Pluralism tops in India, says UNDP report
[ Thursday, July 15, 2004 10:14:39 pmTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NEW DELHI: The latest report card for the planet is just out. The news for India
is mixed. The bad news is that India continues to languish in the Human
Development Index (HDI) rankings at 127 out of 177 countries, unchanged from
last year, according to the Human Development Report 2004 released on Thursday.
The good news is that India's performance in terms of preserving the cultural
freedom of its diverse population is impressive even when compared with
long-standing and wealthier democracies. The report which has "Cultural
Liberty in Today's Diverse World" as its theme, highlights India as a
successful example of a diverse and highly stratified country.
However, even the good news comes with a catch — a warning about the need to
reinvigorate India's commitment to practices of pluralism and conflict
resolution in the future, given the recent record. The record being referred to
includes the Gujarat incidents of 2002 and the "rise of groups that seek to
impose a singular Hindu identity on the country". The HDR points out in
this context that 36.2% of all casualties in India in communal clashes since
1954 have occurred between 1990 and 2002.
The HDR also takes specific note of the debate on building a uniform civil code
in India. While recognizing the desirability of such a development, the report
warns that "implementing equality is not the same as implementing
uniformity" and advocates an internal reform of all customary laws rather
than imposing identical laws across communities.
[Times Of India, Thursday, July 15, 2004]