Why is India a country of contradiction?

 Why is India a country of contradictions?

I’m going to talk about the notion “Idea of progress”. To begin with, progress is a sort of change, of development or an improvement that makes the country better. It can be a technical change, a social change, an economical change or a scientific change. If we speak about India, we can say that India is a country on the march which is a traditional country but also a modern country. We can ask us Why is India a country of contradictions?

First, India is a traditional country particularly with its history and religions.

The British colonised India in the 16th Century for its rural materials. They established a trading company to import tea, cotton and species. Later, in 1922, Mahatma Gandhi, a man who fought for independence, started an anti-British campaign without using violence. Since 1947, India has become independent. The independence caused a lot of violence and tensions in the country. As a result, India was divided in two groups: Muslims and Hindus. This two groups have their own religion. Hinduism seems to be the most important religion in India. It’s more than a religion, it’s a way of life and predominates the Indian culture. There are also more different religions in India compared to Europe which is dominated by Christianity. In fact, only a few Indians are Christians (less than 2%), this is because India used to be a British colony.

Secondly, economic and mentality changes bring India to a country on the march. The Indian subcontinent was mainly composed of rural communities but now most people have moved to urban areas. India has come a long way and is now an emerging country thanks to its IT. Farms became factories, local stores became global industries, the local trade became an international trade. Moreover, the cast system was oppressive and prevented people from all being on an equal footing. But now, people define themselves by taste and faith, not caste. Women were often victims of unfair customs and considered second-class citizens. Nowadays it has become acceptable for women to work in good conditions.

At last, traditions in the Indian population are still rooted. Indeed, the dowry tradition is the largest inequality amongst men and women. The dowry is the money a family must give to the husband’s family when their daughter gets married. Moreover, the government has taken many steps to stop this practice, but it is deeply rooted in the Indian society. The dowry tradition also explains why many parents do not want to have daughters. In fact, Indian families prefer having sons for three reasons: only boys keep the family name, for the family business and they can also look after the parents when they are old. Therefore, there is a gender selective abortion called gendercide. This practice is facilitated by the technical progress which determinates the sex of the baby before birth. In 1996, the government has taken many attempts to increase penalties, like court cases against doctors. Yet the market of sex determination is thriving in India, so these measures are not respected.

To sum up, India used to be dominated by the British colony, but the country became the largest democracy in the world a few years after. Since this period, India has known a lot of progress in the economic sector, technical sector, medicine sector but also in mentalities. Nevertheless,

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