‘Idea of homogeneous nation problematic’

Amid the raging controversy over the Sangh Parivar’s Hindutva agenda, Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Sunday cautioned against connecting faith with history and propagating a “homogeneous” national identity when there were over 4,600 communities in the country.

“Our 4,635 communities, according to the Anthropological Survey of India, is a terse reminder of the care that needs to be taken while putting together the profile of a national identity,” Mr. Ansari said while inaugurating the 75th session of the Indian History Congress at Jawaharlal Nehru University here.

“The global scene in modern times has been replete with complexities and tensions of what has been called the national question. We live in a world of nation-states but the idea of a homogeneous nation-state is clearly problematic. Diversity is identifiable even in the most homogeneous of societies today,” he said.

Warning against any straight-jacket edifice for national identity “that came to grief” in other societies, Mr. Ansari said the pluralist structures in India that had stood the test for over six decades needed “constant nurturing.” — PTI