Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of a first class compartment at Pietermaritzburg railway station in 1893 and Muhammad Ali threw his gold medal into the Ohio river as he exited a restaurant on his way from the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. Who was behind these?
RACISM. It is a monster and perhaps the only creature that fears no death despite living for sixty thousand years or even more. It is not a native of a country or a state but a resident in every part of the world .Ironically, its very existence is illogical, ridiculous , bears no scientific explanation and is purely a man-made creation that unfurls substantial hate even today, when science and technology has advanced so much. Is this not a tragedy? Yes, it is crystal clear that such growth and development can only feed a society’s material needs. So it is not very astonishing to hear the works of this monster in super-powered countries like The United States, where a black man named George Floyd was brutally killed by police officers in 2020 ; or in a small landlocked country like Rwanda, where nearly eighty thousand people were slaughtered in just ten days due to the conflict between two races in 1994.Has this monster not invaded India? Sadly, I found that its role is remarkable here as Indians are divided into more than four thousand castes due to a hierarchical system called ‘Varnashrama'.
So, Racism thrives everywhere in every arena: education, commerce , employment, housing , travelling etc. It even threatens the lives of many by subjecting them to physical assaults and excessive mental stress for a reason, rationale fails to understand.
As I pondered over it , I realized that division based on religion, language or nationality is natural and sometimes unavoidable but something like Racism, intended to dominate others on the basis of birth is certainly a product of man's pride, selfishness and arrogance. It cannot be justified whatsoever as it is not a man's mistake to be born a particular way. Rather it is the Omnipotent's choice. Further, internal structure, needs and instincts of all human beings are the same and thereby one is compelled to acknowledge that human beings are divided into tribes and nations so that they identify each other. Therefore all are born equal and this monster or the vice of humans must vanish once and for all.
But how? By laws? Interestingly , India has introduced a number of laws like The Untouchability Offences Act 1955, The Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 and so on. Such acts can only control the problems caused by it to some extent and not the problem itself. The solution, as the monster's history says can be learnt from Prophet Muhammad's era where the Arab society was revolutionised by propagating ‘One God, One Ancestor and One Community.’
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” - James Baldwin
As much as human rights extends to everyone, it is everyone's duty to march forward and conquer the monster with valiance. The spirit of equality must breathe everywhere and it can do so by spreading awareness and most importantly by treating everyone equally - in terms of rights and opportunities be it in school, office or especially in homes, where the onus of parents in inculcating the idea of ‘Oneness of Mankind' cannot be forgotten.
It is high time that we all unite to remove this social barrier. Good bye Racism. Countdown for your death begins!
Author: Azra T (Associate, GIO Chennai)
Pic. Credits: Google
Date: 31st March, 2021.
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