People
& Their Problems
New Delhi, 27 October 2018
Equality In 21st Century
NEED TO ACCEPT DIVERSITY
By Sagarneel Sinha
We often boast of
living in the most modern era, where the gap between an individual and the
world has reduced greatly. Although, whenever we turn on news channels or read
newspapers or go through social media, we often encounter news highlighting
inequality -- views based on colour, creed, nationality, status, money, dress
et al. This is the bitter truth that equality still remains a significant issue
in this century.
The question is --
how to achieve equality? Is it really possible? To get the results we desire,
actions are necessary. So, without pondering whether achieving equality is
possible or not, we should give thought to what to do regarding it.
Equality comes
through unity. In today's era, unity is measured through money or economy --
like the European Union. However, today the concept is facing heat from voices
within the continent itself. Already, the Britons had pressed the button of
exit from the Union and the final process of divorce is to be completed by
2019. Today, there is a new war -- the trade war amongst countries to emerge as
the strongest leader to control the global economy.
Besides money, creed
too acts as the measurable instrument for equality. The modern trends across
the globe show how natives are turning hostile to the newcomers and this
hostility is giving rise to narrow minded populist political movements. Also
the proxy wars among the powerful nations that are fought in another country --
resulting in food crisis, destruction of homes and markets and forcing people
to leave their homeland, are raising concerns with regard to humanity.
This apart, societies
refuse to mingle with the newcomers or the “foreigners”. As a result, the
people who have to leave their homes fail to find shelter in other countries.
If the government of any country does provide shelter, the dispensation rather
starts to lose its base, as witnessed globally, which forces the pro-refugee
government to take an anti-refugee or a balanced stand. That’s why there are
frequent stories of an “alien” person facing injustice where equality is for
individuals belonging to a particular faith and not for others.
So, where is unity?
Nowhere! No unity means -- there cannot be equality. Pain, wounds and the
devastation left by the two World wars of the last century still haunt the
dreams of humanity on this planet. Constitutional bodies constituted after the World
War II though at least have been successful in preventing a third world war,
but failed to control the civil wars within countries, which continue to
shatter the lives of humans and the nature.
Equality comes
through unity and unity comes through acceptance. The nature is full of
diversity. Or, in a better way, it can be said that the true quality of nature
is diversity. Every individual on this earth has a distinct thought. This
diversity has to be accepted. Without recognising the diversity of the nature,
thinking on equality serves no purpose. Obviously, sometimes the ideas are so diverse,
that these can't be implemented together for solving a problem.
However, there is
always a path -- the path of dialogue or discussion. Just like the rivers
coming out from the mountains flowing through their own paths mingle with each
other to give birth to a large river which later unites with the vast sea,
similarly there are chances that discussions may give rise to a new better
thought -- a combination of many thoughts.
But one major concern
is that we often pretend to revere an individual or a society or a creed or a
race. However, these honours are often done only to expand our own needs, which
may be political or business or to raise our own stature. As the reverence is
for our own benefits and not actually a respect for the others, the root cause
of the issue remains unsolved-- only to cause more troubles in the times to
come. Therefore, the acceptance of plurality shouldn't be guided by mere
opportunism but should be genuine.
In the current era,
we are much interested in debates rather than having discussions. We may agree
or disagree, but at least we can have the tolerance to listen to other views, without
giving the labels of right or wrong. Only then we can have leastways an idea of
the other. With regard to debates, the individual is much more concentrated on his/her
own ideas.
An individual’s
approach is — “I am the best” and “I am the solution”. Such reflections fail to
provide any concrete clue. Rather, proper discussions are needed to be
encouraged which should concentrate on the thought: “I am one of the best” and
“I am not the only solution, and so you are”. When the individual has the
opinion that “I am not the only solution”, means he (she) is willing to pay
attention to others’ views or may even later be ready to embrace these.
In such a situation,
there are chances of a better solution. For example when we prepare lemon
water, we add sugar, salt and drops of lemon juice to water and mix them
together. Sugar and salt are poles apart in their taste. Similarly, the taste
of lemon juice too is very different. But when all these ingredients are mixed,
they produce lemon water, a very healthy drink. Similarly, when we listen to the
other, the latter too would be keen to listen to us. In such a situation, often
there’s always a possibility of a solution -- mayn’t be a perfect one but not
absolutely faulty either.
Yet, we are not
interested to pay attention to others, as our priority is only to debate and
win it. Obviously, when our motive for discussion is only to defeat the other,
we end up exchanging confronting views, which actually have nothing to do with
equality. This is the actual hindrance, which the world is unable to remove
coming in the path of achieving equality.
So, first of all our
approach should be towards a proper discussion. Problems are a part of this
nature arising due to diversity and these can be solved only when there is an
acceptance of it in our own minds. The new perception of today's world should
be: “I am a solution and you too are a solution.” This idea should be our motto
when we exchange views about equality in the 21st century. The end result is
not in our hands, but the least we can do is to try to do some good for
achieving equality by accepting the truth of diversity. ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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