CHENNAI: National Human Rights Commission chairman Justice V Ramasubramanian stressed the need to inculcate the sense of being human in future generations so that they can live in harmony, while speaking at the launch of ‘Unity India’, a national forum for communal harmony, at CPR Convention Centre on Saturday.
“The nation belongs to the future and it has to be told to our children that unity is inherent in human creation and how it deviated from there,” he said, quoting the Tamil song, “Iraivan irukkindraanaa Manidhan ketkiraan. Manidhan irukkindraanaa Iraivan ketkiraan.”
“Unless you are a human being, you can never be an Indian, Christian, Muslim, or Hindu,” he remarked. Ramasubramanian noted that true unity does not require unanimity, as differences exist even in small groups.
A Faizur Rahman, secretary general of the Islamic Forum for the Promotion of Moderate Thought, cited the survey ‘What Can Improve Democracy?’ by the Pew Research Centre, which gathered responses from over 30,000 people across 24 countries. The survey highlighted that the top five priorities for Indians in strengthening democracy were economic reforms, better policies and legislation, better politicians, government reforms, and more responsible citizens who care about others.
This indicates that Indian expectations for improving democracy are shaped by governance and economic factors rather than religious differences.
He noted that, in reality, Hindus and Muslims live together in harmony, but political interests seek to polarise them.
Irshad Mecca from Moderate Thought and Justice N L Rajah highlighted how social media algorithms fuel hatred against communal harmony. Justice P N Prakash stated that politicians and priests are mafias of the soul. The speakers urged politicians to refrain from disrupting unity by exploiting religion for political gain.