As conveyed by the prolific writer and infamous whisky connoisseur, the late Mr. Christopher Hitchens, “Religion is poison because it asks us to surrender the most precious faculty, which is reason. It then demands respect for this surrender, which it calls faith.” The geopolitics of the last century have been defined not only by geography but also by this alleged poison.
It is said that the youth tends to become more right-wing with age depending on factors like stress, failures, responsibilities and risk aversion. I believe that any Conservative—whether a Republican in the USA or an andhbhakt in India—often suffers from deep-seated feelings of inferiority. These individuals tend to overcompensate for their limitations, whether mental or physical, by surrounding themselves with like-minded people who use religion, gender, race, color, and caste as crutches to conceal their insecurities and maintain the status quo. Among those oppressed by such Conservatives, you will often find a notable absence of hate. What is perceived as hate actually stems from the sadness of being oppressed and discriminated against for their identity. This hate is also often used to pit a religious minority against another. A person’s ideology should be positioned the same as its heart: a little Left to the Center.
A consultant at the World Bank (and a remarkable daughter of an equally remarkable woman) once told me, while discussing the ban of South African runner Caster Semenya (who has the intersex condition 5α-Reductase 2 deficiency, resulting in male testosterone levels), “If only the outrage over an Olympian of a non-binary gender competing were matched by the outrage for their fight for equal rights in other spheres of life, the world would be a better place.”
The previous generation, now in their 50s and 60s, is bound by biases shaped by their experiences, such as the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Kuwait-Iraq war of 1990, or the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Even the most secular, left-leaning individuals of that generation supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Remember Mr. Hitchens? Despite his admirable stance on religion, he sided with the U.S. in its quest for “weapons of mass destruction” (read: to seize oil and abandon the country to chaos). He also eventually changed nationalities, rejecting the Queen and embracing Uncle Sam, but I digress.
Our generation often forgets that geopolitics, irrespective of religious borders, will always be influenced more by geography. No matter how strained the relationship between India and China becomes, until we find a way around the Himalayas, no major conflict is likely. As long as icebreakers (Russia has over 44, the USA has one) remain imbalanced, Russia holds the upper hand in the Arctic. Despite China’s efforts to forge ties with Mexico, Florida controls the Gulf and, consequently, the bragging rights of the region.
Yes, an argument can be made that those who stand (justifiably so) by Palestine due to their common religion should be called out for their silence on the heinous attack on Salman Rushdie in 2022 or the killings of journalists at Charlie Hebdo in 2015. However, geopolitics is shaped by a multitude of identities: social, cultural, gender, caste, and color. Thus, the lynching of a Muslim in India (data collection for which was halted in 2021 by the NCRB under the current regime, go figure) should be condemned in the strongest terms. The majority must understand that a country’s freedom is gauged by the representation and rights of its minorities. The dominance of upper castes in India, despite being a numerical minority, underscores the vicious, layered, and insidious nature of the caste system. An individual has multiple identities. Identity is complex and intersectional. Gender and its power dynamics, often visible but unspoken, illustrate the importance of women’s representation in workspaces for empowerment.
I conclude my reflections, which span from global politics and religion to the nuances of caste, gender, and social dynamics, with an anecdote. A few years ago, I was part of a hiring committee for a hospital’s multi-task staff. After the interviews, the committee, except for the chairperson and me, was inclined not to hire any women (four out of twenty candidates) for the eight vacancies, citing their lack of physical competency and potential “harassment” cases. I couldn’t help but challenge my superiors for their lack of understanding: it’s not women who create harassment cases, but the men who harass. The solution is to ensure adequate representation of women in the workforce so they can support each other in calling out harassment. The chairperson agreed, and we hired four women and four men. The hiring committee now, years later, includes female representation, and its members eventually recognized the importance of diversity. If only the majority, whether through numbers or power in hierarchy, understood the importance of representation in terms of caste, religion, or other identities that shape our countries and geopolitics.
Himanshu Chakravarty Sharma / मंच 