GOOD WORD!

Ram Puniyani - a Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Powai – was pensive. Apart from his teaching and research activities, Ram pursued a parallel track concerned with issues related to social problems, particularly the ones related to preservation of democratic and secular ethos in the country. His European friend who had come-a-visiting noticed his distress and inquired about the cause for his sadness. Ram held out the day’s newspapers and said that he was disturbed by the “communal” incidents in the country.

“Why should “communal” incidents worry you?” the European asked, “communal activities are always welcome”. Their further exchanges and ensuing debate established a serious divergence in what they meant by the word “communal. Ram obviously was talking about oppressive tendencies and actions based on religious fundamentalism and fascism. His friend from across the continent had a totally different meaning of communalism as a word that spoke of a force uniting people into a community.

In most parts of the western world, the word is a modern term that describes a broad range of social movements and social theories which centred on the community. It is about putting the interests of the community above the interests of the individual, and this is done on the principle that the community exists for the benefit of the individuals who participate in it, so the best way to serve the interests of the individual is through the interests of the community. Communalism is also associated with various branches of socialism. The term "communalism" is often used instead of "communism" to denote those communal societies that are not based on Marxism.

However in South Asia the word “communalism” has only negative connotations. The word is used dark shades to denote a force separating different communities based on some form of social or sectarian discrimination. Ram Punyani, who was down in Goa last month, shared the irony of how we have allowed an originally positive word to become part of a dreaded vocabulary.

Mere unlearning of the wrong meaning will not suffice… We need to first explore the dimensions of deep prejudices and negative perceptions based on religion, race, caste, gender and language. We must challenge divisive arguments and develop new dimensions that embrace humane values in our behaviour and talk, too... Only then we will be able to worthy of using the word “communalism” in its rightful context.

“Let’s unlearn the depraved context of the word ‘communalism’
‘Develop new dimensions’ to actualise the principles of humanism!”

Regards
Pravin