By Justice Markandey Katju
I was deeply sad that in Manipur, and even in Delhi, there have been fights between Meiteis and Kukis.
I have repeatedly been saying that at the present historical juncture what is most critically required is unity between all religious/caste/lingual/racial/and ethnic groups in India.
Let me explain why this unity is so important.
Our national goal must be to rapidly industrialise and modernise India, for only then can we abolish the curse of poverty, unemployment, child malnourishment, lack of proper healthcare and good education, etc.
To attain this objective has 3 requirements (1) a huge pool of technical talent (2) huge natural resources, and (3) unity among our people.
We already have the first two. We have thousands of bright scientists, engineers, technicians, managers, etc. Our IT engineers are largely manning Silicon Valley in California, and American Universities have many Indian Professors in Science, Engineering, Mathematics, etc. Also, India is a huge country, almost a continent, with abundant natural resources.
But we lack the third viz unity among of our people, and without it we can never attain our goal, and will remain condemned to poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, etc.
Hence those who spread hatred and disunity among our people are the real anti-nationals, and must be opposed by all patriots.
I appeal to Meiteis and Kukis to understand that they are brothers and sisters. Instead of fighting each other they should help each other. Divide and rule is the policy of our enemies.
In the Shantiparva of Mahabharat, Bheeshma Pitamah tells Yudhishthir :
“Bhedey ganaa vinashyanti bhinnaastu sujayaah paraih
Tasmaat sanghyaatayegen prayateran ganaah sada “
i.e.
“Republics have been destroyed only because of internal divisions
among its people.
It is only when there are internal divisions among the people that
an enemy can destroy it.
Hence a Republic should always try to achieve unity and good
relations among its people “
( Shantiparva of Mahabharata, Chapter 107/108, shloka 14 ).
I make it clear that unity does not mean that people have to give up their own religion, language or culture. They may retain them, and yet be united, if instead of hostility there is amity and brotherhood.
A garden is beautiful because it has flowers of different colours. It would not look beautiful if it had flowers of only one colour.
Diversity is a rule of nature. No two individuals are alike in every respect, no even identical twins. In fact even a single individual has diversity within himself. Sometimes he thinks or behaves in one way, and at other times in other ways.
USA has become the most powerful and prosperous country in the world, and one of the reasons for this was its great diversity. People from all over the world, Europeans, Asians, Africans and Latin Americans have come here, having different religions, customs, languages, ethnicity, etc, and made it their home. But far from creating obstacles to progress, this diversity has greatly accelerated it, since each group of immigrants brought their own technical skills and knowledge, and when these were pooled together there was rapid advance.
Similarly, India’s tremendous diversity can be a great asset, instead of being a liability, provided there are good and friendly relations between all, instead of hostility. The real ani-nationals are therefore those who try to polarise society and create hatred and hostility between our people.
