The Limits of Multiculturalism: Some Considerations on the Indian Experience
- Professor Gurpreet Mahajan
- Sep 21, 2015
- 2 min read
India gained independence under the shadow of the partition of the country and mass transfer of populations in which millions of people were killed and many more displaced and rendered homeless. In such a situation the leadership could easily have pushed for the dominance of the religious majority [the Hindus] in the public domain. Yet, despite the pressures, they walked down a different path. They made an effort to involve members from different religious communities and other marginalized sections, in the process of framing the Constitution of independent India and constructed a system that recognized and valued religious and cultural diversity. The latt
er, they believed, was both possible and desirable; after all this had been the distinctive identity of India for thousands of years.
The framers of the Indian Constitution did not offer a systematic theory of multiculturalism nor did they offer reasons for valuing cultural diversity. They gave shape to a framework in which all persons, and all religious communities, could be treated alike, given the same degree of religious liberty and opportunity to grow, nurture and protect their culture. The democratic structure that emerged made space for the individual as well as religious and cultural communities.
The Indian experience has shown that the presence of differences need not be perceived as ‘threatening’ to one’s national identity or the sense of unity and commonality. On the contrary, the visibility of cultural and religious differences in the public arena can be a source of strength, encouraging and fostering a sense of belonging to the nation. The challenge however is, and continues to be, the ability to balance and make space for individual liberty while simultaneously protecting cultural diversity.
All too often the Indian state has tilted in favor of the community and acted to restrict the liberty of the individual. The pursuit of religious and cultural diversity always has the danger of restricting the space for the expression of individual autonomy. Multicultural theories have to be alert to this possibility without lapsing into the contrary error of eclipsing the space for religious and cultural differences. The paper identified ways in which India has grappled with this challenge and the limited success it has had in finding that critical balance.
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