Identity

It is said that 21st century is the age of confusion and indeed it is one. From the east to west people are gripped in identity crises. Where do we belong? Which group actually represents us? And to whom do we owe our full loyalties?

A wave of revivalisms has swept us away, be it the revivalism of faith, culture or nationalistic passions, the ones at the receiving end are more confused than ever.

Someone has claimed the end of history, some have re-launched their quest to shed off the white man’s burden, while some have foreseen the clash of civilizations, the only result these phenomena have generated is that they have sent us back to our roots, groping for an identity so that we can put up our defenses against the new world order where belonging to a specific religion or race is a crime in itself, where identity of one is a threat to another.

In reviving our identities, we have lost what little consciousness we had of our human identity. The cultural/ religious divide has bifurcated the world in ‘us’ and ‘them’. The fault lies in all of us, no one group, race or religion can be acquitted of the charges of bias, discrimination and prejudices. What needed is the revival of the human identity, once that is restored, the rest would follow.

~ by Amna on May 7, 2009.