Socio-Cultural Environment of India
...st doctoral level. There are more than 740,000 formal school and more than 3.6 million full time teachers. Over 175 Universities are offering under graduate and post graduate courses and about 6000 colleges affiliated to these universities. Religious Conflicts India's extraordinary diversity is often seen as its greatest strength, but religious, ethnic, and regional conflicts regularly pose significant challenges to the country's democracy. Increasing conflicts between Hindu and Muslim have caused more than 35000 people dead since 1989. Challenges to secure democracy, justice, and equality in a multicultural society become urgent and necessary in India. India is the birthplace of many religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism are all progeny of this part of our globe. But they are not the only religions that exist here. Adherents of Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism and Judaism are also to be found in India. Over countless generations there has been significant exchange of customs, traditions, beliefs, rituals, etc., between these different religions. Such an exchange is not peculiar to India and has been occurring the world over throughout the past. In India though, the existence of many religions in the same social environment created a situation favourable for such an interchange of customs and rituals. Although this interchange has been quite substantial, it has not succeeded in bringing about identity in many important respects. Communal riots are still not a thing of the past, sectarian feelings are still very much with as and there normally run counter to the spirit of nationalism and secularism. The result of this is perhaps India's having the dubious distinction of being a Secular society without a common civil code. For an appraisal of contemporary Indian society to be complete we ought to examine the nature and genesis of the different religions that exist around us, and also the extent to which they have influenced each other. To obtain an insight into every religion, we shall briefly state the history of every religion since its inception, what it has borrowed from other faiths and what it has lent to it. The culture of India can be best expressed as comprising the following: Humanity - The mildness of the Indians has continued till date, despite the aggressiveness of the Muslim conquerors and the reforming zeal of the British, the Portuguese and the Dutch. The Indians are noted for their humanness and calm nature without any harshness in their principles and ideas. Tolerance - Gandhiji’s satyagraha principle or Ahimsa - freedom without taking a drop of ...