1. National Integration of India 4th to 5th August 2009 EDUCATION IN HUMAN VALUES INSTITUTE OF HUMAN STUDY, HYDERABAD Sponsored by: Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India Dr. N. SaiBhaskar Reddy, CEO, GEO http://www.e-geo.org

2. Unity in Diversity and National Integration: National Integration means a feeling of oneness and Unity among the people of a country where all citizen irrespective of any culture live together peacefully. The National Integration paved the way for the people to work together for the development of the country. It also provides strength to fight against the evil forces like communalism and terrorism. POVERTY There are 250 million poor people in India

3. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism borne in India and followed by 25% of the world's population India, also known as Bharat, is a big country. Her Civilisation is 5000 years old. She has given birth to the world’s most important religions. She provided refuge to other leading religions. People of many races have come to India and settled here. She absorbed them all into her blood and fraternised them as her children. Unity and synthesis are the embodiments of Indian culture.

4. Culturally Rich - Inventions The digit zero and the numbering system Chess Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus The decimal system The game of Snakes and Ladders The value of “pi” Noble prizes in Literature, Physics, Economics, Peace, and Medicine

5. History of India Divided in 7 Periods 1. Original Indians (1700BC – 3300BC) Indus Valley Civilization: Mohenja-daro and Harappa People 2. Aryans (2500BC – 322BC) India’s Root Culture 3. The Mauryan Empire (322BC – 188BC) Spread of Buddhism 4. Gupta Period (320AD – 480AD) Golden Age of India 5. Muslim Period (1175AD – 1800AD) Turks and Mughals 6. European Rule (1800AD – 1947AD) Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English 7. Independence and Democratic India

7. Foreign Invasions Due to its wealth and culture, India has attracted foreigners throughout its history: Persian invasion in 500BC Greek Invasion in 327 BC Turks in 1175AD Mughal in 1526 Portuguese in 16th century Dutch and French in 17th century English in 18th through 20th century

8. India is one of the largest Democratic countries in the world. Her culture is termed as the best in the history of the world. India is a land of variety and diversity. India has diversed geographical and cultural features.

9. Diversity in Geographical Features: Diversities are seen in land scapes, climate natural vegetation and soil. There are high mountains, plateaus and low lands in India. Different climates prevail in India. We see thorny bushes in Rajasthan and dense forests in Assam.

10. Diversity in Cultural Factors: Diversities are seen in languages, races, religion and caste. Indians speak numerous languages. 1652 mother tongues - Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarathi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali , Tamil, Malayalam, Oriya and Kannada are the major languages. Many famous literatures were written in various languages. Sanskrit works like Valmiki’s Ramayana, Kalidasa’sSakunthala and Tamil works like Kamba Ramayana, Thiruvalluvar’sThirukkural are appreciated and enjoyed by all the Indians irrespective of caste, religion and language.

11. Festivals and crops Different festivals like Deepavali, Ramzan, Christmas, GurunanakJayanthi, Buddha Poornima, MahavirJayanthi are celebrated in India by the people of different religions. Inspite of the differences the Indians practice religious tolerance. Because of the differences in climate, cutivation of crops also differ. Based on the crops cultivated, the food habits differ from one place to another. So, rice is the staple food in many southern states whereas wheat becomes the staple food in the northern states of India.

12. Unity in diversity Inspite of the Geographical and cultural differences, the wonderful element of unity binds all the people together. This unity is the special feature of our culture, we call this as”Unity in Diversity” Language we all take pride in calling ourselves as Indians and then as Telugus, Tamilians, Keralites, Christians and Muslims. The feeling we have within us as Indians, help us to forget the difference and live in Unity. India is compared to a garland of flowers held together by means of a thread called Unity

13. The Secular character of our Government permits the people to celebrate the different religious festivals peacefully.

14. Factors Promoting National Integration: 1) Our Customs, Habits and Heritage: India’s heirtage advocates hospitality, charity, friendship, love, unselfishness, peace, mercy and tolerance. It helps the Indians live in Unity forgetting all the differences. 2) Constitutional Rights: Our Constitution lays the foundation for National Integration. Our Constitution grants equality, Freedom and Justice to all the citizen of India. Fundamental Rights are guaranteed to the people irrespective of caste, creed, sex, religion and race. Privileges are given to the weaker sections like scheduled caste and tribes.

15. 3) National Festivals: National Festivals like Independence Day, Republic Day, National Integration Day and Gandhi Jayanthi are celebrated by the people of our country. We celebrate these festivals in our schools, colleges and offices. 4) National Flag and National Anthem: All Indians give respect to our National Flag which represents our courage ,sacrifice, truth, peace and prosperity. We are inspired by the National Anthem in which we sing about the greatness of India. Our National song VandeMatharam induces the spirit of patriotism.

16. 5) Regional Inter-dependence: We have different geographical features and climate in different states. The crop we grow differ from State to State. So there is an exchange of goods and crops from one state to another. We get ivory from Kerala, betal leaf from Tamilnadu and wheat from Punjab.

17. 6) Feeling of oneness: The feeling that we are all Indians, that we are the sons of Bharath and that all Indians are my brothers and sisters help us to promote National Integration. United we live, divided we fall, is the spirit that safeguards the National Integration.

18. Factors Disrupting National Integration: Though we take pride in our National Unity, we still face various factors which blocks the growth of National Integration in India. a) Communalism: In our country communities are formed on the basis of religions. Communalism refers to selfish aggressive attitude of one community towards another. This feeling sometimes lead to communal riots. So, the Indian citizens should develop the spirit of religious tolerance and the feeling of oneness.

19. b) Linguisim: In 1956 India was divided into many states on the basis of languages, these states are called Linguistic States. In general people of India have great love for their mother tongue. Sometimes they develop narrow- minded approach towards other languages and hate them. Therefore we must show our respect to other languages which helps to unite the people who speak different languages

20. c)Casteism: Casteism hinders our National Integration. All men are born equal before God and law. Casteism is against this principle. In India caste systems originated in a simple form during the vedic period. the feeling of superiority and inferiority began to develop in the minds of the people. People of higher caste hesitated to mix or to make social contacts with the people of lower castes. This hinders the smooth functioning of a democracy and the growth of National Integration.

21. Sri Aurobindo 1872 - 1950 India is the BharathaShakti, the living energy of a great spiritual conception, and fidelity to it is the very principle of her existence. The third dream was a world union forming the outer basis of a fairer, brighter and nobler life for all mankind. That unification of the human world is under way; there is an imperfect initiation organized but struggling against tremendous difficulties. But the momentum is there and it must inevitably increase and conquer. Thank you!

22. http://www.sriaurobindosociety.org.in/15aug.htm http://www.textbooksonline.tn.nic.in/Books/08/SocSci-EM/Civics/chapter_2.pdf