east eloquently speak the religious unity of this vast land of
Bharatvarsha.

There are mountains like the Himalayas and the rivers like the Ganges, Yamuna
and Godavari which are sacred for every Hindu. These centres of religious merit,
the temples, the mountains and rivers spread all over the country make every
Hindu feel that every inch of the land is sacred. That is why, devout Hindus,
even in Pre-British days, when means of transportation were little developed. To
these pilgrims language barriers, political boundaries and differences in
customs and usages were not great obstacles on their way to earn religious
merit.

3. Cultural Unity:
Indian possesses cultural unity which runs through every aspect of Indian Social
life. The fundamental approaches to philosophy, art, literature and the traditions
and customs are typically Indian in character. Social institutions like caste and
the joint family which are found throughout the length and breadth of the
country are typically Indian. Thus, for instance, the social institution of caste
provides a common cultural idiom to all Indians. The institution is so pervasive
that it cuts across even religious boundaries. Every Indian, whether he is a
Hindu, a Muslim, a Sikh, a Jain, a Buddhist or a Christian finds himself in a
universe of caste. Similar is the case with joint family. Then there are the same
rituals, samskaras and festivals which are observed all over the country very
much in a similar fashion.

4.Emotional Unity:
Finally there is an emotional bond in India that binds all the inhabitants of the
land. The very name ‘Bharatamataʼ brings all Indians emotionally closer to one
another. The institution of national awards and titles for acts of bravery, social
service, spirit of unity concerts cut across the communal, linguistic or regional
bias and evokes the feeling of emotional unity. Emotional integration of the
people as one nation is also provided through various media like Radio, TV and
the Cinema.

In India there is an under-current of unity running through the apparent

diversities of race, religion, language, custom etc. India is thus, a fine
example of unity in diversity.