Ethical Nationalism of India - Another Social Reform
Movement
Introduction - Need for another social reform movement
Introduction - Need for another social reform movement
The social issues of our nation is very much
extended and we must understand the ramification which can cause in the future
affecting the generations that yet to come. The issues are not ideal in
nature but imbued with the various characteristics of our heterogeneous nation.
These are tailor made issues which are different among nation-states. The
evolutionary path of India after 1947, when self government was realized is
largely indifferent in terms of any expected administrative reforms. However plight
of the citizen has been improving in snail speed since then but it is not in
synchronous with the momentum of economic and strategic growth of our nation.
Such an imbalance may create a situation in which majority of the citizens in
future will be treated as burden, not as an asset. Poverty, crime and violence
towards women, child and minorities, corruption, internal security issues,
social backwardness like inequality, discrimination, alcoholism and drug use
are name a few from the prevailing social issues in our country. Despite all
the efforts of Government, the holistic development is still far away from the
main stream. Here comes the importance of imparting moral and ethical education
to our brothers and sisters.
Concept of Ethical
Nationalism in India and social issues
We have seen so many
kind of nationalism throughout in the Indian History like cultural nationalism,
political nationalism, economic nationalism etc. Obviously the various aspects
of nationalism helped India to assemble and achieve together the goal at
national level for a common big issue, Imperialism. So what is required for the
contemporary social issues which pull the society from the mainstream? Social
development which subsumed all other nationalism has to be read in conjunction
with "ethical nationalism" for the practical elimination of the
constraints in our society. The term ethical connotes moral principles that
guide a person’s righteous behavior has to be emerged as one of the pillars of
social development. And ethical nationalism refers to the great philosophical
ethical culture of India include vedas, Upanishads, teachings of Buddha and
Mahavira, moral understanding of scriptures of all religions. India is the
Spiritual Capital of the world where co-exists various religions together in
mutual harmony and holds the moral principles which emphasized in all religious
scriptures. This make us understand in having an ethical nationalism which was
missed out way back in the history when the interpretation of scriptures taken
in other way. The concept ethical nationalism is different from Spiritual
nationalism, infact, the former needs more attention on moral and righteous
behavior of an individual. Here the term Ethical nationalism is to be
popularized by spreading the ethical consciousness among the public through the
knowledge infrastructure, NGOs and various other Civil society organizations of
the country. The crux of ethical nationalism is such a consciousness among the
public may exclude ones possibility of slipping into unethical ways and means.
Thus ethical nationalism will unify our diverse plural society into a
commonness feeling that will safeguard the society for a long run. Spread of
ethical nationalism can be done with nurturing good quality education.
What can be done to promote
ethical nationalism?
Performance of a nation
depends on the effective use of its resources and resources to be used
effectively with the help of good and positive thoughts. And such a thought can
be delivered only by means of the knowledge framework of the nation. Imparting knowledge to the society is similar
with the parting of ignorance from the society. A good teacher makes so many
good students. As in the World Bank report, teacher-student ratio of India is
35 during 2011. So ideally, one good teacher generates 35 good citizens which
inturn spreads ethical consciousness to their surroundings. The ratio is 35
times effective it means. If a replacement of a inept teacher with an efficient
, that will benefit for 35 times ! See the power of a teacher. The point here
is the quality of teaching in our educational infrastructure. As a wide known
fact, it is not the expected level to drive a nation which stood second place
in the gross population. Level of educational infrastructure and teacher pupil
ration to be developed along with the incorporation of innovative measures in
National Educational Policy like ethical nationalism ideology, recruitment of
teachers through Civil Service Examination conducted by UPSC such that
the quality of the teachers should not be compromised at any cost. Existing
teaching faculties' quality has to be re checked by State Government and
necessary up gradation has to be provided on timely basis. Recent Allahabad HC
order to improve the quality of state run educational institutions in UP and
frequent news on pseudo teachers and teachers those do not teach has to
be viewed in parallel to the necessity of reforming the education framework of
our country.
Conclusion
The issues of such a wide
pluralistic society can be dealt with ethical nationalism which will popularize
the moral values that determines the righteous behavior of a person within the
society and a sense of ethical consciousness will help the country to balance
with its economic and political development for a long run. Here the spreading
of ethical nationalism must under the command of qualified and dedicated
teachers. Definitely a feeling of commonness will be generated in this
pluralistic society with this ethical nationalistic feeling which will mobilize
a movement for a solution to all social issues spearheaded by the qualified
teachers who will impart moral /ethical values into our modern society.
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Thanks
Viswaraj BR - Intellectual Property