India, Multicultural Education in

Demographic Context

India is arguably the most diverse country in the world. It covers about 3.2 million square kilometers and hosts a population of more than 1.1 billion people, making it the world's second most populous country (China is the most populous). In the 2001 national census, about 82% of the population identified as Hindu, 13% Muslim, 2.3% Christian, 1.9% Sikh, 0.76% Buddhist, 0.4% Jain, and 0.01% Zoroastrian. These numbers represent the second largest national Muslim population in the world (Indonesia has the largest), and the largest Sikh, Jain, and Zoroastrian populations. There are currently 22 languages recognized as official languages, including Hindi and English, which are designated as “national” or “link” languages. Two communities that are central to discussions of cultural pluralism in India are dalits (known officially as Scheduled Castes) and adivasis (known officially as Scheduled Tribes) which make up 16.2% and 8.2% of the population, respectively. The terms Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are administrative categories; the former used to designate those groups previously known as “untouchables,” and the latter various indigenous groups that for centuries have resisted assimilation into first agrarian and then industrial societies. The members of these two groups themselves use the terms dalit (literally translated as “downtrodden”) and adivasi (literally translated as “original dwellers”). These categories are often grouped with a third category, “Other Backward Classes” (OBC), which is used to encompass a range of groups that have been and continue to be marginalized. The OBC category, which includes lower-caste Hindus, some segments of the Buddhist and Muslim communities, as well as other groups identified on the basis of low economic, social, or educational status, accounts for about 50% of the total population of the country.

The current approach to incorporating this vast diversity into daily life in India is based largely on an ideal called participatory pluralism. Using the ideas of Mohandas K. Gandhi as a foundation, this approach simultaneously builds on and challenges older traditions of pluralism that fostered diversity through separation between groups and a hierarchical ordering of society. Participatory pluralism seeks to maintain diversity while breaking down hierarchy and addressing social injustice. Ideally, this form of multiculturalism requires bridging the distance between groups, which must include earnest efforts to celebrate identities other than one's own. Within a school this may entail, for example, celebrating holidays associated with all religions in the community. Unlike the practice in Canada, for example, where holidays may be recognized in school announcements or in a display of some kind, this approach necessitates a celebration based on the traditions and practices of the group and encourages all members of the school to participate in the celebration. It also requires an acknowledgment of the pluralism within groups and recognition that cultures are not static—they are constantly being reshaped by their own internal pluralism as well as external [Page 1158]forces. Finally, it requires a commitment to addressing inequality between and within groups. Although no one would argue that India has achieved the ideal, it is important to note that because of this orientation to multiculturalism, state policy flows from the collective lived experience of diversity rather than the other way around.

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