Unity is the stepping stone of success. As said by Winston Churchill ‘When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.’ This means that if we are united, no power can hurt us or defeat us. Even the Fire Company of Philadelphia, Hand in Hand has the motto ‘United we stand, divided we fall’.

We all know that India was a colony of Great Britain. Britain could make us their colony because Indians were not united. And realizing this, the Indians united and succeeded in making India a beautiful independent country. So, unity is the basis of a country’s success and progress. No unity will result in no progress.

Now India has different states, religions, castes, languages, etc. And is proudly known for ‘Unity in Diversity.’

But still, we have many threats to unity which is dangerous to our country’s safety.

•Regionalism: Regionalism is an identity of people within a specific geographical region, with its unique language, culture, etc. It helps people to develop a sense of brotherhood and oneness which seeks to protect the interests of a particular region and promotes the welfare and development of the state and its people. But in the negative sense, it implies excessive attachment to one’s region which is a great threat to the unity and integrity of the country.

•Ethnic differentiation and nativism: These are the differences between people in the same area with different language religions etc. For the factors such as resources, job competition, threat to identity, etc. An example of this is the frequent clashes between Bengali and Bodo-speaking Muslims in Assam and the Hindu and Sikh clashes in Gujarat, etc.

•Development imbalance: If there is an imbalance or incorrect balance of development, it will result in violence and migration from one state to the other.

•Sharing of natural resources such as rivers, dams, etc. Also results in differences between states. Examples are the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala, the Tamilnadu border, and Kaveri River in Tamilnadu, the Karnataka border, etc. Many times, this leads to the thought of regionalism and affects the trade, travel, and normal life of people in both states.

•Divisive politics: Politicians are one of the major causes for creating differences among people. They use this method to gather votes. Many politicians consider people only as their vote banks. They use religion, caste, etc. As a weapon to divide people. They inject poison into people’s minds by their speech. This results in violence, hatred, etc. Among even neighbors. They still encourage reservations for the minority. But this is not for minority’s progress. They do this to get minority people’s votes. Many people who benefit because of this are either rich people with good jobs or positions and politicians. If we travel in the internal part of India, we can realize this truth.

•External conflicts sometimes foreign terrorist groups are all to causing disunity among the people of the country. They brainwash youth and training them to become a terrorist and separating them from the country. Many highly educated people also become their prey and work against our country.

So, to prevent this Unity should be taught to children from childhood. Progress starts from the home where Unity should be taught to the children. When a child realizes that I should learn to share and care the feeling of Unity inside him starts generating. Children should understand that they are the part of the country they are the ones who are going to shape the future of the country and show try to make India more beautiful for the future generation.

Religion and caste are taken as personal faith. Because of this, Unity should not be affected. All religion teaches to love each other. No religion says to hate others.

The regional Unity or the unity between different states or areas is important because it helps neighboring states also in trade, job opportunities, etc, and during some hard situations and crisis also neighboring states will be of help. Unity will help in the sharing of natural resources like rivers and dams etc. All-natural resources are to be considered as the Country’s property and to be taken care of by the central government.

The politicians who try to divide society to get the maximum number of votes and get their positions into the government should not be encouraged. Caste-based politics should never be supported. No political party should be formed in the name of caste and religion and political parties or organizations with a communal or racial bias should be ruthlessly banned. The citizen should decide not to vote for the people who try to divide the country and should support the people who try to unite us. Reservation should be given only to deserving people who are backward with no education facilities, no progress, and are economically backward.

Social media and news channels are also playing a great role in dividing us because most of the channels are either owned or influences by one of the political parties or a particular religious group. They try their level best to spread hatred among people. They exaggerate minor problems which lead to big issues in society. Meanwhile, many important happenings are going unknown. So, these activities are to be watched and action to be taken immediately. The services of social media and channels must be intelligently used. People of different states must be introduced to each other's cultures and ways of life and common elements should be stressed upon. Then there will only create an atmosphere of goodwill and mutual understanding.

All healthy cultural movements to foster a national, all-India outlook should have to be encouraged.

Only if people unite a country can unite. During the current tough situation on pandemic and other hardships our country is going through, we all should think unitedly to be the strength of our country. We should take an oath that we will never be a reason to divide the country and will always be there for strengthening and protecting our country.

I take this opportunity to salute our soldiers, doctors, police, and people who work in many other fields without caring for their safety for the wellness of people.

Jai Hind