Get Together for Harmony – a programme conceived by a few right thinking people of Shillong during those tumultuous years of communal tensions in this city, has carried on like a ritual. This programme is held a couple day before the Durga Puja celebrations and the Central Puja Committee which is the brain behind this programme invites people from all faiths and all walks of life in a bid to spread the message of peace and fraternity. It is heartening that religious leaders of different faiths and denominations have honoured this noble call and expressed their solidarity with the organisers. Shillong is a pluralistic, multicultural society and it is incumbent upon its citizens to maintain and uphold this inclusive character of society because it is the only sensible thing to do. However, it is rather sad that this practice of creating a platform where people of different faiths can actually learn to appreciate one another’s religious and cultural practices are so few and far between. Meghalaya has a substantial chunk of Christian population but we are yet to see a Get Together for Harmony before the auspicious day of the birth of Christ. It would have been a great gesture to share the message of Christmas not just with Christians but also with those who have never heard of Christianity. All religions preach love, forgiveness and a healthy tolerance for the views of others. In a country like India with diverse cultures, languages, faiths and ethnicities it is even more important to break the barriers that divide people and to create opportunities for togetherness so that people learn to discover the common threads that bind people rather than stress on the differences.
India is today getting increasingly polarised on the basis of caste, creed and community. There are strident voices that equate Hinduism with nationalism and cannot accept that non-Hindu minorities too can be credited with nationalistic fervour. There is great need for societal conversations not just on days when different religions celebrate their auspicious occasions but also at informal gatherings. Even the idiom of inclusivity needs to be taught to our younger generation. We can only wish that many more such conversations take place in the city of Shillong where people will not just speak to each other through the media but talk to one another with respect and acceptance of diverse views.