Social Work and Minorities in India: Case for Renewed Engagement

Abstract

The professional ennui of Social Work in India has been favourably inclined towards treating the ‘othering’1 of minorities as a natural spin-off of the negotiations and contestations of political regimes with different groups and communities in the pursuit of electoral politics. Notwithstanding the existence of a few success stories wherein the prevailing inter-community ruptures were painstakingly repaired and the integrated fabric of community living restored, schools of social work and the majority of social work practitioners have preferred to exist in a state of blissful oblivion as far as taking a responsible stand against the politics of hate is concerned. The inevitable othering experienced by minority communities has tended to irreversibly disrupt the configuration of the community. It would not be an exaggeration to state that the profession of social work in India has failed to realise that if a potentially healing profession gets distanced from the individuals and the communities who are direct or indirect victims of state violence, it makes for a poignant commentary on the persona and the relevance of the profession. In this context, one would also need to extend oneself to examine whether the prevalent model/s of social work education and practice in India have indeed consciously chosen to remain apolitical vis-à-vis violence against minorities and thereby have lost ground in meeting the requirements of anti-oppressive practice, which is increasingly being seen as one of the most crucial components of the profession today. 1. Othering refers to a process whereby a group/community is systematically categorised as distinct, demonised Others. The demonization of others is prerequisite to their decimation through the ideology of hate, which carefully nurtures and shapes it in order to accomplish ends that are knowingly planned and systematically conceived (Bauman 2001; Sternberg 2003).