Inclusivism Vs Colonialism…
Ever wondered about the thin line between inclusivism and colonialism? How unconditional acceptance in the name of liberalism slowly leads to the decline of a civilization. I am no history expert. Honestly, I hated the subject when in school. So, I was this naïve advocate for liberalism, a world without borders and all things that sounded idealistic and moralistic in front of a pseudo-woke crowd.
This is until I started following a little more of history to understand the events that led us to where we are today. Do not get me wrong, I am still an advocate for inclusiveness and Vasudeva kutumbakam(the world is one family), however it would be slightly juvenile to think that everybody else in the world thinks for your country and the civilizations around the world in the same way that you do. It would hence be essential to differentiate what constitutes inclusivism and what borders on colonialism.
If I were to choose to visit or work or live in a country other than my own, it is but decency that I respect the laws, culture and civilizational history of the place. I will be allowed to earn, prosper, be protected and respected there. To me that is inclusivism.
However, if I enter a country with the aim to convert everybody as per my ideology, my likes and dislikes, my religion and my belief system even if it isn’t outright plunder and however subtly it is done, it still isn’t inclusivism anymore. That is laying the seeds of what is termed ‘neo-colonialism’. Obviously, I am not saying certain changes shouldn’t occur with time. I do believe certain archaic laws violating human rights should change. However, as a prominent leader stated “ Change always has to start from within the country not imposed from outside.” The native or the indigenous people have to feel the need for change not the foreign occupiers. It is not somebody else’s business to alter the cultural demographics of a country as in Westernize/Christianize/Communize/Islamize/Indianize them.
You can have a healthy cultural exchange, practice your religion in peace without wanting everyone around you to ape your practices or follow your ideology. It is the same as me visiting a Muslim household to celebrate Eid or they visiting my house for Onam or celebrating Christmas together without wanting to forcibly convert each other. Appreciation not enforcement is the idea.
Uniformity is a myth. The world has never been uniform since the dawn of civilization. That is probably what makes the world so much more enticing. The appreciation and exchange of cultures. When someone asks me what I like the most about my country, I always say it is diversity irrespective of how cliched it sounds. The very fact that I can travel to a different state and feel like I have changed countries with respect to how people look, dress, behave and practice culturally makes my heart happy. You cannot speak of humanitarianism when you cannot truly accept people for how they really are. When you live with a superiority complex that somehow your religious and cultural practices are better and everybody else’s needs an overhaul, beats the very meaning and essence of the word.
Building better infrastructure, technologically advancing a civilization are all welcome changes contrary to just plundering a country and extracting resources out of it. The Manipur incident in my country got me thinking. It is criminally wrong for a country like India to term anybody a minority here. It is fascist countries that need terminologies like ‘minority communities’ or ‘minority rights’ where people need to fight for their rights, not India where even the majority lives in constant fear of offending the so called minority. They have to think twice before having an honest opinion on matters lest they infringe upon someone’s perceived lack of socialism and secularism.
As a historian rightly noted, the terms like ‘Scheduled Tribes/Scheduled Castes’ were colonial impositions because the invaders couldn’t understand the indigenous people, the various clans, their religious and cultural practices and clubbed them all under one umbrella of ‘Scheduled Tribes’. We blindly followed suit since during the transfer of power, we didn’t know any better.
Sadly, most of us remain mentally colonized till date. Every time this topic comes up, it raises eyebrows if you have an unpopular opinion in the matter. People do speak but in hushed overtones behind closed doors. I choose to be vociferous about the same because unnecessary divisive terminologies only divide us further.
