Call it a discussion or debate or whatever, but the current European thinking on lending a religious identity to the emerging and expanded European Union may have a bearing on the evolving situation in India and the rest of the world. By referring to the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe" in the Preamble to the draft, Europeans may have begun defining and delineating the "civilizational clash" that is believed to be at the bottom of the current global strife involving 'Islamic terrorism'.
The drafting committee did not yield to demands for including references to Christianity by name in the Preamble, but the preceding debate itself has rendered any specific reference irrelevant and inconsequential. The message is clear. That Europe is rediscovering a Christian identity that was subsumed by the 'Holocaust' attaching to the perceptible 'Aryan identity' of Adolf Hitler. It is another matter that the final vote on the draft could go either way.
That way, despite what the draft Preamble may say about the 'cultural, religious and humanist inheritance' of Europe, and without having to go back by centuries in history, it was Hitler who came on to erase the 'Christian identity' attaching to Jewish persecution in Europe. There are also those who question the wisdom and propriety of creating the Jewish State of Israel where it is now, when the issue involved resettling the displaced Jews of Europe.
A 'Christian identity', specified or implied, could also be a binding link between Europe and the US, where religion still produces strong undercurrents. It may even be the unifying force for most of Europe, and a uniting force between Europe and US. The need for such a force could become increasingly relevant, considering the declining importance of continued politico-military cooperation of the World Wars and the Cold War kinds, and the increasing differences induced by competitive market economy in the global arena.
If this is how nations may, or may not, think the very thought-process would only reflect a hardening public mood in Europe, particularly in the months after 9/11. The Islamists of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, and those now entrenched in Afghanistan and Iraq, cannot blame the solidifying Christian mood and identity in Europe and the US, but then, it is no solution, either.
The 'culture-based civilizational clash' identified with religion, which is now shaping up on the Eurasian theatre has a message for India as a nation, and the Indian sub-continent as a region. The current dominant differences in this country too are neither over ideology, nor over economy, but over religious identities. Yet, unlike Europe, here religious identities have got submerged in a 'civilisation-based cultural identity' associated with a country, if not nation.
In the creation of Pakistan, the religious differences came to the fore. But the formation of Bangladesh involved subtle cultural differences, contributing to distinguishable political identities. The eternal strife between India and Pakistan since Partition, and also the emerging disturbances involving Hindus and Muslims within the country are only products.
Though the terms has acquired a distinct colour and flavour, 'cultural nationalism', as much a political habit, has been contributing greatly to the unity of India. For near-similar reasons, Pakistan too is unable to climb down after riding the tiger of Kashmir-centric India-baiting. This is particularly so in the absence of an internal agenda, which Pakistan is as much avoiding as the latter is eluding it.
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