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Showing posts from December 22, 2019

Identity politics and me

We live in a context where, identity-based politics has become the norm of the day. Various divides are being perpetuated using these identities, primarily for political and other gains. And all are in some way or other caught up in this, if not today, likely to be caught up tomorrow. Identities based on people groups and caste is something we have grown up with as part of our life in our nation. This dates much before the idea of India, when we were multiple language and people groups-based kingdoms and communities, a history and culture deeply ingrained in us. Even the christian community that I am part of, which prides itself in its teaching of being caste-less, hold on to caste and people group identity. The geography-based identity is yet another aspect of our life in India. The “Madrasi” or South India community vs the North, the North vs North Eastern communities, the pahadias vs the plains people, the rural vs the urban and many such other identities by which we label