It's Identity Stupid !

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Homo Sapien : Male,Female, Transgender:

Hungry man, Sick man, Old man, Fighter, Renouncer, King, Hero:

Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Budhist, Zorastrian, Jew:

English, French, Hindi, Urdu, Portugese...:

Czarist, Zionist, Lord, Fuehrer, Chakraborty, Socialist, Communist, Fabian Socialist, Democrat, Republican:

Married , Bachelor, Widow, Husband, Wife, Lover:

White, Red, Black, Brown:

Second sex, Third sex, American, Italian, Indian:

Libran, Leo..:

Slave , Master:

Ruling class, Opposition...etc etc  etc...

Man has been  all these over the centuries.  But what is man? What is his identity ? In a world historically updating itself and making civilizational adjustments in decades and centuries nomenclatures have stamped men and events in different languages. Birth and death records are maintained in registers- now digitally all over the world. Naming an object perhaps started by the Christian God in the Bible. After creating things and creatures He started naming them. And this system continues officially in all countries irrespective of faiths and administrative structures. But there is the Rub!

Man takes on different identities despite his/her name which identified him/her at the Christening ceremony. For instance T.S. Eliot gave three identities of his in a lecture to Oxonians post his Nobel Award: I am an Anglo-Catholic in Religion: a Royalist in politics  and a classicist in Literature. Tendulkar once said 'I am an Indian First, a Maharastrian second and then a cricketer'. Any normal person has almost several identities. He may identify  himself by his nationality; his profession, religion, caste, sex, marital status. He has several IDs like Adhar Card, Pan Card, Voter Identification Card, Club membership etc. His name is no more an identity. He has a class identity too! Arnold J Toynby wrote in 1947 " I am a middle aged English man belonging to the middle class". Politically people identify themselves by their Party loyalties. Others say - I am Punjabi , Gujrati , Odia etc. Yet others say they are Scientists, Litterateurs, Economists etc.

In the present day world the religious identity seems to be overpowering. Asaduddin Owaisy is a Muslim and he must oppose anything that is Hindu. In the sports arena too the religious identity  supersedes the nationality.  An India - Pakistan match becomes a Hindu - Muslim war although in the Indian team we often have more than one Muslim player. In Indian politics whatever decision the Prime Minister takes for the good of the country becomes a Hindutwa Agenda. And it must be opposed by the  Congress, the Left and also the Muslim sympathisers. The interest of the country is secondary. What is focused in all debates discussions is religious identity politics. Any issue is made religion specific and leads to conflictual claims on political, moral or national validity. This disturbing trend raises many questions about identity.

Does man have a human identity as an individual or the secondary and inherited identity is supreme? Does the individual have a mind of his own  unclattered  by the mass identity. Man perseveres to achieve distinction in his chosen field- art, literature , science or sports etc- but he is known to the world by his mass, group or  inherited identities. Can a man say like Michael Jackson be identified as a singer dancer without tags of his country, religion and other self chosen beliefs? Can Romeo be identified as  a Christian Lover? Is not love the greatest value in life? But can that value be the flag of your identity? Can a Kashmiri be identified as an Indian without reference to his religion? Unfortunately No. Human identity does not stem from the human essence a man exudes in his work. Beethoven or Wagner, Tansen or  Thyagaraja  are  above the local hues which they gather during the course of their lives. But today identity has shades of meaning and appeal beyond the self and soul of a being.

In the 1970's most literature departments researched on Crisis of Identity. It was thought, after the Wars and the political changes in the world Man has lost his identity. What was that? It was the crisis of the authentic human being. But that crisis was never resolved. In today's world if you say "I am a lover" people will laugh because love is no more an identifying  attribute of a human being. In a materialistic world what matters is 'success'. Any professional or politician who succeeds in amassing money  or wielding power has its identity in the  minds of his admirers or detractors. No identity is now  a monolithic whole. Identity of the basic human being is  no more relevant. Your identity is measured by money, influence or power. The passport is often a pidgin identity. But in the ultimate analysis you are what you feel yourself to be as I am what I am.