Shashi Tharoor Calls for Reclaiming India's Civilisational Pride Through Inclusivity
In a powerful reflection on India's identity, Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has emphasized that the nation's civilisational pride should serve as a reminder of its historical openness and capacity to absorb diversity, rather than becoming a tool for division. Writing about the contemporary political discourse, Tharoor argues that reducing India's complex civilisational tapestry to a simplistic binary struggle between Hindus and Muslims fundamentally betrays the essence of what has made Indian civilisation endure and flourish through millennia.
The Multifaceted Tapestry of Indian Civilisation
India has long prided itself on being a civilisation rather than merely a nation-state, with an identity stretching back thousands of years beyond the political boundaries established in 1947. This civilisational heritage encompasses the philosophical wisdom of the Vedas, the compassionate teachings of Buddha, the syncretic traditions of medieval saints, the inclusive governance models of historical figures like Ashoka, Harsha, and Akbar, and the pluralistic foundations of the modern republic. Tharoor asserts that invoking this rich heritage is not only legitimate but essential for national identity, though the manner of its invocation carries profound implications for the country's social fabric and political future.
India's civilisation has never been monolithic, Tharoor emphasizes. Instead, it represents a vibrant tapestry woven from countless threads including Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, tribal, secular, Western, and Indic traditions. To collapse this vast mosaic into a narrow binary framework represents what Tharoor describes as both a moral and political failure, turning complex social realities into mythic battles where victimhood becomes virtue and the past substitutes for meaningful engagement with contemporary challenges.
The Dangers of Mythologizing Politics
Tharoor references observations by political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta, who recently noted that recasting contemporary politics as an epic struggle between religious communities represents a dangerous diversion from substantive governance. When politics becomes mythologized in this manner, practical concerns like building roads, establishing schools and hospitals, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring justice become de-prioritized in favor of symbolic conflicts. This approach transforms historical grievances into political currency while neglecting the hard labor of actual governance that addresses citizens' material needs and aspirations.
A nation cannot be governed by evoking historical wrongs alone, Tharoor contends. Civilisational self-assertion must not become an excuse to bypass the difficult work of institution-building and problem-solving. Instead, it should inspire the creation of better systems and structures capable of addressing tomorrow's challenges, rather than diverting public attention through the scapegoating of minority communities. The true test of civilisational pride lies in tangible achievements that improve citizens' lives, not in rehearsing ancient conflicts or nurturing contemporary divisions.
Reclaiming Civilisational Pride for the Common Good
Tharoor proposes an alternative vision where civilisational self-assertion becomes a force for inclusivity, acceptance, and the common good. He points to India's historical capacity to accommodate diversity as its greatest strength—the ability to allow multiple faiths to flourish, numerous languages to proliferate, and outsiders to become integrated into the social fabric. This inclusivity enabled India to endure invasions, colonization, and modernization without losing its essential character, demonstrating that diversity represents resilience rather than weakness.
The genius of Indian civilisation, according to Tharoor, finds expression in concepts like vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world is one family), Akbar's principle of sulh-i-kul (universal peace), and the teachings of spiritual figures like Kabir and Nanak who emphasized unity beyond religious divides. Such traditions demonstrate that civilisational pride can celebrate Hindu heritage while simultaneously honoring the contributions of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jews, and other communities that have enriched Indian society.
A Call for Constructive Governance
Tharoor presents the ruling establishment with what he describes as a historic opportunity: to define civilisational pride as either exclusionary or inclusive. The former path leads to division, resentment, and social unrest, while the latter fosters unity, progress, and genuine greatness. He envisions a governing ethos that channels civilisational self-assertion into building institutions reflecting India's pluralism, articulating a vision that celebrates the past not to settle historical scores but to inspire future achievements.
Building a shared civic future requires creating institutions and processes that accommodate differences in worship, cultural expression, and political opinion. It means ensuring every citizen feels equally valued regardless of faith, investing substantially in education, healthcare, and infrastructure so civilisational pride is matched by material progress, and cultivating a political culture that prizes dialogue over demonization. Civilisational self-assertion should encourage debates about ideas rather than conflicts about identities, reminding citizens that India's greatest achievements in science, art, and philosophy emerged from openness rather than insularity.
Inclusivity is not appeasement, Tharoor asserts—it represents a civilisational imperative that has historically enabled India to transform diversity into social harmony. True civilisational pride must ultimately serve the common good by inspiring a society where every citizen can flourish, motivating substantive action against poverty, inequality, and injustice, and strengthening democratic institutions, protecting freedoms, and upholding the rule of law.
The Path Forward
India's civilisation remains vast, complex, and fundamentally inclusive in character. Reducing it to binary religious conflicts betrays its essence and diminishes its historical achievements. Tharoor calls for reclaiming civilisational self-assertion as a positive force that emphasizes pride in inclusion rather than exclusion, celebrating that India hosts the world's largest Hindu population alongside vibrant communities of multiple other faiths.
Civilisational pride should not allow historical grievances to diminish contemporary greatness, Tharoor concludes. India deserves a politics reflecting the true genius of its civilisation—the remarkable ability to accommodate difference without letting conflict determine national destiny. Reclaiming this civilisational genius requires building a shared civic future worthy of national pride, where institutions educate, heal, deliver justice, and protect rights for all citizens equally.
