Race and Racism

Are religion, country, race, patriotism, and nationalism all racist concepts?

The only uncontacted human tribe left in the world today are the Sentinelese of North Sentinel Island in our Bay of Bengal. They are extremely hostile and do not allow anyone to enter; if someone does, they are killed. The British once brought a few of them to Port Blair to educate them, but within a few hours, all of them died one by one. The reason was their weak immune system – while our bodies casually fight off countless common microbes every second, they succumb to death. Their bodies do not recognize these ordinary germs. Just as the Europeans brought plagues and pandemics that caused the deaths of thousands of Native Americans, the Indian government has legally banned anyone from going to North Sentinel. This example of the immune system is a visible proof of evolution. The Sentinelese have remained in the same cycle, living the same life for the past 60 to 70 thousand years. The neighboring Jarawas of the Andaman Islands are of the same ethnic group, though they have been in contact for a few decades and now recognize ordinary people.

I imagine that the original humans of our region were once just like them. If the Aryans from Persia, Arabs, Mongols, Central Asians, and Europeans had not come to this region out of greed for natural resources or curiosity, perhaps our people would have remained hundreds or thousands of years behind in terms of civilization. If they had not forcibly mingled with the people of this region, we wouldn’t have such diversity in skin color, nor would this so-called civilized era have arrived. Even the recent emergence of mathematical methods in India would not have occurred without this mixture of genetics and civilization. Religions survive solely on belief. Blind belief? No, belief itself is blind. There is no place here for logic, science, ifs, buts, or maybes.

If we calculate with logic and analyze through scientific methodology, there is no historical basis for the origins of Sanatan, Christian, Jewish, or Islamic religions – no neutral, credible documents, no archaeological evidence, no carbon-dated fossil proof. Even the relatively new religion Islam, said to have emerged 1400 years ago, has no historical basis other than a few books written 200–300 years later by people thousands of miles away in Persia. If Jesus, Jehovah, and Muhammad are fictional characters, then Krishna, Ram, Ravan, Durga, and Mahishasura are even older fiction. And the surprising thing is that all of these originated in the Middle East. The Aryans too brought paganism from Persia. The Buddhism that originated in our region is more philosophy than religion.

Now let’s come to the topic of Durga and Mahishasura. Some indigenous communities in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha remember Mahishasura as ‘Hudur Durga’ – a great warrior who fought on their behalf and became a martyr. Durga is seen there as an invader, an enemy who suppressed the indigenous people. It can be said without doubt that these marginalized tribal and Dalit communities have been oppressed by settlers for thousands of years – so is it an exaggeration? How can we disrespect their traditional culture, which is completely opposite to that of the privileged settlers? If we honor the culture of settlers and beneficiaries, we automatically dishonor theirs. Here, I stand with the oppressed, even if they are fewer in number. Though calling them settlers may not be entirely accurate, since migration is a common human trait that continues even today. However, history shows us the undeniable reality of advanced civilizations invading and suppressing underdeveloped regions.

If Durga Puja is seen as a festival, then yes, it can be celebrated – I too would go to see the Puja if I had the chance, and I still do. As a child, I would eagerly wait all year to visit the Puja fair in the neighboring area. Cultural festivals are necessary, but the counter-arguments and perspectives of others must also be respected. The Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha is an unnecessary event, based solely on a myth, where thousands of animals are slaughtered – though the underlying economy is vast. It has become a festival and cannot be easily discarded. I eat meat too, but if something is wrong, it should be called wrong. Just because someone is addicted doesn’t mean they can’t call addiction bad – the poison doesn’t work that way.

Religion, country, race, patriotism, nationalism – all are racist concepts. Even politics. All of these require enemies, boundary walls. Most of the wars and killings in the world have happened because of these. But even if we want to, we cannot discard them – if we could, there would be no borders, no armies, no need for atomic bombs. To organize people, to justify taxing hard-earned money, to maintain armies and build bombs – these emotions of patriotism and nationalism are necessary, and no one has found an alternative to them. These are always harmful to humanity and a world free of racism and inequality; yet there is no alternative. Survival is the primary natural instinct of any creature, so humans will prioritize themselves first, then family, then society, language, race, country, religion, community – that’s it, this has become the natural and social system. But the problem arises when religion, nationalism, patriotism, and political consciousness become extreme, when supremacist and racist attitudes emerge. Then the environment and the world become polluted, and humanistic agreements collapse.