We- the Bigots

“We –The Bigots”

We are a diverse country. With over 92 different living languages, and countless different ethnicity and religion we have a wide variety of culture and people. However, only few individuals from the minority communities take part in policy formation and decision making at the government level. The government and bureaucracy are filled with people from either the Bahun or the Chetri community. They have dominated politics, army, bureaucracy, education and most of the other institutions.
However, over the past few years the political awareness of the masses has increased by a significant level. The oppressed have begun to raise their voices. The government and people in general cannot ignore the fundamental ethnic polarization in our culture for long. The issue needs to be addressed. I am not talking about addressing the issue at the government and bureaucratic level. With the increase of political power of the minorities, especially the Madhesi community, I am sure at the government level some improvement will come. But I wonder whether or not we as citizens are ready for intelligent and meaningful debates about letting our bigotry go.
A Madhesi should not have to undergo the humiliating treatment, and stereotyping he/she has been subject to in the past. They should not have racial slurs hurled at them for something they have no control over. A Pahadi in Tarai should have the right to live without harassment. It’s the 21st century and we are still categorizing people based on ascriptive characteristics. And this is being done not only by people who are uninformed and uneducated, but disappointingly by people who we are hoping will change the way our country is. The youth all over the country is still engaging in what they so loudly preach against. So how are we to change a system in whose formation we all are equally and presently guilty.
For this type of bigotry to end we must engage the civilian population in meaningful conversation. We have to inculcate the idea of equality and anti-discrimination in our educational and social system. Educated youth must challenge the bigotry of the past. Are we going to build a nation where we hate and hold prejudices based on our skin tone and accent? Is that what we want to leave behind for our children? A messed up country with so many unresolved issues, like the one we have inherited, courtesy our unquestioning forefathers.
We all think everyone should be equal (at least I hope we all do), then why not practice what we preach. It’s not that difficult. Engage someone who is being a bigot in a conversation, ask them for their logic. Stop your friends when they pass a racist judgment. Talk to people, friends from different backgrounds, about the situation and work with them and through them to make a difference. Question your parents, teach them, and learn from them. Change does not come from sitting on our fat and lazy posteriors and complaining, it comes from active engagement and debate. And if and when you debate remember what Aristotle so wisely said, “The end result of a debate should not be victory but wisdom”.