Essays

The policy of divide and rule was adopted by the British in India as they wanted to manage and manipulate Indians to suit their political ends. They created a communal mind in India — Hindus, Muslims,' Christians and Sikhs lived like brothers before theI British came to India.

Three British planted the seed of separatism on the basis of language, religion and caste. Soon the Hindu beganto feel different from his Muslim neighbor and this often led to a tendency to compare each other in termsof benefits from the government.

When India earned her Independence, she was able todrive away the British but the damage done by them is almost permanent. They have managed to change the psyche of the Indian, to such an extent that even todaypeople belonging to different religions are struggling to be one up on the other.

Today the task before Indians is to unite IndiaPolitical leaders have been harping on the need fornational Integration time and again. India has been declared a secular state in which all religionsencouraged and an Indian can follow any faith that feels convinced by.

India is a country with myriad languages, cultures and religions. However, if we remain united we ‘canovercome any sort of aggression from any quartn of the world. The motto:-"united we stand, divided wefall" should always be remembered.

Unfortunately today India is burning with problemof communalism, regionalism, myltilinguism etc. Very few Indians think of themselves as Indians first .and Hindus, Muslims or Christians later. This attitude has to be discouraged.

The political leaders today have continued the policy of the British and to secure their own seats in the elections they too manipulate sections of the society to their own advantage.

They spread hatred between various communities and then support one of them as though they have become their messiahas. Communal riots have become a common feature in India today,

The countries bordering India also use this to their advantage. They support the members of any one community and try to influence them to create trouble in India. They supply arms and train some innocent Indians in terrorist activities.

They are simply using these Indians for their own motives - they cannot see India strong and prosperous. Feel threatened and want to break us byencouraging this separatist consciousness.

We as Indians need to overcome these petty differences of caste creed, religion, language and always remember that we are Indians first and last and we must be proud of our identity as Indians and not as people c belonging to a particular community in India.