Multiculturalism Multiculturalism has a great significance in the present times when migration, globalization and information revolution are

the order of the day. There is enormous interaction between individuals of different cultures owing to the abovementioned factors. Here culture means the system of values, norms and etiquettes shared by people of common religion, race, language or region. Multiculturalism can be said to have two denotations Descriptive and Normative. Descriptive meaning just implies the existence of different cultures within a territory simultaneously. Normative or Philosophical meaning is the one with which we are concerned here. Multiculturalism, as a philosophy, advocates for the recognition of different cultures and their associated value systems in their own right without having any normative bias towards them. Lord Bhikhu Parekh is the central figure amongst the proponents of multiculturalism. According to him, distinct cultures provide distinct frame of references towards the world to their members {cultural embeddedness}. Each culture creates its own meaning of the world through the continuous interplay of various strands of thought prevalent within itself. {plural constitution} The norms, values, etiquettes thus generated enable an individual to judge the extraneous situations, things, behavior as good or bad and thereafter decide his own reaction to them. This process of synthesis also highlights the limitation of a single culture in grasping the totality of reality existing out there. Since each culture will have a limited experience, it cannot have a system of meanings and values created for the totality of the human existence. In this scenario, it takes help from other cultures and derive a system of meaning and becomes more rich in the process.{inescapability and desirability of plurality of cultures}{Jaina Theory of Syadavada} The gamut of ideas of multiculturalism in the social and political arena follows from the above account. First of all, no single culture should be considered superior to others since every culture is specific in its own way. Every culture should be given due respect since no culture is perfect in itself. There should not be efforts to impose one culture on the members of different culture. It is natural to have different viewpoints about the same thing by the members of different cultures. One cannot term the other inferior or wrong since their frame of reference

to see the thing is different. The due recognition of cultural rights of minorities is thus especially desired. Multiculturalism is criticized on many grounds, like Amartya Sen argues that Multiculturalism holds a solitarist approach in understanding the human identity. According to him, a human being holds multiple identities. He can at the same time be a manager, a black, a tall person, a poet, a feminist, a good piano player, a good swimmer, a Muslim and a Tamil. Compartmentalizing his identity into one of these groups is not a wise choice. This solitarist approach inbreeds hatred, intolerance and violence in society. Liberals accuse multiculturalism of encouraging the deprivation of an individual of its autonomy. With great emphasis being put on following the cultural values and norms, an individual is unable to exercise his own will. One another major criticism is that Multiculturalism act as a hindrance in the way of inclusion of minority communities into the mainstream of society. Recent remarks by German chancellor Angela Merkel that Multikulti i.e. Multiculturalism has been failed in Germany highlights this viewpoint. Owing to recognition of their culture separate from the majority culture of a nation, minority community may either not try to learn the widespread national culture or majority community may not encourage them to do so. This leads to a vicious circle of paranoia and skepticism in minority and majority community respectively which is detrimental to the social health of a nation ultimately. This phenomenon is observed in the recent events in the European continent from banning of turban in schools in France to that of minarets in Switzerland. From one vantage point, multiculturalism seems to be losing its ground but when we take a holistic view this is not the case. All of the above criticisms exaggerated the first postulate of multiculturalism i.e. cultural embeddedness. The critics who charge Multiculturalism as being anti-liberal forget the second principle of plural constitution. According to it, different strand of thought or opinions within a culture interact with each other and emerge out with the prevalent norms and values. This picture of multiculturalism is a dynamic one not the static one as assumed by critics. Multiculturalism does not mean solitarism either; rather it advocates mutual symbiosis, like the third principle says that the mutual interaction of two cultures leads to richness of experience of both. Multiculturalism doesnt mean creation of separate shells of their own by different cultures as in the case of European countries. In such case, mutual tensions are

bound to arise. It doesnt mean complete takeover by one culture of another also, as is aspired by rightist groups of those countries. Rather, it is a mutually reinforcing, harmonic, peaceful and participatory co-existence and consequent evolution towards new heights by each of the cultures. The characteristic unity in diversity in Indian culture which is a result of process of synthesis epitomizes this sense of Multiculturalism. The 21st century world which is flattening more and more every next day cant afford to shun Multiculturalism.

Prince Kadyan