Fr Soroj Mullick SDB –
A national campaign for bringing communities together
The minorities in the country are going through a difficult period. Our Indian Constitution and the very idea of democratic India is at stake. The public from different caste, colour and creed including all the civic bodies, organizations, associations and political parties can uphold together our federal Republic (Cf. Catholic Religious India – CRI – Letter, To All the Major Superiors, 19th July 2023).
Following the CRI’s endorsement to this ‘idea’ of inviting the ‘other’ to our homes showing hospitality (atithyata) which has been Indian citizens’ cultural practice for ages, and as responsible citizens, we have the responsibility to see that the public exercise their constitutional right and responsibility, working for peace, harmony and unity in diversity.
The National Campaign for Unity and Love in its introduction to an invitation to join a national campaign for bringing communities together, states:
“Systematic communalization of society has not only segregated communities in India but has also been one of the major reasons for mistrust. As the segregation grows, the fear of the unknown is utilised to add to existing prejudices against one another. The stereotypes become more rigid. Communal violence is the final stage of total mistrust between communities. When hatred seeps into one community’s minds and hearts against another, it takes minimal effort to incite violence. In fact, violence seems to be the only logical response. Communal forces have captured social consciousness by spreading hate and isolating communities. While there have been systematic physical attacks on minority communities, the majority community has been psyched into believing it can be safe only until communal forces are in power. The fight to undo systematic hate is tough but not impossible. Among various other ways of fighting this ideology of hatred, we feel it is vital to use innovative ideas to bring communities together and increase their interaction.” (National Campaign for Unity and Love, MERE GHAR AA KE TO DEKHO, Phase 1, August 15, 2023, initiated by ANHAD – Act Now for Harmony and Democracy. This is endorsed by CRI, India; see also J.P. Yadav, Invite: Be my guest, let’s fight hate, The Telegraph, 6.8.2023)
The national level campaign, #MereGharAaKToDekho (Visit My Home, Be My Guest) is a simple campaign to welcome another person/group from another community, class, caste, religion, sexual orientation, language, region, to one’s home and show hospitality. It is to change the mindset that we have created towards the other through direct contact with one another.
The objective is simple and straightforward; people have to visit each other’s homes, spend 2-3 hours, have a meal together, drink tea or water, and break the socially constructed barriers. Many national networks, groups and individuals have come together to organise this campaign with the help of professionals who can utilise their expertise to ensure a sharp focus and a wider reach.
The aims of the campaign are: to promote unity and harmony; to promote inter-community relations; to work for communal amity among communities by demolishing the myths against ‘the other’ communities; to provide a platform for the secular struggles to groups for whom the issue of communalism is the primary focus and also for groups–women, Dalits, Adivasis, farmers, trade unions, teachers and students organizations–for whom it is a major concern in their work; to inspire people to take out time to interact with each other, especially during times of crisis; to break barriers of all kinds and cherishing a shared meal together, deep and rich conversations over new food & drinks; to inculcate the ability of appreciating and respecting hosts regardless of ethnicity/ religion/ gender/ class/ caste etc. to provide an opportunity of fixing mutual visitations on the future festivals’ to think of and actually visiting not only people of different religions, caste, class, regions but also visiting the elderly, single women, rape survivors, victims of communal, caste and ethnic violence, war; to break intergenerational barrios by organizing social meetings/ visits where youth can interact with older generations and vice versa; to break regional and political barriers and promote and highlight the inclusivity and diversity of all regions; to be able to hear different languages and dialects; to be able to dance to different/ diverse tunes and music.
As concerned Indians we are all asked to work towards unity, by stopping the ideology of hatred that has infested our society so much. Let us take up this initiative as our own and invite persons to our homes and visit them in return to build up solidarity and brotherhood.