Equality For All

 Equality
For All 

We have all been living in a world of conspiracies and compromises. This world always had some differences and especially among those who consider themselves as minorities for a particular time or region. There were revolutions to improve the conditions of so-called 'minorities.' But still, in the 21st century, humans have not granted the same rights to all those who they seem to be socially, racially, spiritually or influentially inferior. The UN (United Nations) charter provides all people with some basic and inalienable rights. These can't be enforced forcefully but should be safeguarded by everyone.

What History Says?

The world has always been against some of the people that were separated from others based on many grounds such as religion, caste, gender, colour etc. There were many revolutions for the upbringing of these people. Some effects and the vital role of these revolutions form a skeletal part of the constitution of their respective countries. Some are discussed below.

1. The French Revolution in France first set up a constitutional Monarchy in 1791 and then democracy in 1793. Still, women were not given the same rights as men. They got the right to vote in 1946.
2. The Russian Revolution showed a different type of socialism and even its demerits. Lenin had established one-party rule in Russia. But all the people were socialised and everyone was considered equal. Private lands were distributed to the people.
3. Nazism in Germany was particularly oppressive for the people who were termed as 'undesirables' by Hitler. Jews, Poles, Gypsies and handicapped were murdered in large numbers to keep the country spiritually servile. Hitler believed in Racism and meant the Aryan race to be the best of all. He wanted these people to be multiplied. 
4. Indian history shows that Indians were divided into disparate groups. Although they were discriminated in the past, the conditions in the present are much better.

These instances show us that the past has been burdensome for many people. The conditions today are much better but they are not perfect.

Discriminating Grounds

1. Gender

This discriminating ground is one of those which had endured for more than 1000 years and still, the situation is not perfectly solved. This type of discrimination persists in remote areas, rural areas, undeveloped part of urban areas and even in some developed countries. The Constitution provides basic rights to all but people do not accept gender equality mentally and is not practised socially. This is a reason why the male to female ratio in the world is 105 males: 100 females according to 2019 Census.

Women had been struggling for centuries and today they have been accepted as an integral part of society. There has been a reduction in female infanticide and social equality is broadening the minds of people. This is a significant increase and this type of discrimination would not exist for more than 10 years from now (My Opinion). 

2. Caste   

This type of discrimination is about to eliminate from human society but still, it is practised in many sections. As we saw in the case of Hitler, he considered the race and the caste of Nordic German Aryans superior to others. He murdered inferior races and castes innumerably. His crimes were considered against humanity. 

Similarly, Indian History was not so much oppressive for the lower castes but they were mainly recognised as a curse. It was divided into four sections- Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Today, the Indian Constitution guarantees these all sections the same rights. 

Although the Caste System has been eliminated from major parts of the world, it breathes in the minds of some narrow-minded people. One solution to this is awareness and which is probably the solution for most of the quandaries and predicaments.

3. Religion

Personally, what I think is that  Religion is a type of discrimination that is capable of dividing people on a large scale. People have bias among themselves on the grounds of religion. Religious tolerance is also accepted by the constitution but people do not accept this mentally and socially. One term related to this is secularism. This means that a country which does not give special privilege to a specific religion is considered secular. A secular country looks over the meetings of only humans and not humans and god. Decisions are not made on the grounds of religion. 
Even though the majority of countries in this world are secular, the minor religions in a specific country are mostly discriminated by the narrow mindset of some selfish people. We can confirm this fact from the macabre instances that occurred in Kosovo. This country was ruled by Ethnic Albanians though they were minorities. This was not accepted by the majority of people in the country who were Serbs. In course of events that followed, a narrow-minded Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic got elected to the chair. He believed in the fact that either Albanians should leave the country or accept the majority rule of Serbs. For this, he massacred the Albanians indiscriminately at a large scale. He was then forced out of power for his crimes against humanity. He was then presented before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
This instance manifests that if religious intolerance is practised on a large scale, it can lead to massacres and that's the reason why this discrimination appears me a way of separating people and not reuniting them again.

What Do People Say? And My Personal Opinion

People generally have very oppressive views for the people of other religions. As an Indian, I see that Muslims and some other minority groups are being discriminated by the people of the majority religion in many ways. Some people, very close to me, consider Muslims as terrorists. They defend their ideas by saying that Syria and Iran have Muslims who believe in extremist thinking. Then I answer these people by telling them to look for those who are their countrymen. I do not oppose the people of Syria and Iran. Not everyone is bad in society nor everyone is good. I want to answer to all those who think some of the religions to be against their respective ones. One cannot discriminate on this basis and this is not less than any crime. Many of the constitutions of the democratic countries start with "WE THE PEOPLE OF x country".  This means that the country is united in its diversity. In my opinion countries like India should be proud of their diversities. Not every country is blessed with such kind of diversities as India is and we should be proud of this phenomenon. If all the religions and castes live together peacefully, there is no denying the fact that the foreign influences which any country faces will diminish. By this article, I want to appeal to all to broaden their mind and do not close it in the name of religion. If everyone is equal under uniforms and clothes, then how can they be different. All the religious books never told us to fight against each other, then how can we change these laws of nature? None of the religious books promotes social inequality and communal intolerance. These were my point of views and I want everyone to think over this matter. None of us is directly affected by this but society is certainly.

CONCLUSION

After all this explanation and keeping my points in mind, I just come to the conclusion that discrimination on any ground is a crime. I only discussed three Discriminating grounds but there are more. One of them is racism which is one of those things that trouble South Africa a lot and had been playing a vital role in their history. 
These days these cases have been increasing on a large scale. Coronavirus or SARS-COV-2 has shown that everyone is equal. It has united almost the whole world. It strikes everyone equally without any discrimination. It has no boundaries. It does not attack people based on religion, caste or gender. 
I am not writing this article to change anyone's perception. You should do the things you believe in. My motive for writing this article is to make you think over your tenets or beliefs. Just think that if your practice is violating anyone other's life. I personally don't want people to spread hatred amongst some people based on any grounds except the conditions determined by the law. If you want to extend this topic or you believe something else, you are free to write them in the comments.


Still, we may think some people are different from us. They may belong to a different country, or speak a different language. In this poem, however, the poet reminds us of the many ways in which we are all the same — for we are all human.



Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign
Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes
Like ours: the land our brothers walk upon
Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie.

They, too, aware of sun and air and water,
Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war’s long winter starv’d.
Their hands are ours, and in their lines, we read
A labour not different from our own.

Remember they have eyes like ours that wake
Or sleep, and strength that can be won
By love. In every land is a common life
That all can recognise and understand.

Let us remember, whenever we are told
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn.
Remember, we who take arms against each other

It is the human earth that we defile.
Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence
Of air that is everywhere our own,
Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange.

- James Kirkup

This poem really sees everyone equal and tells us that no countries are foreign. Here are another two lines from an extract written by me that tells us that every religion is equal and all of us shall unite to work for the welfare of the country.

मंदिर-मस्जिद एक करो
इसके लिए मत लड़ो

इस देश के लिए कुछ अच्छा करना है, 
इस ज़िद्द पर तुम अड़ो

I hope you would think over. Please don't spread hatred amongst anyone. Thank You. Be safe and Be tuned.