Editing Multiculturalism (section)

===India===
[[File:Farewell Ritual - Durga Idol Immersion Ceremony - Baja Kadamtala Ghat - Kolkata 2012-10-24 1458.JPG|thumb|The [[Durga Puja]] celebrated in [[Kolkata]]]]
[[File:Delhi Jama Masjid.jpg|thumb|[[Jama Masjid, Delhi]], one of the largest mosques in India]]
According to the [[1961 Census of India]], there are 1652 indigenous languages in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.languageinindia.com/aug2002/indianmothertongues1961aug2002.html |title=Language in India |access-date=29 January 2012}}</ref> The [[culture of India]] has been shaped by its [[History of India|long history]], [[Geography of India|unique geography]] and [[Demographics of India|diverse demography]]. [[Languages of India|India's languages]], [[Religion in India|religions]], [[Dance in India|dance]], music, architecture and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse [[Subculture|sub-cultures]] spread all over the [[Indian subcontinent]] and traditions that are several millennia old.<ref>{{cite book |last = Mohammada
|first = Malika |title = The foundations of the composite culture in India |publisher = Aakar Books, 2007 |isbn = 9788189833183|year = 2007 }}</ref> The previously prevalent [[Indian caste system]] describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of [[endogamy|endogamous]] hereditary groups, often termed ''[[jāti]]s'' or [[caste]]s.<ref>"[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/285248/India/46404/Caste India – Caste]". ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Online.</ref>

Religiously, [[Hindus]] form the majority, followed by Muslims. The statistics are: [[Hindu]] (79.8%), [[Muslim]] (14.2%), [[Christians|Christian]] (2.3%), [[Sikh]] (1.7%), [[Buddhist]] (0.7%), [[Jain]] (0.4%), [[Irreligion|Unaffiliated]] (0.23%), [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼís]], Jews, [[Zoroastrians]], and others (0.65%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/ |title=Indian Census |publisher=Censusindia.gov.in |access-date=10 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511035603/http://censusindia.gov.in/ |archive-date=11 May 2008 }}</ref> Linguistically, the two main language families in India are [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] (a branch of [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]) and [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]]. In India's northeast, people speaking [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] group of languages such as [[Meitei language|Meitei]] (Meitei-lon) and [[Boro language (India)|Bodo]] recognized by the Indian constitution and [[Austroasiatic languages]] are commonly found. India (officially) follows a three-language policy. [[Hindi]] (spoken in the form of [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]) is the official federal language, [[Indian English|English]] has the federal status of associate/subsidiary official language and each state has its own state official language (in the Hindi ''[[sprachraum]]'', this reduces to bilingualism). Further, India does not have any national language.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Hindi-not-a-national-language-Court/article16839525.ece|title=Hindi, not a national language: Court|newspaper=The Hindu|date=25 January 2010|access-date=22 October 2017|via=thehindu.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Theres-no-national-language-in-India-Gujarat-High-Court/articleshow/5496231.cms|title=There's no national language in India: Gujarat High Court – Times of India|newspaper=The Times of India|date=25 January 2010 |access-date=22 October 2017}}</ref> [[The Republic of India]]'s state boundaries are largely drawn based on linguistic groups; this decision led to the preservation and continuation of local ethno-linguistic sub-cultures, except for the Hindi ''sprachraum'' which is itself divided into many states. Thus, most states differ from one another in language, culture, [[Indian cuisine|cuisine]], [[Clothing in India|clothing]], [[Indian literature|literary style]], [[architecture of India|architecture]], [[music of India|music]] and festivities.

