‘Identity’, a proof we all need that shows we exist, we were born, and not just manufactured in a lab somewhere on this planet. An identity is a guarantee card of people and stores all the information that another person needs to get to know them. The concept of identity comes from the Latin word “identias” which means someness or oneness. The fact is, we make our own identity with our own hard work; we are not born with it. A great scholar once said, “You have your own identity when you find out, not what you can keep your mind on, but what you can’t keep your mind off.” But in recent times, people think their identity is their religion, the language they speak, the caste they belong to and the nation they live in. People made them our whole identity, and became so insecure that they started oppressing others’ “identity” so they could feel secure. But in between all these, people forgot the only identity everyone is born with,h and everyone has a duty to uphold the duty of this identity: the identity of being human. People forgot the value of empathy humans carry and the duty of helping each other, to show and act with kindness whenever possible. People made their so-called “identity” and forgot the identity of humans. As we progress further in the future, these so-called ‘identities’ are becoming the only identity people want to keep and use socially.
In today’s time, especially in countries like India, the identity of being a human is drastically decreasing, and because of riots, disrespect and fights have started around the nation. It is shocking and devastating to say that regional riots and conflicts have almost doubled and stand at 84% in 2024. Even though, because of the hard implementation of law and order, riots decreased, but hate and so-called ‘identities’ have drifted people away. Not only that, over the period of five years, but even the caste-based violence spiked by 118%.
All this data just shows one thing: people have diluted themselves in their so-called ‘ identities’ that if their religious identity is not challenged, then they go to their caste identity to challenge, and in case both religion and caste identity are not challenged, then they resort to their language identity. Everyone does this to show one way or another that they are superior to one another and their religion, caste or language should be respected and is also superior.
But in all this, they forgot their own religious teachings, their caste’s principles. In Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna says A true yogi observes ‘Me’ in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realised person sees ‘Me’, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere, which directly means everyone is the creation of God themselves and resides in everyone an treating everyone equally, regardless of their religion, caste or language, is the duty of the true yogi(true devotee). In Islam, the Quran says, “Whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption in the land, it is as if he had slain all mankind. And whoever saves one, it is as if he had saved all mankind.” This means that human life is very sacred. Killing one innocent person is like killing all humanity, and saving one life is like saving all humanity.
But we, as future generations, have to remember that all the so-called identities are temporary, and from my perspective, we do not have a real identity, but the identity of humans is the only identity we come up with, and then, through hard work, we make our own identity socially. The people who keep the identity of humans are people who become successful, and only after that do they understand the importance and power of this identity.