Diverse Democracy

The world is a diverse place and contains all kinds of people from different cultures, countries, communities, etc. But in the eyes of democracy, everyone is the same. Let’s find out more about Democracy and diversity in India.

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Democracy and diversity in India

In India, democracy and diversity mean a lot. Let’s find out more about it.

• Democracy: Democracy is a system where common people elect or vote for their desired representative, candidate or a party. Here, there are no discriminations on the basis of gender, caste, creed, religion, etc. India has a democratic system.
• Diversity: In sociology and political studies, the term diversity is used to describe political entities (neighbourhoods, student bodies, etc.) with members who have identifiable differences in their cultural backgrounds or lifestyles.

The term describes differences in racial or ethnic classifications, age, gender, religion, philosophy, physical abilities, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, gender identity, intelligence, mental health, physical health, genetic attributes, behaviour, attractiveness, or other identifying features.

Diversity and Unity

Our society is a very diverse society. There is diversity in language, attire, region, religion, customs, habits, food, appearance, etc. But in spite of all these differences, we have managed to show unity.

The freedom struggle of India is one such example of the unity in diversity. That is why India is an important example of the claim that unity and diversity can co-exist.

Factors that Allow Unity in Diversity

• Religious Unity: People of different religions practice their religion without any fear and also respect one another’s religion.
• Geographical unity: The physical features of India have cut us from the rest of the world and made us feel one naturally.
• Linguistic unity:  Each state has its own language and literature. In some states, more than two languages are spoken. In India, the dialect changes every twenty kilometres. People of one language respect people speaking other languages thereby fostering unity.
• Cultural unity:  Different people from different regions look differently. They dress differently. They have different eating habits, customs, castes, creed, traditions, practices, etc. but still all of them are united since all of them are Indians. Thus, amidst diversity, there is unity among the Indians.
• Political unity: The fact that all twenty-nine states come under one constitution and follow its rule shows that there’s political unity.

Questions For You

Q1. People tend to migrate to more developed regions is an example of which inequality?

1. Political
2. Regional
3. Social
4. Linguistic

Sol: The correct answer is the option ”b”. People tend to migrate to more developed regions because of regional inequality. Most important reason for the regional disparity is that India’s different regions are endowed with different natural and human-based resources. One region supports the development of people and some do not. People migrate to the regions bestowed with greater life-supporting resources.

Q2. Feeling of togetherness or oneness towards one’s own country is called ____________.

1. National integration
2. Nazism
3. Patriotism
4. Rationalism

Sol: The correct answer is the option ”a”. Feeling of togetherness or oneness towards one’s own country is called ‘National Integration’. India is a diverse country with many languages, religions, castes, creed, etc., but there is a feeling of oneness among people.