Need to bridge a growing gulf...
It is widely believed that the awareness of identity
does not take shape in a child's mind before early
adolescence. A study of four to eight-year-old Hindu
and Muslim children living in the Daryaganj area of
Delhi reveals that children as youn g as four years
already begin to identify with their religious group
and develop prejudice towards other religious
communities. Daryaganj is a residence-cum-trading area
with a mixed Hindu-Muslim population. The presence of
Muslim families is quite marked in Daryaganj, yet it
is not a ghetto like some other Muslim-dominated areas
of Delhi.

My interaction with children revolved around tasks
which required them to respond to material and symbols
of both religions and to imagine themselves in
real-life situations where an encounter with the
"other" religion routinely takes place. The study
revealed that four-year-old Hindu children were
already quite fully submerged in the rituals and
common practices of their religion. The passion and
respect with which they talked about Hindu idols
conveyed that they not only identified with the
family's faith, but also took pride in it. They
folded their hands and bowed repeatedly while
referring to Hindu gods and goddesses during the
conversation. But it was when they were shown the
symbols or material associated with Islam that they
asserted their Hindu identity by emphasising that they
were not Muslim. When shown symbols of Islam, the most
common response was, Ye Musalmanon ka hai, main to
Hindu hoon. Mujhe nahin pata.(This is Muslims', I am
a Hindu. I do not know.)

A strong consciousness of one's religion figured in
the interaction with Muslim children also. They also
expressed their faith in the family's religion in a
pronounced manner. Most of them recited the related
verses of the Koran when they picked up the rosary and
their hands rose in a spontaneous manner as if they
were offering prayers. These children also asserted
their religious identity by distancing themselves from
Hindu symbols while readily showing familiarity with
them. For instance, when they were shown an image of
Hanuman, they said: Ye Hanuman hai. Hinduon ki moortee
hai. Ham to Musalmaan hain (This is Hanuman. It is an
idol of Hindus, whereas I am a Muslim.) The Muslim
children were aware that there are things which are
used by both Hindus and Muslims, such as incense,
kalava, diya and sweet offerings. In contrast, the
Hindu children were absolutely clueless about this
overlap.

Ignorance of other customs
The conversations held with Hindu children revealed
that they were by and large ignorant of the practices
and rituals of Islam. All the Hindu children said that
Muslim men wear rosary in their neck. Not even a
single Hindu child expressed familiarity with the
story of the Prophet, whereas their counterpart Muslim
children recognised relevant Hindu mythological tales
instantly when they were shown pictures depicting
these myths. Hindu children talked about things
related to their own religion passionately and
expressed their prejudice toward Muslims with equal
passion by conveying their disgust with the help of
facial expressions and gestures. For example, they
were very negative when talking about the veil worn by
Muslim women. There was a pronounced fear and
scepticism in the statements made by Hindu children.
They viewed Muslims as people who always stay together
and make a threatening crowd. These children perceived
Muslims as an undifferentiated mass of people who
cannot be trusted and who can turn violent anytime.
Muslims do not exist as individuals in these Hindu
children's minds.

Interestingly, Muslim children did not use any
pejoratives while articulating their awareness about
Hindus. They were relaxed while talking about Hindu
temples and symbols. They saw the other's faith just
like their own. These children were aware that it
could be a source of tension if one visited religious
institutions of the other religion but they did not
use this awareness to show prejudices against Hindus.
The conversations with Muslim children not only
conveyed considerable familiarity with the practices
and symbols of Hinduism, but also a degree of positive
interest and tolerance. This is in contrast to the
ignorance and negative feelings that Hindu children
had conveyed.

Negative impact
The study points out that early socialisation, which
takes place in the family, creates attitudes and
prejudices which are in conflict with the stated goals
of educational policy. It reminds us that the
education of small children cannot rely on rituals
like taking a pledge in the morning assembly that all
Indians are brothers and sisters. There is a need to
address children's socialisation more directly and
comprehensively. Most of the present curricular
material is reluctant to acknowledge cultural identity
in childhood. A beginning has been made in the
National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005) to overcome
this situation. The study provides evidence for the
relevance of NCF's concern that schools must engage
with children's socialisation at home and in the
neighbourhood. The greatest challenge lies in teacher
training which, at present, ignores the task of
sensitising teachers towards the child's
socialisation at home. The teacher has to be equipped
with the abilities to create an ethos in the school in
which the effect of socialisation can be loosened up
to enable children to reflect on their own
socialisation. This will make them capable of
developing a rational outlook as visualised in the
Constitution of India.

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/11/30/stories/2008113050120400.htm

LATIKA GUPTA

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