ence of the nascent liberal-democratic ethos that needed careful centralized nurturing.

Education should be a strictly federal subject – with rationalism forming its main ingredient. This approach alone can beat back the tide of fundamentalism currently sweeping our socio-political scenario. Moreover, let’s not sanitize history or give it a slant expedient to the political party in power. History as handmaiden of political expediency can be an explosive proposition. Teachers must boldly elucidate the palatable and not-so-palatable aspects relating to all cultures and eras of history. This confronting of harsh realities is bound to promote a more mature understanding of the dynamics of cultural interaction.

Once students learn to practice multiculturalism, they can be trusted to develop a secular outlook as citizens. This is possible if, at the college and university level, rationalism becomes the norm for all intellectual pursuits. Instead of discouraging young scholars from being inquisitive it’d be more fruitful to encourage them to question and examine all existing canons – academic, political, theological or otherwise. All attempts at intellectual esotericism and withholding of information should be thwarted. Their spirit of inquiry should be so robust as to not accept dogmas or theses at face value but rigorously investigate, test and validate these. Rational ethos developed in campus is bound to translate into a more vibrant and enlightened society.

This spirit of scientific inquiry can evolve a culture wherein our political leaders will come under the scanner. The TINA factor that’s been responsible in subverting our politico-administrative culture and institutions will simply disappear. If only our voters were educated enough, perhaps they wouldn’t have been repeatedly fooled into voting for candidates on the basis of caste and creed by ignoring merit. The chances of having the extant quasi-feudalistic ruling families – both at the centre and the states – would’ve been nil.

Identity is essential to an individual for various socio-psychological reasons. But it’s not a static concept; it changes as one evolves. Today the traditional caste structure has become irrelevant to the vocation one chooses. If rationalism prevails, even religious and linguistic identities will become redundant. Eventually, one might well see the emergence of an all-India identity in its most genuine form. The next logical step in our collective evolution as a nation would be global citizenship based on the ideals of secularism, peace and progress.

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