India has encountered [[Religious violence in India|religiously motivated violence]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Nussbaum |first=Martha |title=The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future |year=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-04156-1 |page=1}}</ref> such as the [[Moplah Riots]], the [[Bombay riots]], the [[1984 Sikh genocide]], the 1990 [[Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus]], the [[2002 Gujarat riots]], the [[2008 Mumbai attacks]], the [[2012 Assam violence]], the [[2013 Muzaffarnagar riots]], and the [[2020 Delhi riots]]. This has resulted from traditionally disadvantaged communities in public employment such as the policing of the same locality, apprehension of owners in giving properties for sale or rent<ref>{{cite web |url=http://minorityaffairs.gov.in/sites/upload_files/moma/files/pdfs/sachar_comm.pdf |title=Sachar Committee Report |publisher=(Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India) |pages=9–25 |date=Nov 2006 |access-date=18 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021182551/http://minorityaffairs.gov.in/sites/upload_files/moma/files/pdfs/sachar_comm.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2012 }}</ref> and of society in accepting inter-marriages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://paa2011.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=111966 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160516223255/http://paa2011.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=111966 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 May 2016 |title=Exploring the Concept of Mixed Marriages in Indian and selected states: First time evidences from large scale survey |first1=Deepti |last1=Singh |first2=Srinivas |last2=Goli |year=2011 |work=Princeton University }}</ref>

==== Cultural minorities in India ====
The Indian constitution requires the various state-run institutions to provide quotas for minorities, which give these cultural minorities equal opportunities, as well as a forum through which they can actively participate in the institutions of the dominant culture.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal|last=Pande|first=Rohini|date=September 2003|title=Can Mandated Political Representation Increase Policy Influence for Disadvantaged Minorities? Theory and Evidence from India|journal=The American Economic Review|volume=93|issue=4|pages=1132–1151|jstor=3132282|doi=10.1257/000282803769206232}}</ref> Indian polity after the 1990s has been marked by a shift from secular principles to a landscape that is dominated by pro-Hindu propaganda; the [[Bhartiya Janata Party]] has used this rhetoric by reconstructing Hinduism and bartering it under the guise of Indian nationalism.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Datta|first=Rekha|date=Summer 1999|title=Hindu Nationalism or Pregmatic Party Politics? A Study of India's Hindu Party|journal=International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society|volume=12|issue=4|pages=573–588|jstor=20019991|doi=10.1023/A:1025938125870|s2cid=141252957}}</ref> However, the rise of pro-Hindu ideology, commonly known as [[Hindutva]], has impinged on the rights of cultural minorities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=Sathianathan|date=April 2002|title=Hindutva, Religious and Ethnocultural Minorities, and Indian-Christian Theology|journal=The Harvard Theological Review|volume=95|issue=2|pages=197–226|doi=10.1017/S0017816002000123|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |jstor=4150720|s2cid=162722809}}</ref> This can be seen in the large scale violence against cultural minorities, the [[votebank]] politics used by the [[Indian National Congress]], and the promotion of issues faced by the larger religious communities over those faced by the backward groups in religious minorities.<ref>{{Cite book|title=At Home with Democracy|last=Sheth|first=D.L.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2018|isbn=978-981-10-6412-8}}</ref>

==== Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Castes (OBC) ====
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are constitutionally recognized terms in India and constitute approximately 25% of the Indian population. Moreover more than 40 percent of India's population belongs to the Other Backward Castes as per the National Sample Survey Office or the NSSO which is a government organization for conducting surveys in India. So the total size of the lower castes in India is estimated to be around 70 percent of the country's population whereas the upper caste make up around 18 percent of the population. These groups have been provided with reservations that constitutionally guarantee them representation in governmental institutions, a mandate suggested by the Mandal Commission.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Basavaraju|first=C.|date=Summer 2009|journal=Journal of the Indian Law Institute|volume=51|issue=2|pages=267–274|jstor=43953443|title=Reservation Under the Constitution of India: Issues and Perspectives}}</ref> The Indian constitution also provides SC's and ST's with protective measures that ensure equality, which is the main issue faced by members of both communities. However, while scheduled castes have turned into important political communities that the state concerns itself about, scheduled tribes continue to be politically marginalized.<ref name=":03" />