“UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL”. The human being is a social animal and in order to increase the probability of survival the humans form groups. This is how great civilizations are being formed and the survival of the human race continues. But the groups whether small, medium or large are not free from conflicts and tensions both internal as well as external. These conflicts have a positive connotation along with a negative connotation of risking the existence of the group or society under consideration. The positive aspect of such conflicts is that it provides a necessary push to change the group`s organization, interactions, relationships etc for better adaptation to the changing environment. This will help in developing harmony within the group and would also increase the group cohesion so that the group would be able to face strongly, the impinging challenges of the dynamic environment. In the absence of such harmony and integration the chances of survival of the group in the long run, get reduced.
The need for integration of the society cannot be undermined. A society (especially a diverse society) will contain many smaller groups organized on different criteria like religion, economic, caste, political, ideological, gender, geographical etc, which creates a paradoxical situation. In such a situation there is a confusion regarding which identities are to be strengthened whether it would be the societal identity that includes all groups or the local group identities. On the face, it seems developing local group identity could create problems in the integration of the society as a whole and encouraging societal integration by highlighting national identities may prevent the local group cohesion leading to conflicts in both the cases. This is seen in many communal conflicts in which the desire to spread one`s religious ideology, considering it as superior, has precipitated clashes within different religious groups of a society. But there is also another perspective to it i.e. both the identities can be simultaneously strengthened provided the efforts are made in harmonious development of national and local identities. The efforts are to be put in the mutual resolution of conflicts in a peaceful manner. This will provide a major boost to development of social integration and communal harmony in the society.
There are many ways to create social integration and communal harmony in the society. In all the ways it’s the members of the society who has to play an important role in creation of an integrated and harmonious society. The leaders of many sub groups within the society and their followers need to take a broader perspective while enhancing their narrow group interests. The followers of different religion should develop tolerance for people of other religion and must be able to see the basic human aspect of all the religion. The development of an ability, to accept the differences with other members of larger society belonging to different groups , will go a long way in preventing communal clashes as well as boost national integration.
The role of women in this regard becomes important as they are the ones who takes the maximum responsibility of upbringing of the child during the child`s formative years of life. These early years of child`s life are crucial for the mental development (including attitudes and prejudices) of the child. Therefore it’s the women, who could develop sound mental health among children who would become the future citizens. The secular values (like tolerance, respect of others etc) inculcated in these formative years among children prove to be a deciding factor in the child`s development in later years. It also depends upon the continuous learning which the mother provides to the children throughout its initial learning stage as well as moral and emotional support from mother which makes the child feel secure, thereby reducing the tendencies of developing aggression towards other people, in the future.
The role of women in spreading communal harmony is crucial as they are the ones who get strongly affected by such clashes. The women become the substance for taking out all the frustrations from all sides. They are the major stakeholders and keen participants in spreading communal harmony in the society. The women by their soft and sympathetic influence on their men folks could also reduce their aggressive impulses against the members of other religious groups thereby creating soothing conditions for dialogue. This could lead to increase in tolerance among the men folk belonging to all religion.
The role of women as teachers also could pave the way for development of communal harmony and national integration in the society. The influence of teachers on children is very strong only next to the influence of family especially that of mothers. The value education along with scientific education both are desirable in making a future citizen who can resist pressures and temptations from various divisive groups and take decisions based upon the facts of the situation and on that of his or her own secular values rather than basing them upon narrow parochial interests of religious groups. The aim of education is to develop a scientific temper and the ability to see the situation from different perspectives. The education could also provide a check on the development of prejudices and biases among the people. Therefore the women as teachers could provide the desired education to the children for enabling them to develop as responsible citizens of the country contributing to its harmonious and integrated development.
The women as members of small groups (like Self Help Groups) are creating conditions in which their influence is increasing as they are getting economically empowered. Further since the women are higher in religious tolerance than men, therefore these small groups are providing platforms for intermingling of members of different religions, castes, communities etc. There is also an economic motive for bringing in women of different religions together under one group as the economic viability of the situation demands it. Thus economic conditions take precedence over religious prejudices making them irrelevant in other spheres of life as well. This directly helps in spreading of communal harmony in the society. It also encourages the men folk to organize themselves on similar lines for their economic growth instead of blindly following religious leaders who might have a vested interest in creating an environment of hatred against the members of other religion, thereby directing the energies of followers in violence and aggression to further his interests. An example of a village in Uttar Pradesh can be taken in which a self help group of women is involved in producing embrodried caps which the Muslim people wears during their Namaaz. The women of that self help group belong to both Hindus and Muslim communities. Thus it provides a platform for cooperation between different religious communities.
The political empowerment of women would also help in creation of conditions of communal harmony, thereby providing boost to national integration efforts. The women have mostly been at a subordinate position in the society. They demand equality of opportunity as well as status. The political empowerment of the women in local self government has helped in enhancing their social status. Their self esteem has also risen as now the women are to participate in decision making for their development. The women would not want to handover this enhanced power to narrow religious interests instead they would like to use it for the development of themselves. The woman in general has a welfaristic tendency which will guide their use of political power in the direction of growth and development. Thus women empowerment will prevent the growth of religious prejudices and enhance the communal harmony within the communities leading to social integration of the society.
For the social integration of a society, the communal harmony in the society is a necessary condition. It may not be a sufficient condition as there might be conflicts (like class, race, gender, geographical etc) other than communal conflicts that may arise and dent the social fabric of the nation. The women also play an important role in resolving various other types of conflicts which endanger the social integration and could lead to balkanization of society. The different roles which the women play in creating communal harmony are that of a mother, teacher, wife, friend, executive, member of self help group etc. The women can play similar as well as other different roles in resolving newer conflicts thereby contributing to the national integration.
The women directly influence the future generations of any society through their everlasting influence on the children in their crucial formative years. The mothers are the first school of children for inculcation of social values of the society and for giving the direction of growth and development of the child. The inculcation of attributes of national character among children will develop citizens who are better integrated in the social fabric of the nation, thereby strengthening the national integration. Thus the women play a multifaceted and comprehensive role in creating communal harmony and national integration.
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