Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Cultural osmosis

Sir, — This has reference to Imtiaz Ahmad's proposal that ``minority groups would accept some aspects of Hindu culture as their own and find a place for themselves within the nation as religious and cultural units'' (The Hindu, May 24).

This process is already taking place among Muslims and Christians. For example, some Muslim national leaders are wearing khadi cap and some Catholic nuns are changing to kaavi-coloured saris instead of the Western dress. In the form of worship too, some changes are adopted to fall in line with the Indian tradition. The Christian ashram movement is another example. The majority community too should adopt some of the practices of the minorities such as congregational worship and the exposition of scriptures and their relevance to contemporary society.

These physical changes need not necessarily affect the essential spiritual values of each religion but they pave the way for the essential cultural values, secularism and communal harmony in India.

Dr. A.K. Tharien,
Oddanchatram, T.N.

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