Coordinating Issues Of Culture and Heritage In A Time Of Opportunity And Threat

What is at stake?

The issues require definition. As a civilization, and as an emerging global power, India’s future may depend on its ability to conserve, strengthen and build Indian resources of identity and creativity in a world in which progress is often mistaken as mimicry of the most powerful. This is reinforced by current debates within the country and worldwide on the need for a holistic approach to what constitutes human development (away from mere statistics), to the growing irrelevance of consumerism to the future of the planet, and to resolving the ‘million mutinies’ of those afraid of their identity being crushed and of being further dispossessed of their culture and resources. The stakes are huge, involving millions of lives and the very identity of ourselves as Indians. To address this issue demands a joint response of sensitivity and action across many stakeholders. The cultural and creative resources that can address this challenge do not fit neatly into sectors of development planning. The issues represent a ‘sector of sectors’. They call for shared understanding, sensitivity and action across a range of current roles, responsibilities and programmes. It is for this reason that a Coordination Committee is being suggested so as to bring together experience, knowledge and wisdom that can influence the future of planned growth. The issues are cultural (a strong Indian identity that brings traditional wisdom and contemporary knowledge to bear on the movement toward modernity), social (empowering citizens with a sense of self-confident identit...